I began to be a tourist at 10 AM this morning. It is now 3:50 and I am back in the room having a rest and cooling off before I head back out for the evening. I saw everything today… and I saw everything because as I was by the old wall at the edge of the historic town (see photo below), I passed a bike shop. They had a “City Free” bike that folds up and fits into a bag. The man said it would fit in a SmartCar, so that means I am using a bike for the rest of the trip at least until the end of Rome. It am thinking that will be great in Rome as the city is so big and I have so much territory to cover while I am there. At the end of Rome, I will decide what I am doing with it. In the meantime, I rode the bike all over town and found everything, a beautiful park with a view, regular local streets, all kinds of churches that aren't on any tourist maps and the tourist office who charges 50 cents for a tourist map so I didn't buy it! I also rode it in to the main part of Arezzo, which is flat and very hot. It has bike paths all over the place so it was safe riding. The bike will be a great benefit to the me for the area I can cover and for the reduced wear and tear on my knees! (which are doing okay today)
I am travelling with my tourist camera today - a little Sony, with an LED screen that is constantly blurry because of my eyes. I really can never tell if it is focused. It’s one of those cameras that you have to hold in the air to shoot and because I cant see what’s on the LCD I am not really sure what I am pointing the thing at so I end up with "by chance" photographs. I am using it today to give my right arm a rest from the weight of my big camera. The shots posted below are from the tourist camera. Anyhow.. I saw the Cimabue ~really big smile~ and when I went to take the shot with my little blue tourist camera, lights turned on at the front of the church to light up the cross. I took all the shots and then the lights went off. They never came on again! It’s a miracle I say! (The Sony Gods are trying to prove to me that the camera doesn't stink!)
… okay.. I am going out on the bike again… apresto!
Later the same day... It's now 6:47 PM - I did another trip around the town and now am sitting under a row of arches, I think designed by Vasari when he was a baby, in a caffe, that has good wireless, in a piazza where the sun is shining, crests of families of Italy line the square and Roy Rogers and Dale Evan are playing over the sound system - what could be better!
PS - Although it is in the cities where I see the most important works of art, it is the countryside to which I am drawn.
I am travelling with my tourist camera today - a little Sony, with an LED screen that is constantly blurry because of my eyes. I really can never tell if it is focused. It’s one of those cameras that you have to hold in the air to shoot and because I cant see what’s on the LCD I am not really sure what I am pointing the thing at so I end up with "by chance" photographs. I am using it today to give my right arm a rest from the weight of my big camera. The shots posted below are from the tourist camera. Anyhow.. I saw the Cimabue ~really big smile~ and when I went to take the shot with my little blue tourist camera, lights turned on at the front of the church to light up the cross. I took all the shots and then the lights went off. They never came on again! It’s a miracle I say! (The Sony Gods are trying to prove to me that the camera doesn't stink!)
… okay.. I am going out on the bike again… apresto!
Later the same day... It's now 6:47 PM - I did another trip around the town and now am sitting under a row of arches, I think designed by Vasari when he was a baby, in a caffe, that has good wireless, in a piazza where the sun is shining, crests of families of Italy line the square and Roy Rogers and Dale Evan are playing over the sound system - what could be better!
PS - Although it is in the cities where I see the most important works of art, it is the countryside to which I am drawn.
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