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Stephanie and I definitely enjoyed this city, although I confess to now knowing much about it than before we went. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany and a delight to visit, from the ancient city walls,  to the old churches, the rebuilt parts of town, and the markets.

Within the old town, there were many great streets to explore (we just needed more time because we didn’t even make it to the castle!)

Quite a few town squares were interesting, some having buildings from the Middle Ages. The part of the building in the middle is the oldest section and, back in the day, was a private home/fortress for one family.

Of course there were churches to visit, first St. Lawrence Church as an example.

With church art to enjoy, including this altar with a carved Last Supper.

There was more…

including these “remodeled” round towers. When they figured out that cannon balls hitting a round wall would more likely hit at an angle than the direct hit on a straight wall, they rebuilt the square towers as round ones.

 

Our guide book said these shops near this round tower are newly built (for us tourist) but it was a fun shopping area with nice local crafts.

 

You know from previous posts that I enjoy the open air markets and those in Nürnberg were no exception.

Of course, there were flowers in the market.

Other flowers were growing throughout the town, including these lovely beds of rosemary at the concert hall. Who knew rosemary could  flowers so profusely?

Anciently, they had a hospital called the Holy Ghost Hospital (on left) near the river running through town.

We found an entrancing model train display (to the children) at the trains station.

Of course, there were the famous brats with either potato salad or sauerkraut (and delicious water in the blue bottles).

[Note: Finally, getting back to blogging after returning to work at BYUH!]

 

 

 

 

In our guide book it says that Zurich has more than 1200 fountains, many of them drinking water or fountains where you can fill your water bottle. I decided, on our one-day walk through Zurich, we would see if we could find at least one percent of them.

Before we started the quest, I had taken a couple of photos of fountains. The first is at the Hallenstadiom, a sports/concert arena.

I also took this photo (at bottom) of one near our accommodation in a suburb of Zurich. I put in a few photos of the houses across the street and flowers around the corner.

Then, here comes the first we found on our one-day focused hunt, found from a hint from the guide book which had the comment that you would have to have a mighty small head to get a drink. However, I did put some in my water bottle .

We went to Lindenhof Platz and found two fountains in that square, one that the birds used for drinks (see photo on right), not from the pool, but from the clean water coming from the pipe.

The second fountain was not far from where two people where playing chess. Who is winning?

We walked down some step stairs with beautiful planters lining them to a small platz near one of the oldest churches in Zurich to find this modern fountain (top center).

Continuing with a collection from across the central part of Zurich, first, one in another platz, where this waiter from a street cafe (just walking away in photo on left) filled a glass from the fountain

Another modern fountain in an old square…

When we sat down to eat lunch at an (expensive) French cafe, we saw this fountain, mixed in among the tables. A dog at a neighboring table, caught up in her leash, looked pathetically at us to rescue her.

Here is one on the main street by the river, decorated with flowers floating in the pool, and where a near by worker was filling a watering can and a tourist was filling her water bottle.

Where the Linnet River meets Lake Zurich, you can find this fountain (center of photo). Although you may not be able to tell from so far away which one is the fountain and not the sails on the sail boats, Stephanie and I could tell it really is a fountain. When we later took the water bus nearby the fountain, it was in the “no-show” phase and I couldn’t get a better photo.

On our way to buy chocolate for souvenirs (we have to do that on my last full day in Switzerland), we found this one. A nap anyone?

Then, at the last minute, finding I didn’t yet have my required 1% but being tired and heading back to our housing, we found this one outside the train station.

And this one this one inside the train station, which charmed the children.

I was done! I had found 12 fountains (+2).

But on the bus back to our house, I wondered if this was going to be a fountain, under construction (and had Stephanie snap this strange photo on the left as the bus went around a round-about). [Update: Our host said it was not going to be a fountain but a statue.] Then, there was this fire hydrant. That could be a fountain, right?

Did I mention all the beautiful flowers? No? Next post from Zurich?

 

 

 

While I’ve been in the USA for a three weeks, I’ve spent most of the time in Flagstaff, Arizona, up at a high elevation, enjoying the cool pine country. There were plenty of wonderful things to see and do, including sitting on the porch of the Summers’ townhouse and looking at the land around it!

Mt. Eldon was behind the house, which was a lovely place to view and a good place to walk.

With beautiful views and a wondrous group of cacti in bloom and fruit.

The Arboretum at Flagstaff

Ronnie drove up to Flagstaff and we went to the Arboretum at Flagstaff.It is a lovely place with nice wildflowers, pine forests, and butterflies.Yes, both in a butterfly house and those I happened to catch “in the wild.”

We learned about a few plants, like the one at the bottom called Old Man’s Whiskers (at the Arboretum, although later we saw it in Sunset Crater National Monument called another name). We also enjoyed the wild flowers in wet places and dry.

The butterfly house was a fun visit.

The herb garden with photos of marjoram and oregano.

The pine forest (with a few aspens), with a nice view of the San Francisco Peaks.

Campbell Mesa trails

Gael and a friend walked a marathon on the trails at Campbell Mesa. While they were walking miles and miles, I took a short, early morning walk. I took more than a few photos,including several of different types of trees since I’m writing a short set of articles about trees.

With a few close up pictures to show different aspects of the trees.

In addition to trees, there were flowers, mountains, clouds to enjoy, too. Two sets of the flowers.

And other types of wild flowers.

Lowell Observatory

This observatory is on Mars Hill (!) near the city of Flagstaff. Gael and I made a visit late one afternoon, in time to see these beautiful wild flowers on the grounds and listen to a couple of lectures before it was dark.

We were able to see some of the telescopes, but, surprisingly after weeks of sunny weather, the sky clouded over, and we could not see many stars through them. The telescope on the right was the one used to discover Pluto years ago.

We also saw the full moon on the summer solstice.

There is more to report from Flagstaff, but I’ll save some for a second post, interesting things like old volcano sites like Sunset Crater

 

 

While hunting months ago for places to visit in Italy, I came across information about mineral and thermal baths and spas that had been part of the Grand Tour of Europe which all sounded fun to visit. Then, while we were in Italy, Gael found information about free thermal baths (meaning they are not part of a resort where you have to pay to use them) at a place called Saturnia. So, on the spur of the moment (ah, complications come from such decisions, as you will see) we set off by train(s) and bus (or so we thought) to get to these baths. It took us quite a few hours.

We booked a room in a beach resort that was “near” the baths. We didn’t arrive until after 9:00 pm, and, discovering by making a phone call to the resort that no buses ran at that time of night nor were we very close to a bus stop anyway, we got picked up at the station by the person in charge that night at the resort. How kind to be rescued (no taxis either!) We didn’t get to see any of the beach resort until the next morning. The ocean was beautiful, but the water and even the air, was cold, so we didn’t stay long on the beach.

Since we really wanted to go to the thermal baths, we had to do some trouble shooting that morning. The information from the hotel booking agency was not that accurate because Saturnia was not all that close to a bus stop either! We ended up going the expensive, but wonderfully comfortable way, of hiring a car and driver. (Don’t ask how much.)

In the photo below, you can see our first view of Saturnia from the hill above. Our driver stopped so we could take pictures.

As we arrived right in the parking lot a short walk to the water, this is what we could see.

With (free) and handy changing rooms, we got in the water  immediately. It was perfect, warm and not hot, and lovely light sulfur smell….ah, all was well if you could get one of the small falls of water to land on your shoulders for a massage.

While sitting in the baths, we could look across the water to this beautiful green field. Is that man getting ready to dive in? (What I’m sure he is doing is trying  to protect his feet because the rocks were sharp. I would advise water shoes if you are going to this wonderful thermal bath.)

As I walked downstream to see if the water was still warm further away from the cascade, I shot this photo….made me think of someone walking by the Jordan River a couple of thousand years ago. And yes, the water  was still warm.

On the way home through the countryside, we enjoyed some beautiful sights (or I enjoyed them while Gael and Susan took a cat nap.)

All in all, a lovely place to go (but complicated to get there).

 

We made a quick visit to Modena to tour Villa San Donnino, a place that produces balsamic vinegar. This farm/vinegar producer follows strict guidelines in the creation of their balsamic vinegar in order to produce authentic, traditional balsamic vinegar. Generally, they sell through a consortium with other producers who also adhere to the traditional standards.

The vinegar is aged in wooden barrels which were kept in the attic when we were there. The barrels vary in size and as the vinegar preparation reduces, it is moved down to the next smaller barrel. This process of slowly moving the vinegar from one barrel to the next down the rows (which you can see in the photo below on the right) takes months and eventually years.

We had a very pleasant guide that explained the process, helping us see how long it takes to produce authentic Modena balsamic aceta (vinegar). At this point she left us lift the white cloth and smell the different stages of vinegar.

Different types of wood in the barrels (e.g., oak, chestnut) produce a different tasting vinegar. Villa San Donnino also had some vinegar they had acquired from another place and you can see some of the different types of wooden barrels used by the other farmer.

As part of the tour, we were able to taste the products. The “youngest” of the vinegar had been aged for 6 years. That is not long enough to sell through the consortium, but they can sell it directly to us or at local markets. We all liked the 6-year version. The next product was aged 12 years.The consortium requires that any vinegar sold through them be aged this long. This vinegar seemed tasty, but stronger to all of us. The last one was aged 25 years. Ah, we loved this one.

They had some that had been aged longer, but, of course, they didn’t let us taste it because it is so expensive. To compare, the vinegar aged 25 years started at 75 euros for a small bottle. What would it cost for one aged more?

In addition, they have some very old vinegar that was inherited with the farm, which is stored in these containers. The guide said some were more than 100 years old.

 

 

 

 

They also had samples of other containers used in the past, as in these ceramic jugs (photos by Gael).

Everyone loved the taste and bought some (except me since I had no room in my suitcase). Here is a picture of their 6-year balsamic and a thickened version, which we also all liked. They even put some on ice cream for us to taste.

We enjoyed our tour immensely and recommend you visit Villa San Donnino next time you are in Modena. My only regret was no room in my suitcase….and so guess how happy I was when I arrived in Flagstaff and Claire (a niece) told me Flagstaff  had a store (Olive the Best) that sold Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You can taste the different products in this store before you buy to see which you like best. I bought several bottles and had them shipped to Hawaii  (since I still have the no-room-in-my-suitcase problem).

And now we can tell the difference between “industrial” balsamic (the guide’s term) and true, traditional, authentic Modena balsamic vinegar. Ask us sometime.

 

 

During our travels we have seen many, many pieces of the highest quality art. Such treasures we have seen! We have also seen, though, some minor pieces, or works by the great masters that are separated from large collections. Here is a somewhat random set of some I enjoyed.

First, here are two olive wood carvings in the chapel in Vinci (where Leonardo was baptized). First the Holy Family and then Christ washing the feet of His disciples.

A fresco of Christ washing the feet of His disciples was in Santa Maria Novella. I do not have the artist’s name on this one.

Another art wonder is Trinita (1428) by Masaccio. According to a Website on museums in Florence, this was the first time mathematical perspective was used in paintings among the Florentine artists. The Website also said that Masaccio was probably helped by Brunelleschi. You will find this art in Santa Maria Novella.

It is hard in the photo above to see the dove representing the Holy Ghost. Here is a close up of that section of the painting. The Holy Ghost is represented by a white dove between the top of Christ’s head and below the Father’s head.

I discovered an artist I hadn’t heard about before that began to intrigue me,  Luca della Robbia (1399-1482). He was a sculptor in stone and bronze, but also developed a technique for glazed terracotta. I posted one item made from his workshop in the ceilings post, but here are some of his other work in terracotta. First, as part of several items trimming the edges of a dome in one part of the Basilica of Santa Croce, Elijah being fed by a raven.

Or one of his many examples of the Madonna, also in the Basilica of Santa Croce.

Finally, a fountain by Robbia in Santa Maria Novella that I could have included in my fountain post!

In the Basilica of Santa Croce there is a statue by Pio Fedi called the Liberty of Poetry.

According to the sign at the church, this statue may have served as an inspiration for our Statue of Liberty by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi was in Florence at the time that Fedi (1870) was designing this statue. The sign in the church said that preparatory drawings of this statue were circulating among artists and a full-sized plaster copy of Liberty of Poetry was made in 1872. The influence is still open to debate, I understand. Here is another view of the Liberty of Poetry.

Also in the Basilica of Santa Croce is this creation by Donatello of the Annunciation. The figures carved in full relief are actually life-sized, although at the museum they were up high enough to not seem quite so big. First, the entire display and then a close up on the beautiful work and gold painting.

In a similar style is this decoration for a pulpit in Santa Maria Novella. I have a blurry sign with the name, but it seems to say created by Brunelleschi.

At the San Lorenzo Library, we found some illustrated Bibles. We were so intrigued we didn’t  notice it was nearly time to close the museum. Here is one example, an illustrated page for the Book of Job.

Here is a second example, the Book of Isaiah.

In the San Miniato Cemetery is this sculpture on the tomb of a woman. I would assume the woman who died was a protector, teacher, or mother of children. Good statue for Mother’s Day. (I don’t have the name of the artist on this one either.)

At Orsanmichele, outside niches are decorated with the patron saints of the guilds important to life in Florence during the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. (I probably need a full post on the wonderful statues at Orsanmichele.) St. Matthew, the patron saint for bankers, was sculptured by Ghilberti (the same artist that did the Gates of Paradise on the Baptistery). Here are two views of that statue.

Finally, I’ll send with a photo of a section of the Gates of Paradise, by Ghilberti. The story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac (from the copy actually on the door outside).

I’m sure I could post more; perhaps I’ll do part two.

 

 

 

Ah, Sienna, lovely town. Here is a panoramic shot of the main piazza, Il Campo.

But since I don’t think you can enlarge a panoramic photo to really see any of the details, here are a couple of photos of different building surrounding this piazza.

Sienna has the narrow lanes and old buildings, left from medieval times.

The town had fortress protection (photo on the right), although we didn’t go inside to look, and nice views from two different vantage points.

I’ve already attached several photos from Sienna in other posts–on the amazing floors, the music books and musical instruments, the fountains, and the use of Carrara marble in the cathedral. But the cathedral is certainly worth the posting of a few more photos.

The front facade (which had pink marble, but it was hard to get a good photograph that showed the pink color in the bright sunlight.)

(is this proof of the pink marble?)

and the inside again

and more views of the inside

Sienna also has an unfinished church…unfinished from what date I don’t remember.

The Fountain of Joy (Fonte Gaia) needs a mention again, although it was hard to get a good photo of the entire fountain. Here is a panoramic shot, but it bends the fountain in a strange way.

The fountain had carvings of the important events that give joy to our lives. On the left side of the fountain (and in the left photo) is one of God creating Adam (who just happens to have a bird on his head as I took the shot.) As always, click on the photos to see them as a slideshow.

What else? I didn’t take a photo of the good gelato we ate, so I guess I should end with a beautiful rose, taken with Lisa’s selfie, stick since it was fairly high above my head. Shouldn’t I get flowers in every post?

Well, maybe it is better to end with this photo of birds flying through Il Campo.

Or then again, perhaps I should end with happy, but tired tourists.

 

 

 

 

Because there have been too many places to blog about and not enough time or Internet connectivity to get them all done, I have missed blogging about a car trip we took through the Chianti region to the towns of Greve and Montefioralle, both in the vicinity of Florence. First, a few photos of the town of Greve, with a Saturday market we happened upon and enjoyed, purchasing both food for a few days and souvenirs.

We drove beyond Greve to the mountain-top town of Montefioralle on a narrow, curvy road, with limited parking at the top near the town. The town was small, with narrow paths (no cars in town), but was an enjoyable site to stroll through.

More narrow paths, beautified everywhere with flowers.

With an old church, old houses, and other old buildings.

The town was small with really only one main “street” with some connecting alleys, but such an pleasure to explore, with all the stone paths and houses built long ago.

A lane covered with an arbor and a cat or two to see…

 

 

And a very old wheelbarrow, to go with some of the houses and paths that looked so old…

 

 

The views in the town where complemented by the beautiful scenery of the fields and farms below the town in the valleys.

Finally, we found a great place to eat, outside along the road (where it rained briefly), with a view to enjoy along with good food to eat. Keith’s pasta included venison(who knew you could get venison in Italy?)

 

 

With, finally, a bottle of VERY old water (notice the date on the label). Are they trying to compete with aged balsamic vinegar or wine?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the drive home, we could see other towns to explore, but it was getting dark and time to get home.

Nice day.

Padua was a town we all liked, from our accommodations, to the LDS ward, to the sites of the town itself. The place we rented was out of the city of Padua, but was a lovely place, with flowers, dogs (nice and not nice), and country space and air.

The host also had lovely roses (so watch out, you know I took photos of them). The host also had some new puppies, but I neglected to take a picture of them.

 

 

We also enjoyed the ward in Padua. They were friendly, reverent during Sacrament meeting, had a new convert to confirm that day (whose last name sounded Italian), and members that gave us great suggestions of where to eat and what to visit.

They were announcing a special grandparents day; we wished we were going to be there to join in. It seemed like an excellent idea.

 

One of the main sites to see in Padua besides the Scrovegni Chapel, which I have already posted about, is the Basilica of St. Anthony, a church belonging to the Vatican, and technically outside of Italy. We entered through the Mercy door, this being a special Year of Mercy, as declared by the Pope. Many people were there on pilgrimages. We were not allowed to take photos inside the Basilica, so you get this photo from outside. (But I recommend we all take time to seek mercy from the Lord of Hosts.)

In the courtyard outside the church, was a sculpture of St. Anthony, shown with a child in the air. According to the sign near the statue, St. Anthony is an “intercessor between Heaven (the Christ Child) and humankind” (parentheses in original). The second statue on the right is by Donatello, and is Gattamelata, a Venetian general. (Okay, I haven’t heard of the general either, but the sculpture is to be admired.)

Pauda is an ancient town, with some claim to having been established earlier than 1000 BC. Padua also has a fairly (in comparison to the age of the town) ancient university. The university was founded in 1222 and is among the ten oldest in the world. It has been a prominent university for hundreds of years. The first photo on top is the university entrance with the store. The second one is entering the hall of honored alumni.

You could walk around campus, and see, as mentioned above, this hall that honored some of the highly accomplished alumni and faculty, including Copernicus and Galileo. The Padua University website also claims as an alumni the first woman, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, to be awarded a university degree (1678).

We liked the flavor and feel of all of this very old city. Here are a few photos from around the city center where we walked. We enjoyed the general feel of the town; it has a nice ambiance, better than my photos show.

The Caffè Pedrocchi (below), the building in the background with the white columns, was built in 1831 (new, in Italian terms). For many years, it has always been open (24 hours/day). It has a section where you can sit and rest without ordering anything from the cafe (which we made use of after walking through the town).

We went to a couple of museums. One museum, the Palazzo Zuckermann, part of the Civic Museums, had an interesting combination of objects of everyday life with the more usual paintings and sculptures. First, some photos of (undated) lace but made sometime during the 1600-1700s.

A collection of other items–watches, fans, and a music box.

And, of course, the necessary swords and guns.

The museum also had a great collection of coins, which collection is good enough to deserve a blog by themselves. Watch for it, but here is a first look.

With a few examples of more traditional museum art, here are three delightful sculptures of children.

The museum even had a painting about immigration to the United States. Note the flag on the ship.The sign on the painting said it was of emigrants embarking to San Francisco.

Finally, some additional photos of the wonderful park near the Scrovengi Chapel.

Put Padua on your list of places to visit on a tour of Italy. And enjoy the roses.

In Motta Camastra in Sicily in the narrow path leading to our apartment (yes, it was a path and not a street since we were already up one flight of stairs) was this water fountain. Learning about it and the system behind it sparked a further interest in the way water was supplied in earlier days.

Our host in Motta told us that previously people did not have water in their houses. They had to get water from these fountains near their homes, and, they had to pay for the water they used.

Here is another water tap in the small village of Motta Camastra.

Also in Motta I found this catchment system behind a house, used I am sure to catch run off from the mountain.

 

The water system of ancient Rome is one of the wonders of the ancient world. They had connected aqueducts, cisterns, and fountains to bring water to the cities. Here are a couple of photos of one of the ancient aqueducts taken as we zipped by on the autostrada between Pisa and Florence.

Incidentally, the aqueducts have inspired more modern builders/artists, too. Here at Park Güell in Barcelona is a structure labelled an aqueduct on the map. Park Güell is a creation of Antoni Guadí (more on Guadí to come).

For more evidence of the ancient water systems, I took this photo (and filled my water bottle) from this fountain in Pompeii, designed originally sometime before 79 AD (since that was the year Pompeii was buried by Mt. Vesuvius).

Rome has similar fountains throughout the city; the photo below on the left was taken inside the Forum. I filled my water bottle at this fountain, too. (Heavy drinker I am.)

There are many fountains all across the city of Rome, but since I am focusing this post on drinking fountains, I’m only going to highlight this additional example. I’m afraid you and I don’t get to drink from this one!

Sienna has the beautiful Fountain of Joy (Fonte Gaia), a portion of which you can see in the photo on the left. It has, at the base, another place to fill your water bottle (and I did).

This fountain (on the right) in Montefioralle, placed conveniently near some large planters of flowers, has an important message on it. You can click to enlarge the photo to read the sign for yourself, but it says: L’acqua e’ un bene prezioso. Non sprecarla! Chiudi sempre bene il rubinetto. Grazie. (Translation: Water is a valuable asset. Do not waste it! Always close the tap well. Thank you.) I didn’t try to fill my water bottle here.

But by far the most unique place to fill my water bottle was this fountain in the town of Almalfi. You could look at all the activities of the figures for quite some time.

In the photos below are some more details of this fountain in Almalfi, including the fish swimming in the pond.

This fountain was very near the fruit and vegetable market in Almalfi that I posted about earlier, although in that post I didn’t include this photo of some delicious looking herbs. Were these plants watered from the fountain and that is why they look so healthy?