In Pisa my camera batteries ran out and the next set, although lithium batteries, did not work. Checking the Pentax forum I found that the Pentax istD is extremely sensitive to battery voltage and one battery not up to the spec can cause the camera to show dead batteries. So the photos of the insides of the Baptistry and the Duomo in Pisa are from the iPhone 4s and they are not the best.
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| the baptismal font (6 positions) in the Pisa Baptistry |
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| The interior is very plain compared to the Florentine Baptistry |
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| But two of the windows looked like gold glass which did not let light in. |
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| The nave of the Duomo in Pisa |
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| Across the nave, you can see where they ran out of black marble for the arches |
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| The chandelier in front of the marble pulpit was quite amazing. |
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| The supporters for the pulpit, here we have Eve somewhat embarrassed by her state |
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| The northern transept |
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| This looks like a Greek Icon |
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| This chusrch was built when Christ was depicted as the King not an effigy nailed to a cross. |
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| The ceiling of the nave, very similar design to the one at San Miniato. |
We had lunch in a little village in a grape growing area, with the locals, in the back of the restaurant and a waitress who had no english. Good meal though.
Our drive to Tarquinia should have taken a couple of hours but with our peregrinations around the countryside took 6 hours.
We thought that Tarquinia was going to be a small town. What we discovered was a large town of very ancient lineage. The Etruscans had lived here and there is a large Etruscan Necropolis just outside town. Like all the important towns of the area, it sits on top of a hill and has a significant fortress wall with an old town crowded inside. When we went out for dinner we ended up going through the narrow streets until we came to a street where someone had just parked in the entrance to the street (typically italian) we had to exit from. No chance to back out but there was a cross street that I managed to get into and out of the mess. We gave up looking for the restaurant we had been recommended and finding a parking spot we went into a pizza trattoria. They did not offer anything besides pizza so...
The Pinot Grigio was good though. Then it was back down the hill to our B&B, the Tarchon
We had found the Tarchon on the web and the price was very good, the room was large, we had a Triple, but the Breakfast part was abysmal. So a good nights sleep and we were off to Rome.
Again the back blocks which took us through a number of ancient towns, Casole d'Elsa, Vetralla, Sutri, Bassano Roma, Prima Porta Roma then Rome Centre.
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| A view of the countryside from Casole d'Elsa |
At lunch time we turned off the main road to Rome at a place called Olmeti where we found an excellent restaurant. We sat under an apple tree full of apples and once again had an excellent meal. A quite hour (this was a large restaurant opposite a huge industrial area, but we were just a little earlier than the general lunch time so had the place to ourselves for the first part and then some other patrons began to dribble in.
Off again this time to get to Rome between 2 and 3 which is when we told the B&B Rosmini we would arrive. Selm got us there with a minimum of fuss and the parking angel that Marguerita has found us a paring spot immediately in front of the B&B.
I am glad I don't have to contend with Roman driving and parking. They are mad, park anywhere it seems and seem to ignore driving rules, they do seem to have them but... When we returned the car to Avis we got to the office, a tiny hole in the wall with no apparent car yard. We got there after closing but luckily the guy was still there, I think he was waiting for us. Nowhere to park so I double parked and put the safety lights on. He came out and checked the car over and then left it there while we took the tram back into the city. It was supposed to take us al the way to the Stazione Termini, which is only a few hundred metres from our B&B. We got to a large Piazza and a official sort of guy got on the tram and shouted out something. A number of people got off and the tram set off again, but it was going back up the Via Prenestina that we had just come down. We hurriedly got off at the next stop and walked back.
Well, the Carabinieri blocked all streets into the centre of Rome, there were hundreds of police of all varieties (and believe me the Italians have a whole lot of types) in fatigues and flak jackets. Streets were blocked with police vehicles but there was no indication of what was going on. We could not get transport and so we walked into ever more heavily policed streets.
We finally got back to the Via Cavour which the Rosmini is off and saw the end of a demonstration going up the street near the Stazione with a phalanx of police in riot gear advancing up the street on foot, followed by a bank of police people movers filled with reinforcements. But we still had no idea what was going on.
Back in our roomy room we turned the TV on and I found the news, as we watched there was a riot happening a couple of blocks away, tear gas and chaos. The demo/riot seems to have been objecting to the austerity measures that have been put in place to prevent the Italian economy imploding.
An hour or so afterwards wet went out for dinner at a ristorante right next door to the door from our building, all was quiet, there were no more police in evidence than normal (that is far more than we would see in the heart of Melbourne.)
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