June 19 - Ravenna

Christ being baptized by John the Baptist. The other figure is the personification of the River Jordan.

I heard that the mosaics in Ravenna were fantastic. I was not disappointed. But first, the start of the day. My B&B has a civil breakfast time that starts at 8:00. This is very relaxing after our early breakfasts during the bicycling tour. I might not feel the same when I have to catch a train at 9:00 tomorrow. To get a jump on tomorrow, I walked to the train station right after breakfast and had my tickets printed out. Now I don't have to worry about it tomorrow.

Rick Steves has a walking tour in his guide book that starts at the station. I decided to take it. The street leading from the station is lined with broad leaf trees. This provides shade from the sun which was beginning to raise the temperature. After a couple of blocks, it turns into a pedestrian shopping street. Bicycles are allowed and encouraged by marking the center of the street in a light color for their right of way. Nobody seems to adhere to it - both cyclists and pedestrians. It seems like every fourth local is pedaling on their way to somewhere.

A short way up the pedestrian street, Rick has us turn right and go to the Arian Baptistery. That is where I took the photo at the top of this page. It was built during the reign of the Goths (c. 526). You can read about it by clicking on the link.

The walk then went to the Piazza del Popolo which marks the center of town. It was pretty quiet. I saw very few tourists. I walked through the piazza, turned left and arrived at the Basilica di San Francisco. It is a plain church whose fame is its mosaic-covered flooded crypt with goldfish swimming in it.

Outside of the church in a small wooded park is the tomb of Dante. He lived out his life here and died from malaria after being bitten by too many mosquitos.

Ricky's walk ended at the Mercator Coperto which is a independent vendors' market inside of a large building. This is fairly common in Italy. This market was described as colorful. Only around 10% of the stalls were open. I bought some bananas and sat down to eat one. It felt good to rest. It was getting very hot. I had been walking on the shady side of the street to avoid getting my scalp sunburned so sitting inside of a building gave me some relief.

Now I was done visiting all of the free sights. It was time to get serious and pay for the more significant venues. So I bought a combination ticket for the rest of the day. It cost me €9.50. I bought it at Basilica di San Vitale. The photo on the left represents God in heaven portrayed by Christ sitting on a celestial orb. He oversees his glorious creation symbolized by four rivers at his feet. This is just one of several scenes that you will have to wait to see through our website's slide show.



My next destination was the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia just across the courtyard from the basilica. It has the oldest mosaics in Ravenna. It is a small building and fairly dark inside. A little light seeps in through windows made of thin alabaster panels. Other than the blue mosaics on the ceiling as you enter the mausoleum, my favorite is St Lawrence martyred on a fiery grill.

After seeing the grill, I was getting hungry and my camera battery was running low. So I walked back to the B&B, put the battery into the charger and walked over to the market that I mentioned before. It has a self-service cafeteria in it and it is very popular with the locals. It was the busiest place that I had seen all day. I had some bow-tie pasta with salmon sauce. There were several other pastaN dishes available as well as a salad bar, a grill for meat and fish, a dessert selection and a fruit bar. I made myself a fruit cocktail. It was very crowded so I sat with an Italian gentleman. Both of us were afraid to start a conversation.

Back at the B&B, I sat while the batteries for me and my camera recharged. Then I was off for the second half of my mosaic viewing adventure. The Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna was my first stop. It is an austere, sixth-century church with very long walls upon which are more fantistics mosaics. Next, I walked to the Archiepiscopal Museum where I saw Christ as a warrior stepping on a lion and a snake while carrying a cross as if it were a weapon. Finally, I visited the Neonian Baptistery where Christ was getting baptized again by John the Baptist while the River Jordan looked on.

Once I left the last site, I wandered back to the B&B and cooled off. I had one of the best dinners of the trip at Restorante 45. I had Tagliata di tonno pinna gialla crosta di sesamo con spnacci e cipolla di tropea fritta and insalata mista. The tuna was outstanding. The bread that was served was more French than Italian with a crunchy crust and a soft interior. It was made with salt. Maybe the Revannans have a supply of salt from the sea. I topped off the meal with lemon cream gelato.