England, here I come! My personal sabbatical from June 2014 to July 2015.
I chose Salisbury as my base in England, as I have a dear cousin on my mother's side living not far from the city. I met very friendly and interesting people, volunteered at Oxfam, and played in orchestras and chamber groups. From there I was able to attend many special events in London and other parts of England, visiting friends and family. I went on numerous National Express coaches (the best), trains (the best), the Salisbury Red buses (the best) and drove my loaned car (the best). In travelling to and from the US, Italy and Budapest, I took 14 flights in total - from the US to UK and back (twice), RT from the UK to Rome four times, and from Rome-Budapest-London. In Italy the SIT coaches to and from Fiumicino airport were the best, as were the bullet trains to Milan-Venice-Rome, vaporettos in Venice and of course the Gondola ride. Best of all. And I walked and walked and walked.
My cousin Meryl was a great support on my arrival in Salisbury and throughout the sabbatical. It made such a difference starting off in an unknown town having her give me all sorts of needed advice, and including me in family events. Thanks Meryl, you are a star.
When my niece Maggie and her son Aaron were visiting Salisbury, it was a very special day when Meryl met them for the first time.This was after a very moving visit in Budapest I had with my niece Maggie and her son Aaron. Maggie had organized the visit so well that we were able to cram in as much as possible in the 4 days while we were there. You did such a good job Maggie.
I also want to thank my friend in London, Louise, who is like family to me. So many of the events I attended in London were because of her hospitality. There was always a bed for me when I visited and her house became a home away from home. I am truly grateful for her friendship.
Finally I want to thank all the new friends I made in Salisbury who extended their hospitality and time to making music. It was the icing on the cake.
In Chapel Hill, many friends kept things going for me. Karen took over the Musica office with help from Mary Fran, and kept up with bookings, paychecks, taxes and myriads of details. We spent many hours on Skype working out the events. A huge undertaking for Karen, and she did a great job. Laura, Suzanne and other musicians kept the musical side of the business going and kept up Musica's reputation. Thanks to you all for your efforts and willingness to keep it going.
My friends Ann and Phil took good care of my Rav4, coordinating with family members who borrowed it and did repairs when needed and also washed it! So no worries about the car while I was gone! Neighbor Susan was also helpful in keeping an eye on my house and tenants (who were great), passing on HOA information, storing some of my things and being available to help find photos in time for the Broadsheet article deadline. The wonders of technology.
I chose Salisbury as my base in England, as I have a dear cousin on my mother's side living not far from the city. I met very friendly and interesting people, volunteered at Oxfam, and played in orchestras and chamber groups. From there I was able to attend many special events in London and other parts of England, visiting friends and family. I went on numerous National Express coaches (the best), trains (the best), the Salisbury Red buses (the best) and drove my loaned car (the best). In travelling to and from the US, Italy and Budapest, I took 14 flights in total - from the US to UK and back (twice), RT from the UK to Rome four times, and from Rome-Budapest-London. In Italy the SIT coaches to and from Fiumicino airport were the best, as were the bullet trains to Milan-Venice-Rome, vaporettos in Venice and of course the Gondola ride. Best of all. And I walked and walked and walked.
My cousin Meryl was a great support on my arrival in Salisbury and throughout the sabbatical. It made such a difference starting off in an unknown town having her give me all sorts of needed advice, and including me in family events. Thanks Meryl, you are a star.
When my niece Maggie and her son Aaron were visiting Salisbury, it was a very special day when Meryl met them for the first time.This was after a very moving visit in Budapest I had with my niece Maggie and her son Aaron. Maggie had organized the visit so well that we were able to cram in as much as possible in the 4 days while we were there. You did such a good job Maggie.
I also want to thank my friend in London, Louise, who is like family to me. So many of the events I attended in London were because of her hospitality. There was always a bed for me when I visited and her house became a home away from home. I am truly grateful for her friendship.
Finally I want to thank all the new friends I made in Salisbury who extended their hospitality and time to making music. It was the icing on the cake.
In Chapel Hill, many friends kept things going for me. Karen took over the Musica office with help from Mary Fran, and kept up with bookings, paychecks, taxes and myriads of details. We spent many hours on Skype working out the events. A huge undertaking for Karen, and she did a great job. Laura, Suzanne and other musicians kept the musical side of the business going and kept up Musica's reputation. Thanks to you all for your efforts and willingness to keep it going.
My friends Ann and Phil took good care of my Rav4, coordinating with family members who borrowed it and did repairs when needed and also washed it! So no worries about the car while I was gone! Neighbor Susan was also helpful in keeping an eye on my house and tenants (who were great), passing on HOA information, storing some of my things and being available to help find photos in time for the Broadsheet article deadline. The wonders of technology.
Prelude
Introduction and Bio
Tuesday, July 14, 2015. I am on my favorite flight - London-Heathrow direct to Raleigh-Durham, returning to the USA marking the ending of a 10 month personal sabbatical. How did this amazing adventure come to fruition? It was only made possible by two things. The first was that I was able to rent out my house for that time, which gave me the wherewithal to live in the UK; the second was the generosity and kindness of my son and daughter-in-law in making it possible for me to get to Rome on four occasions, to experience the many exciting adventures we had in our travels around Italy. Why such a long time? Several reasons - My son and his family were living in Rome, easier to visit from than the US, England is my homeland, and it had been a long time since I had lived there for an extended time. I wanted to see if it would be possible for me to live there for several months out of the year. It was a magical ten months where I saw friends and family, met new friends, played lots of lovely music, learnt much about Salisbury and its surrounding area, and explored the many places I visited in England, Italy and Budapest.
This is how it started.
With my school teaching days at an end and my grandchildren growing up and getting on with their own lives, I felt under-stimulated. How can that be? Chapel Hill, a highly-renowned academic town, has great opportunities and resources for townspeople. It was a wonderful place to bring up a family, teach great students, run a music business, play in numerous groups and orchestras, and go to thrilling performances. However, I still felt isolated from the rest of the world, knowing how much more to life there is out there. In June of 2014 I had spent three weeks in Salisbury, a medieval market town with the cathedral that has the highest spire in the country, and had often visited my cousin who lives not far from Salisbury. I had been impressed by the beauty of the area and wanted to explore it further. Those three weeks gave me a germ of an idea which grew to became an actuality, giving me the impetus to go home and see what I could do to return there in September. I decided to try renting my furnished house for ten months, and two weeks after putting the ad up on www.sabbaticalhomes.com, a couple from Oregon signed the lease! Three weeks later I was on the flight to Heathrow.
Introduction and Bio
Tuesday, July 14, 2015. I am on my favorite flight - London-Heathrow direct to Raleigh-Durham, returning to the USA marking the ending of a 10 month personal sabbatical. How did this amazing adventure come to fruition? It was only made possible by two things. The first was that I was able to rent out my house for that time, which gave me the wherewithal to live in the UK; the second was the generosity and kindness of my son and daughter-in-law in making it possible for me to get to Rome on four occasions, to experience the many exciting adventures we had in our travels around Italy. Why such a long time? Several reasons - My son and his family were living in Rome, easier to visit from than the US, England is my homeland, and it had been a long time since I had lived there for an extended time. I wanted to see if it would be possible for me to live there for several months out of the year. It was a magical ten months where I saw friends and family, met new friends, played lots of lovely music, learnt much about Salisbury and its surrounding area, and explored the many places I visited in England, Italy and Budapest.
This is how it started.
With my school teaching days at an end and my grandchildren growing up and getting on with their own lives, I felt under-stimulated. How can that be? Chapel Hill, a highly-renowned academic town, has great opportunities and resources for townspeople. It was a wonderful place to bring up a family, teach great students, run a music business, play in numerous groups and orchestras, and go to thrilling performances. However, I still felt isolated from the rest of the world, knowing how much more to life there is out there. In June of 2014 I had spent three weeks in Salisbury, a medieval market town with the cathedral that has the highest spire in the country, and had often visited my cousin who lives not far from Salisbury. I had been impressed by the beauty of the area and wanted to explore it further. Those three weeks gave me a germ of an idea which grew to became an actuality, giving me the impetus to go home and see what I could do to return there in September. I decided to try renting my furnished house for ten months, and two weeks after putting the ad up on www.sabbaticalhomes.com, a couple from Oregon signed the lease! Three weeks later I was on the flight to Heathrow.
Sept. 17, 2014. Chapel Hill to Salisbury.
After a wonderful send-off party by my family, friends and students, and with the great help of my dear friend Mary Fran doing the last-minute frantic packing so I could actually get on the plane, I left on on my adventure with a cello, treble viol and 5 cases. So many things just fell into place. This adventure was meant to be. To start with, I was able to get on my favorite direct flight from my local airport, RDU to Heathrow. In Salisbury, I was able to stay with the same landlady I had in June, which was very helpful. She was not able to accommodate me for the whole 10 months, but it was enough time to allow me to look around for another place. It gave me the opportunity to learn my way around Salisbury, seeing if there were any jobs going, registering with the library and the doctor’s practice, (being British, I am eligible for the NHS and other perks the government provides). In June I had met the director of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, who is also the Choir Director of Salisbury Cathedral. He had been very welcoming and invited me to play in the orchestra if I did return. He also warned me of the very high cost of housing in the area, which I soon found out. Unfortunately, I was not able to join that orchestra until January, as I had conflicts with some of the rehearsal dates for the December concert, but before I had left the US, I received an email from the principal cellist of the Salisbury Sinfonia, a medium size chamber orchestra, asking me to play for their Oct. 18th concert. Of course I was thrilled to be asked and looked forward to playing with them.
Sept. 22. A new opportunity presented itself to me soon after I arrived. In walking around the town, I saw a notice in the Oxfam charity shop asking for a volunteer to work in the music section of the Oxfam bookstore. I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I went in, filled out an application and was accepted immediately. I worked for them until I left to come back to the US (except for the times I was gadding about!) It was the perfect non-playing job for me, I only wished it was a paying one, but the pleasure and satisfaction I got during the whole time I was in Salisbury was worth it. I met so many interesting people, both volunteers and customers, and learnt so much about books in general and the types of music recordings.
At first I was only in the music section, sorting out the music books, sheet music, CDs and vinyl recordings, which are becoming extremely collectable. In between I had great conversations with customers wanting music. Some were professional musicians, others just starting out on an instrument they had always wanted to play. After arranging the items in a way a customer could find things easily, it was just a matter of keeping it in order, so if I was not needed on the till, I would go down and help the bookstore people. The manager, David, had been in book sales for 40 years or so, and has a huge amount of knowledge about books and how to run a store. All Oxfam’s books are donated, and David is very picky about the books he takes in to put on the shelves. Most of them look brand new, except of course for the very delicate collectors’ books which can be over 100 years old. There are 150 Oxfam bookshops in the UK, and Salisbury vies with Marlborough’s Oxfam bookstore for first or second place. Salisbury, being a prime area for well-read retirees, has a plethora of downsizing donors, consequently there is a wide array of fascinating topics, from the sublime to the ridiculous. My favorites were biographies, so many interesting people from all walks of life, I love reading their stories. History, art books - I got an exquisite book of the Illuminations in the Cathedral of Sienna. In January of 2015, on my Christmas visit to Rome, we had visited the cathedral and seen the originals in one of the side chapels. I was amazed to find the book in our bookshop. Travel books (of course) were a favourite, as well as marvelous children’s books, and the prices were great compared to new books. I was always finding something that a family member would love, and wishing I could send it to them. In any case, on each trip I dragged books all over the place.
Sept. 23. A highlight was having coffee with my cousin in Salisbury! So good to have family around for get-togethers and a chat every so often. Meryl was very helpful in giving me tips and contacts for housing etc. It’s a good feeling to have.
Sept. 24. I jumped right in to Salisbury’s music scene with the first rehearsal of the Salisbury Sinfonia, a smallish chamber orchestra, with a fine young conductor and good musicians.
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After a wonderful send-off party by my family, friends and students, and with the great help of my dear friend Mary Fran doing the last-minute frantic packing so I could actually get on the plane, I left on on my adventure with a cello, treble viol and 5 cases. So many things just fell into place. This adventure was meant to be. To start with, I was able to get on my favorite direct flight from my local airport, RDU to Heathrow. In Salisbury, I was able to stay with the same landlady I had in June, which was very helpful. She was not able to accommodate me for the whole 10 months, but it was enough time to allow me to look around for another place. It gave me the opportunity to learn my way around Salisbury, seeing if there were any jobs going, registering with the library and the doctor’s practice, (being British, I am eligible for the NHS and other perks the government provides). In June I had met the director of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, who is also the Choir Director of Salisbury Cathedral. He had been very welcoming and invited me to play in the orchestra if I did return. He also warned me of the very high cost of housing in the area, which I soon found out. Unfortunately, I was not able to join that orchestra until January, as I had conflicts with some of the rehearsal dates for the December concert, but before I had left the US, I received an email from the principal cellist of the Salisbury Sinfonia, a medium size chamber orchestra, asking me to play for their Oct. 18th concert. Of course I was thrilled to be asked and looked forward to playing with them.
Sept. 22. A new opportunity presented itself to me soon after I arrived. In walking around the town, I saw a notice in the Oxfam charity shop asking for a volunteer to work in the music section of the Oxfam bookstore. I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I went in, filled out an application and was accepted immediately. I worked for them until I left to come back to the US (except for the times I was gadding about!) It was the perfect non-playing job for me, I only wished it was a paying one, but the pleasure and satisfaction I got during the whole time I was in Salisbury was worth it. I met so many interesting people, both volunteers and customers, and learnt so much about books in general and the types of music recordings.
At first I was only in the music section, sorting out the music books, sheet music, CDs and vinyl recordings, which are becoming extremely collectable. In between I had great conversations with customers wanting music. Some were professional musicians, others just starting out on an instrument they had always wanted to play. After arranging the items in a way a customer could find things easily, it was just a matter of keeping it in order, so if I was not needed on the till, I would go down and help the bookstore people. The manager, David, had been in book sales for 40 years or so, and has a huge amount of knowledge about books and how to run a store. All Oxfam’s books are donated, and David is very picky about the books he takes in to put on the shelves. Most of them look brand new, except of course for the very delicate collectors’ books which can be over 100 years old. There are 150 Oxfam bookshops in the UK, and Salisbury vies with Marlborough’s Oxfam bookstore for first or second place. Salisbury, being a prime area for well-read retirees, has a plethora of downsizing donors, consequently there is a wide array of fascinating topics, from the sublime to the ridiculous. My favorites were biographies, so many interesting people from all walks of life, I love reading their stories. History, art books - I got an exquisite book of the Illuminations in the Cathedral of Sienna. In January of 2015, on my Christmas visit to Rome, we had visited the cathedral and seen the originals in one of the side chapels. I was amazed to find the book in our bookshop. Travel books (of course) were a favourite, as well as marvelous children’s books, and the prices were great compared to new books. I was always finding something that a family member would love, and wishing I could send it to them. In any case, on each trip I dragged books all over the place.
Sept. 23. A highlight was having coffee with my cousin in Salisbury! So good to have family around for get-togethers and a chat every so often. Meryl was very helpful in giving me tips and contacts for housing etc. It’s a good feeling to have.
Sept. 24. I jumped right in to Salisbury’s music scene with the first rehearsal of the Salisbury Sinfonia, a smallish chamber orchestra, with a fine young conductor and good musicians.
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Chapter 2 - October
Oct. 3, 2014 Salisbury.
The month started off with another good feeling - having an old friend to visit. Louise from London, had come down to Salisbury for a weekend conference and was able to stay with me at Zaria’s. We met in the Market Square for lunch and had a good natter before she left for the conference meeting and dinner. Louise is more like a sister, since we are the third of three generations of our families being friends. It all started in South Africa, when I was about 6. My mother and I were in the Johannesburg Park when she came across a young child around 3, seemingly wandering around by herself. Louise says she was having a nice little walkabout. Naturally my mother was concerned about her wandering around alone, and we walked with her until we met up with her grandmother who was visiting from London. All was well and the two English ladies chatted away while Louise and I played together. Later we met Louise's parents and brother, and became lifelong friends when her parents returned to London for work and we were also in the UK. During our school and college years, Louise and I lost contact for many years, (no internet then) as we were on different continents, I in the UK, Israel and the US, and Louise was all over the world on archeological expeditions. When she returned to England to live there permanently, and later became Head Conservator of the Horniman Museum, she visited Mum often in her London sheltered accommodation, and later in the care home near Farnborough, where we met and renewed our friendship again. Louise was a very considerate and supportive friend to me when Mum died. She has always been generous with her hospitality, and brings up a cup of tea in the morning whenever I stay with her.
Oct. 4. Coach to London-Family weekend-Hampton Court Palace.
The National Express coaches are very comfortable and warm with large windows for viewing the glorious countryside. The ten-hour journey from the south to the north goes very quickly, as there are power outlets on the coach so I can get email, listen to the radio, read the papers, make phone calls - all on my trusty iPhone, with the driver doing all the work! I took it from Salisbury to London Victoria.
Elisa's co-worker living in London had lent her small flat in the Highbury-Islington district to the family for the weekend, and the family arrived from Rome late Friday night. On the way there from Victoria Station, I had good memories of that area, as my last two years as a music student were lived in nearby Islington. My landlady was a cellist at the nearby Sadler's Wells Theatre, and sometimes gave me tickets to performances. Once was for the opera “La Boheme”. It so overwhelmed me that I wept for a long time afterwards, and have never been able to go to another performance of it. Even hearing the individual arias on the radio wipe me out.
The Highbury flat overlooked a large grassy square surrounded by huge trees providing shade over the lush green lawns. From the large windows, I could imagine the square filled with Victorian and Edwardian children from the surrounding houses, out with their nannies twice a day. Theirs was a strictly regimented schedule in those eras, but it gave the children a great feeling of security in their day to day routine. However, in spite of the squares all over London, it was not the healthiest place to live with the smog. Upper class children would be taken off to their country houses periodically for fresh air and more space, although in the East End, there was no possibility for those children of getting away from it during the winter, and they suffered greatly.
The highlight of the weekend was a visit to Hampton Court Palace. Going with a child was so much fun! There were so many things for Zoe to do. Firstly, getting a velvet cloak to wear made her feel important, and then going through the palace, she was invited to sign the guest book with a quill pen. There were demonstrations of 16th century kitchens of baking and cooking, the array of vegetable and meats were impressive, not to mention the casks of wine and beer!
Hampton Court is famous for its centuries old Maze which confounds many, but Zoe zipped through it with us following her, and finished very quickly. I'd still be there I think, without her help! It was a lovely sunny day and we walked through the gardens admiring the exteriors of the Palaces.
We ended the day with a ride on the London Eye. There was a full moon and it was truly wonderful seeing London twinkling below. Afterwards we walked across the Golden Jubilee Bridge to Charing Cross, enjoying the gorgeous moonlit evening. Just as we were finishing up taking photos from the bridge, we saw a young man by the railing go on his knee and propose to his sweetheart. It was certainly a special night for that couple, she must have said yes, as there was lots of hugging and kissing!
Here’s a note about an intriguing event while I was writing this story. A little scary. I picked up my Iphone to confirm the name of the bridge we were crossing, but first I had a quick look at my emails. A new one had just come in with a YouTube video of my favorite group, the 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, playing…..
Moonlight Serenade. coincidental, scary?
Oct. 12 Salisbury, Wiltshire Wedding Show, City Hall
The first thing I noticed at the show was no live music for a wedding ceremony, only a singer who sang a couple of reception songs. I was surprised about that, but I heard it was more common to have the organist and perhaps a choir at a church wedding. I wish I could have provided a string quartet to play as people arrived at the show, and later on some ceremony selections and cocktail hour pieces. My Musica string quartet has played for 15 years or so for the Carolina Inn Bridal Fair in Chapel Hill and it certainly adds much to the event. I am sure there would be a good market with all the the country and stately houses dotted around the country, but I hadn’t done much research on them.
Oct. 14. Salisbury Job Fair
Held in the Guildhall, this building dating from 1795, although there was an earlier one built in 1585. No longer used as a court of justice, the Oak Court now holds weddings, conferences and other functions. Another opportunity for the string quartet! The jail cells in the basement are open to the public, and according to recent workers refurbishing them there were many strange noises while they were working in that area.
I was hoping to find a paying job, but there was nothing to touch what I was doing at Oxfam, and I was enjoying life too much to be pinned down by some mind-numbing job. Oh well, back to bread and water!
October 18. Salisbury
My first concert with the Salisbury Sinfonia at St. Mark's Church. Tim Murray, a young conductor based at the Royal Opera House in London is excellent, a great time manager, which was important as there was a lot to get through in not many rehearsals. He was thoroughly prepared, knew exactly what he wanted from the players and was a real joy to work with. The players too, were very efficient, so we were able to concentrate on making music. I felt very comfortable and grateful to be playing with them.
Our program was: Gustav Holst “ Egdon Heath”, Edward Elgar Cello Concerto, with soloist Lucy Andrews and Johannes Brahms Symphony #3 in F. From the reactions of the audience, it was very well received.
Oct. 29. Salisbury Cathedral concert.
Although I had been to the cathedral many times in the summer and early autumn, today I was totally blown away when walking to the cathedral after finishing my stint at Oxfam. From the busy street leading to the cathedral there is a beautiful stone archway. Walking through it takes you into a different world. The Close between the arch and the wall surrounding the edge of the lawns around the cathedral footprint, is a large green lawn circled by beautiful houses from the 15th -18th centuries, several of which have appeared on Masterpiece Theatre. Mompesson House was one such place in movie history. Scenes from the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility were filmed there. Other famous houses include former UK Prime Minister Edward Heath’s house, Arundells, built in the 13th century. Next door is the “Wardrobe”, the Rifles Museum, and further down the road which circles the cathedral, is the Salisbury Museum and the Bishop's House.
Since the clocks moved back last Sunday, with lighting only on the walkways surrounding the cathedral, it gets very dark even before Evensong. It had been drizzling for a while, making the area around the cathedral very misty. The view of the yellow sandstone cathedral with the mist swirling all around and up to the spire, which is engulfed by it at the top, is breathtaking, making a perfect backdrop for Halloween. This is one I took at that time.
Tonight in the cathedral is the concert by the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra. Pinchas Zukerman is conducting and playing. It is to commemorate the 600,000 Canadian soldiers who came to England to help in the First World War, almost a hundred years to the day. It was especially important to Salisbury, as the soldiers came to prepare for war on Salisbury Plain. Here is a brief description of the Canadian Army coming to England.
The Canadian Division, consisting of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Newfoundland Regiment, were taken by the fleet of 33 Atlantic liners assembled in Gaspé Basin off the coast of Quebec province for a rendezvous with their Royal Navy warship escorts. On 3 October, 1914, the transport ships steamed ahead out of Gaspé Bay in three lines led by the Royal Navy warships.
Making its way up the St. Lawrence seaway the convoy passed through the gateway of Canada, the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As it passed the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, the sealing-ship SS Florizel, with the Newfoundland Regiment aboard, joined the fleet.
As the army set sail for Europe it was the first time that such a large contingent of troops had ever crossed the Atlantic. The voyage was uneventful and long. The fleet entered Plymouth Sound off the south coast of England on the evening of 14 October 1914. Censorship about the arrival of the Canadian Armada had been so strictly controlled that the fleet was completely unexpected by the local people of Plymouth and Devonport. However, word quickly got around that the Canadian transports had arrived and the townspeople flocked to the waterfront to cheer. When the Canadian troops disembarked they marched through the streets to a warm welcome. However, they endured a long miserable winter training in the mud and drizzle of Salisbury Plain. There they spent four dismal winter months in the mud, cold and rain. On the sodden fields, in the fog and mud of the battalion lines, in the dripping tents and crowded, reeking huts morale was low and sickness was common. But once the rains stopped and training could begin properly the men of Canada gave promise of the great spirit they possessed. They displayed a spirit of endurance, courage, and willingness that proclaimed them to the world as troops of the finest quality.
In the spring of 1915, they were deemed ready for the front line and were razor-keen. Nothing, they believed, could be worse than the Salisbury Plain. In the years that lay ahead, they were to find out just how tragically wrong that assessment was.
Oct.30. Flat hunting
During this month I started looking for a new place to live as November was coming up pretty quickly and was going to be a busy month. I was sorry to have to move as I was very comfortable where I was and it was easy to get into town. Zaria, my landlady, was a painter and decorator and had been working in a large Victorian house in a beautiful area of the New Forest about 12 miles from Salisbury. It had a small upstairs flat on one end, (possibly the housekeeper's or coachmen's flat) with a living room and bedroom, both rooms overlooking a large lawn and fields beyond, together with a kitchen, bathroom and utility room. The owner was thinking of making it into a holiday rental, but would be willing to get it ready for me by December, knowing I would like to stay there until July. There was still quite a lot to do to the flat, but Zaria assured me it would be done by then.
Here is a classic example of heart over mind. I fell in love with the idea of being out in such beautiful surroundings - the river Avon was on the other side of a lane, where there was a fishery farm. The hamlet consisted of two big houses - the Manor House, Bickton House (us) some thatched cottages, and a water mill that had been converted into flats. We were only two miles from Fordingbridge, but we could have been in the middle of nowhere. A few minutes up the lane from the house was the A338 speed race track from Bournemouth to Salisbury. Buses came every half hour and as I didn't have a car, was well served to get in to Salisbury. Buoyed by the glorious countryside and peacefulness I said yes.
October 31 Salisbury.
Hallowe’en as we know it in the US, is not as common in the UK. Children don’t go round trick or treating, except for a few in their close neighborhood. Maybe some teenagers get dressed up as ghouls and scare people. Salisbury, being a medieval town, is full of ghosts from the past centuries, and there is a group of guides who walk around the town telling scary tales of people and places. Zaria and I went on a Ghost Walk and learnt about all sorts of horrible deeds having been done, with the ghosts coming back to haunt the locations where they happened. An example of this is the Duke of Buckingham who lived in a house opposite the Market Square. It is now a posh department store, Debenhams. The Duke was executed in the 15th century, and some years ago when working on the site, a British Telecom worker was confronted by an apparition of the headless Duke. He refused to re-enter the building. I have to say, I had tea in the Debenham’s tea shop and didn’t feel anything ghoulish, maybe it was just too noisy for the poor Duke. The walks, of which the Ghost is one, are run by the Tourist office, and are held throughout the year. It’s an interesting and fun way to learn the inside stories of many of the old buildings.
The National Express coaches are very comfortable and warm with large windows for viewing the glorious countryside. The ten-hour journey from the south to the north goes very quickly, as there are power outlets on the coach so I can get email, listen to the radio, read the papers, make phone calls - all on my trusty iPhone, with the driver doing all the work! I took it from Salisbury to London Victoria.
Elisa's co-worker living in London had lent her small flat in the Highbury-Islington district to the family for the weekend, and the family arrived from Rome late Friday night. On the way there from Victoria Station, I had good memories of that area, as my last two years as a music student were lived in nearby Islington. My landlady was a cellist at the nearby Sadler's Wells Theatre, and sometimes gave me tickets to performances. Once was for the opera “La Boheme”. It so overwhelmed me that I wept for a long time afterwards, and have never been able to go to another performance of it. Even hearing the individual arias on the radio wipe me out.
The Highbury flat overlooked a large grassy square surrounded by huge trees providing shade over the lush green lawns. From the large windows, I could imagine the square filled with Victorian and Edwardian children from the surrounding houses, out with their nannies twice a day. Theirs was a strictly regimented schedule in those eras, but it gave the children a great feeling of security in their day to day routine. However, in spite of the squares all over London, it was not the healthiest place to live with the smog. Upper class children would be taken off to their country houses periodically for fresh air and more space, although in the East End, there was no possibility for those children of getting away from it during the winter, and they suffered greatly.
The highlight of the weekend was a visit to Hampton Court Palace. Going with a child was so much fun! There were so many things for Zoe to do. Firstly, getting a velvet cloak to wear made her feel important, and then going through the palace, she was invited to sign the guest book with a quill pen. There were demonstrations of 16th century kitchens of baking and cooking, the array of vegetable and meats were impressive, not to mention the casks of wine and beer!
Hampton Court is famous for its centuries old Maze which confounds many, but Zoe zipped through it with us following her, and finished very quickly. I'd still be there I think, without her help! It was a lovely sunny day and we walked through the gardens admiring the exteriors of the Palaces.
We ended the day with a ride on the London Eye. There was a full moon and it was truly wonderful seeing London twinkling below. Afterwards we walked across the Golden Jubilee Bridge to Charing Cross, enjoying the gorgeous moonlit evening. Just as we were finishing up taking photos from the bridge, we saw a young man by the railing go on his knee and propose to his sweetheart. It was certainly a special night for that couple, she must have said yes, as there was lots of hugging and kissing!
Here’s a note about an intriguing event while I was writing this story. A little scary. I picked up my Iphone to confirm the name of the bridge we were crossing, but first I had a quick look at my emails. A new one had just come in with a YouTube video of my favorite group, the 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, playing…..
Moonlight Serenade. coincidental, scary?
Oct. 12 Salisbury, Wiltshire Wedding Show, City Hall
The first thing I noticed at the show was no live music for a wedding ceremony, only a singer who sang a couple of reception songs. I was surprised about that, but I heard it was more common to have the organist and perhaps a choir at a church wedding. I wish I could have provided a string quartet to play as people arrived at the show, and later on some ceremony selections and cocktail hour pieces. My Musica string quartet has played for 15 years or so for the Carolina Inn Bridal Fair in Chapel Hill and it certainly adds much to the event. I am sure there would be a good market with all the the country and stately houses dotted around the country, but I hadn’t done much research on them.
Oct. 14. Salisbury Job Fair
Held in the Guildhall, this building dating from 1795, although there was an earlier one built in 1585. No longer used as a court of justice, the Oak Court now holds weddings, conferences and other functions. Another opportunity for the string quartet! The jail cells in the basement are open to the public, and according to recent workers refurbishing them there were many strange noises while they were working in that area.
I was hoping to find a paying job, but there was nothing to touch what I was doing at Oxfam, and I was enjoying life too much to be pinned down by some mind-numbing job. Oh well, back to bread and water!
October 18. Salisbury
My first concert with the Salisbury Sinfonia at St. Mark's Church. Tim Murray, a young conductor based at the Royal Opera House in London is excellent, a great time manager, which was important as there was a lot to get through in not many rehearsals. He was thoroughly prepared, knew exactly what he wanted from the players and was a real joy to work with. The players too, were very efficient, so we were able to concentrate on making music. I felt very comfortable and grateful to be playing with them.
Our program was: Gustav Holst “ Egdon Heath”, Edward Elgar Cello Concerto, with soloist Lucy Andrews and Johannes Brahms Symphony #3 in F. From the reactions of the audience, it was very well received.
Oct. 29. Salisbury Cathedral concert.
Although I had been to the cathedral many times in the summer and early autumn, today I was totally blown away when walking to the cathedral after finishing my stint at Oxfam. From the busy street leading to the cathedral there is a beautiful stone archway. Walking through it takes you into a different world. The Close between the arch and the wall surrounding the edge of the lawns around the cathedral footprint, is a large green lawn circled by beautiful houses from the 15th -18th centuries, several of which have appeared on Masterpiece Theatre. Mompesson House was one such place in movie history. Scenes from the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility were filmed there. Other famous houses include former UK Prime Minister Edward Heath’s house, Arundells, built in the 13th century. Next door is the “Wardrobe”, the Rifles Museum, and further down the road which circles the cathedral, is the Salisbury Museum and the Bishop's House.
Since the clocks moved back last Sunday, with lighting only on the walkways surrounding the cathedral, it gets very dark even before Evensong. It had been drizzling for a while, making the area around the cathedral very misty. The view of the yellow sandstone cathedral with the mist swirling all around and up to the spire, which is engulfed by it at the top, is breathtaking, making a perfect backdrop for Halloween. This is one I took at that time.
Tonight in the cathedral is the concert by the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra. Pinchas Zukerman is conducting and playing. It is to commemorate the 600,000 Canadian soldiers who came to England to help in the First World War, almost a hundred years to the day. It was especially important to Salisbury, as the soldiers came to prepare for war on Salisbury Plain. Here is a brief description of the Canadian Army coming to England.
The Canadian Division, consisting of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Newfoundland Regiment, were taken by the fleet of 33 Atlantic liners assembled in Gaspé Basin off the coast of Quebec province for a rendezvous with their Royal Navy warship escorts. On 3 October, 1914, the transport ships steamed ahead out of Gaspé Bay in three lines led by the Royal Navy warships.
Making its way up the St. Lawrence seaway the convoy passed through the gateway of Canada, the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As it passed the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, the sealing-ship SS Florizel, with the Newfoundland Regiment aboard, joined the fleet.
As the army set sail for Europe it was the first time that such a large contingent of troops had ever crossed the Atlantic. The voyage was uneventful and long. The fleet entered Plymouth Sound off the south coast of England on the evening of 14 October 1914. Censorship about the arrival of the Canadian Armada had been so strictly controlled that the fleet was completely unexpected by the local people of Plymouth and Devonport. However, word quickly got around that the Canadian transports had arrived and the townspeople flocked to the waterfront to cheer. When the Canadian troops disembarked they marched through the streets to a warm welcome. However, they endured a long miserable winter training in the mud and drizzle of Salisbury Plain. There they spent four dismal winter months in the mud, cold and rain. On the sodden fields, in the fog and mud of the battalion lines, in the dripping tents and crowded, reeking huts morale was low and sickness was common. But once the rains stopped and training could begin properly the men of Canada gave promise of the great spirit they possessed. They displayed a spirit of endurance, courage, and willingness that proclaimed them to the world as troops of the finest quality.
In the spring of 1915, they were deemed ready for the front line and were razor-keen. Nothing, they believed, could be worse than the Salisbury Plain. In the years that lay ahead, they were to find out just how tragically wrong that assessment was.
Oct.30. Flat hunting
During this month I started looking for a new place to live as November was coming up pretty quickly and was going to be a busy month. I was sorry to have to move as I was very comfortable where I was and it was easy to get into town. Zaria, my landlady, was a painter and decorator and had been working in a large Victorian house in a beautiful area of the New Forest about 12 miles from Salisbury. It had a small upstairs flat on one end, (possibly the housekeeper's or coachmen's flat) with a living room and bedroom, both rooms overlooking a large lawn and fields beyond, together with a kitchen, bathroom and utility room. The owner was thinking of making it into a holiday rental, but would be willing to get it ready for me by December, knowing I would like to stay there until July. There was still quite a lot to do to the flat, but Zaria assured me it would be done by then.
Here is a classic example of heart over mind. I fell in love with the idea of being out in such beautiful surroundings - the river Avon was on the other side of a lane, where there was a fishery farm. The hamlet consisted of two big houses - the Manor House, Bickton House (us) some thatched cottages, and a water mill that had been converted into flats. We were only two miles from Fordingbridge, but we could have been in the middle of nowhere. A few minutes up the lane from the house was the A338 speed race track from Bournemouth to Salisbury. Buses came every half hour and as I didn't have a car, was well served to get in to Salisbury. Buoyed by the glorious countryside and peacefulness I said yes.
October 31 Salisbury.
Hallowe’en as we know it in the US, is not as common in the UK. Children don’t go round trick or treating, except for a few in their close neighborhood. Maybe some teenagers get dressed up as ghouls and scare people. Salisbury, being a medieval town, is full of ghosts from the past centuries, and there is a group of guides who walk around the town telling scary tales of people and places. Zaria and I went on a Ghost Walk and learnt about all sorts of horrible deeds having been done, with the ghosts coming back to haunt the locations where they happened. An example of this is the Duke of Buckingham who lived in a house opposite the Market Square. It is now a posh department store, Debenhams. The Duke was executed in the 15th century, and some years ago when working on the site, a British Telecom worker was confronted by an apparition of the headless Duke. He refused to re-enter the building. I have to say, I had tea in the Debenham’s tea shop and didn’t feel anything ghoulish, maybe it was just too noisy for the poor Duke. The walks, of which the Ghost is one, are run by the Tourist office, and are held throughout the year. It’s an interesting and fun way to learn the inside stories of many of the old buildings.
chapter 3-November
Nov.1 -12. Salisbury
A quiet but busy first two weeks of November. Working at Oxfam, getting ready to move to Bickton after I get back from Rome, and writing an article on my mother's career at the Old Vic in London, for the Association's December issue of the the "Broadsheet". Never in a million years did I ever think I would be asked to write an article to be published. But I was thrilled to do so.
Nov. 13 To London
I took the coach from Salisbury to London Victoria, while there I was able to get a cappuccino and take-away lunch before getting the coach to Scunthorpe in the North East of England. Going by train is not quicker as it entails 2 or 3 changes, and the Scunthorpe coach is direct.
I was going to meet my father's family. Dad grew up in Crowle, a farming village in Lincolnshire, sometimes called South Yorkshire, depending on who is marking the lines. It’s a very flat county - in the 19th century, Dutch workers were brought in to create dykes to channel the water…..
There were 3 siblings in Granny and Grandfather Hodson's family. We never knew our grandfather who had been in WW1 and came out of it with medical problems. He died before I was born. Dad's older sister Elsie, married and had one son, and Noreen, his much younger and only sibling still alive, married John, a farmer who died harvesting his fields a few years ago. Noreen still lives on the farm. Their two children and two grandchildren live nearby, as well as Elsie’s son and his daughter.
I have been to Crowle many times, as a child coming over to England with my mother, and later on with my children, so have had continuity with the family. However my half brothers did not have that opportunity. Being together in Crowle, even for such a short time, gave us all the certainty of having a family to belong to. All of Dad's children suffered from lack of family connections, his family was in England and when growing up, I had seen very little of him. I only met Cliff, the youngest son, when in my thirties with 2 boys of my own. John I had not seen since his birth in Johannesburg in 1960, which was also the only time I saw Charles, the eldest. I never saw Dad after that, he was killed in a car crash on a Capetown mountain, the worst possible time in life for his three young and early teenage sons. I grieved too that my sons would never know their English grandfather.
Clifford, who lives in the DC area in the US, and John, who lives near Capetown, arrived the day before me. For John, this was his first visit to the UK. I wish I had been there to see Noreen's face when she first saw John. He has the exact bone structure as our grandmother. I cried when I first saw him as an adult, he looked so like Granny whom I adored. Clifford and I were the only ones of Dad's children who had known Granny and other family, now John was able to see where Dad grew up and to meet the family. Noreen took them to the cemetery where Hodsons are buried. It was an emotional time for them. Cliff took photos of our grandfather's grave, and also names and dates of other Hodsons who had fought in the world wars. I was interested in some new names, William (Bill) and Joseph Hodson who had gone to Canada. Joseph came back to the UK to fight in WW2 and died over here. Having attended the Remembrance concert in Salisbury Cathedral in October for the 600,000 Canadian soldiers who came over to fight in WW2, I want to do some research into finding out whatever I can about the Canadian side of the family. In April I will be going to the Ancestry.com convention in Birmingham, and may pick up some information there.
After all these years we were able to be together to catch up on family notes and reminiscing about Dad. Even though we are so separated across the globe, nowadays with the marvels of technology, we can stay connected. There was none of that while I was growing up, a 3-minute Christmas call to South Africa was a luxury, and letters took weeks.
A quiet but busy first two weeks of November. Working at Oxfam, getting ready to move to Bickton after I get back from Rome, and writing an article on my mother's career at the Old Vic in London, for the Association's December issue of the the "Broadsheet". Never in a million years did I ever think I would be asked to write an article to be published. But I was thrilled to do so.
Nov. 13 To London
I took the coach from Salisbury to London Victoria, while there I was able to get a cappuccino and take-away lunch before getting the coach to Scunthorpe in the North East of England. Going by train is not quicker as it entails 2 or 3 changes, and the Scunthorpe coach is direct.
I was going to meet my father's family. Dad grew up in Crowle, a farming village in Lincolnshire, sometimes called South Yorkshire, depending on who is marking the lines. It’s a very flat county - in the 19th century, Dutch workers were brought in to create dykes to channel the water…..
There were 3 siblings in Granny and Grandfather Hodson's family. We never knew our grandfather who had been in WW1 and came out of it with medical problems. He died before I was born. Dad's older sister Elsie, married and had one son, and Noreen, his much younger and only sibling still alive, married John, a farmer who died harvesting his fields a few years ago. Noreen still lives on the farm. Their two children and two grandchildren live nearby, as well as Elsie’s son and his daughter.
I have been to Crowle many times, as a child coming over to England with my mother, and later on with my children, so have had continuity with the family. However my half brothers did not have that opportunity. Being together in Crowle, even for such a short time, gave us all the certainty of having a family to belong to. All of Dad's children suffered from lack of family connections, his family was in England and when growing up, I had seen very little of him. I only met Cliff, the youngest son, when in my thirties with 2 boys of my own. John I had not seen since his birth in Johannesburg in 1960, which was also the only time I saw Charles, the eldest. I never saw Dad after that, he was killed in a car crash on a Capetown mountain, the worst possible time in life for his three young and early teenage sons. I grieved too that my sons would never know their English grandfather.
Clifford, who lives in the DC area in the US, and John, who lives near Capetown, arrived the day before me. For John, this was his first visit to the UK. I wish I had been there to see Noreen's face when she first saw John. He has the exact bone structure as our grandmother. I cried when I first saw him as an adult, he looked so like Granny whom I adored. Clifford and I were the only ones of Dad's children who had known Granny and other family, now John was able to see where Dad grew up and to meet the family. Noreen took them to the cemetery where Hodsons are buried. It was an emotional time for them. Cliff took photos of our grandfather's grave, and also names and dates of other Hodsons who had fought in the world wars. I was interested in some new names, William (Bill) and Joseph Hodson who had gone to Canada. Joseph came back to the UK to fight in WW2 and died over here. Having attended the Remembrance concert in Salisbury Cathedral in October for the 600,000 Canadian soldiers who came over to fight in WW2, I want to do some research into finding out whatever I can about the Canadian side of the family. In April I will be going to the Ancestry.com convention in Birmingham, and may pick up some information there.
After all these years we were able to be together to catch up on family notes and reminiscing about Dad. Even though we are so separated across the globe, nowadays with the marvels of technology, we can stay connected. There was none of that while I was growing up, a 3-minute Christmas call to South Africa was a luxury, and letters took weeks.
Nov. 14, Cliff and John came over to the farmhouse in the morning after their B&B breakfast, and we took photos and made notes about family members and reminiscing about Dad. After lunch they left to drive to Manchester to drop off the hire car and stay the night in a hotel. They had an early flight to Heathrow in order to catch the flight to Washington.
Nov. 15 was a foggy, rainy and cold day, perfect for staying in Noreen's cosy house and catching up. Noreen was taking care of 7 year old Marcus, son of her daughter Clare, who was working Saturday morning. I had some game apps on my phone from when Kate and James used to play them, and Marcus picked them up quickly. Good entertainment for a rainy morning.
Nov. 16. I was up early to get ready for the return trip to Salisbury. Clare drove me and Noreen to the Scunthorpe bus station. A brighter day, but some very foggy patches in the middle of England, could barely see the cars in front of the bus, and we passed one accident. Fortunately all went well for the coaches, and with only a slight delay, arrived safely in Salisbury.
Nov. 17 Family in Alderholt
I went to stay for a week with Meryl, my Welsh cousin (on my mother's side) and her family, who live in the New Forest not far from Bickton house. As with the Hodsons, I never got to meet my Welsh family until I was 16, when Mum took me to Wales for Christmas. Fortunately Meryl and her Dad, Mum's nephew and my first cousin, have kept up with me over the years and met my family. I have been enjoying the sense of family at the get-togethers' Meryl and I have every so often to catch up. It was lovely to spend some time with them all too, although being a work and school week, there wasn't much time for lounging around. During that week though, I had been invited to join a little local orchestra, based around the Fordingbridge area. Started in the 1990s by a Sandleheath farmer who played the violin, Harry had gathered a small group of strings (the bass player plays in the Salisbury Symphony), winds and brass, to play for local community events - accompanying church groups, summer programs on the lawn outside pubs and such. We were preparing for a Christmas program in a church not far from Salisbury. Since I did not have a car, Harry was very kind in picking me up for rehearsals. I enjoyed learning about the area in our car trips.
Nov 22. To London and Rome.
For the last week in November, I was going to Rome to be with Zoe while her parents had a break in Sicily to attend a performance of Tosca at the Palermo Opera House. Before leaving for Rome, I travelled up to London, staying with my friend Louise. On this occasion, it was to see one of the most moving tributes ever given to the fallen of WW1. The blood red of the ceramic poppies that spilled out from the windows of the Tower of London, one for each British person killed in that war, gave one an overwhelmingly feeling of despair that so many had died.
Later we went to a showing in Leicester Square of the movie "Mr. Turner" one of my favorite painters. I wasn't overly impressed by the looks of the lead character. Just before I left England in July I visited the Turner exhibition at the Salisbury Museum, and the self-portrait in middle age was much more handsome.
Nov. 23. I left for Rome on the 23rd, this time from Luton, quite easy to get to from Louise's house. I now feel Rome is home, going into the big courtyard and up to the 2nd floor flat in the 1920s lift. The flat is imaginatively designed and cosy, with huge windows and a very high ceiling over the living area. A loft with stairs has been built over the rear of the living room, covering the kitchen and corridor areas. This allows for a little alcove, big enough for a single bed, which became Zoe's Hobbit room. From there a narrow bridge led to an alcove for a double bed, which was perfect for me as the ceiling was quite low, not quite so comfortable for those who are not vertically challenged. As well, there was a play/office area and half bath.
Zoe had a chest infection and was needing to use a nebuliser, so we didn't do anything very energetic. No extensive sight-seeing, just walking and enjoying being with the family in Rome.
Nov.26 Dan and Elisa took the train to Palermo in Sicily. They love the island and wanted to go to a performance of Tosca, a nice break for them, and I was glad to be with Zoe. Since she was missing school, we had some "classes" in the morning with workbooks I brought from Oxfam, and in the afternoons started planning the Thanksgiving meal we would have on Friday when Dan and Elisa returned. The three of them are vegetarians, so there wasn't the hassle of finding a turkey. It was a little tricky trying to find ingredients for this American holiday. I had brought some maple syrup and cranberry relish from England, as some of the British grocery stores have an American section or are producing their own version of Thanksgiving essentials, less so in the shops in Rome. Pecans and sweet potatoes were the most difficult items to find.
Near the flat was a market where we bought fresh vegetables, and further down, was a high-end grocery store that stocked English and American items for those expats who crave a certain chocolate bar or cereal, at enormous mark-up prices. Zoe had decided on rice crispy treats as one of the desserts. Kellogg's was beyond our budget, but the local version did as well. In advance I had brought several bags of marshmallows, and we followed a Pinterest item to make pumpkin shaped treats.
Nov. 28. Our Thanksgiving feast was on the Friday, joined by an overseas friend of Elisa. Preparing it was a good opportunity for me and Zoe to have some together time.
Nov. 29 We went to a very special concert at the University of Rome by the Hilliard Ensemble, an acappella group of four male singers. It was part of their Round the World Finale Tour before they disbanded in December. The ensemble had been performing for 40 years, with only a couple of personnel changes. A family friend, tenor Rogers Covey-Crump had been with them for 35 years, and for us, it was a meaningful event. I felt somewhat a groupie, having been in February to their concert in the Chapel of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and now in Rome, and I was thrilled to be invited to their final upcoming concert in London's Wigmore Hall on December 20th. World renown through their large collection of CDs, the group had made their fame in the vocal world by their exquisite sound, impeccable intonation and wide variety of styles. From Renaissance to Arvo Part, their performances were a subliminal experience. Sitting in Duke Chapel listening to their singing was transcending. Occasionally they added other musicians, as they did in Rome, with four friends (two female, two male ) for a program of Bach Cantatas. I was very sorry not to have heard a live concert with saxophonist Jan Garbarek. The combination of sonorities in church acoustics would I'm sure, be a goose bumping experience. Yes, the CDs are marvelous, but there's nothing like a live performance.
After the standing ovation after the performance, we had a good dinner together with Rogers in a modern Roman restaurant and caught up with our respective lives. It had been years since Rogers had seen Dan, and now Dan was a father and Rogers was a grandfather and I a grandmother.
Nov. 30 Rome to London.
After all that excitement, leaving the next day for London was a mundane event, but it was onwards to a new adventure - my move to the flat in Bickton House. I had moved all my belongings earlier, except for the instruments which I had left with Meryl. I was concerned they might get too cold in the flat while I was away. How right I was!
After all that excitement, leaving the next day for London was a mundane event, but it was onwards to a new adventure - my move to the flat in Bickton House. I had moved all my belongings earlier, except for the instruments which I had left with Meryl. I was concerned they might get too cold in the flat while I was away. How right I was!
Dec. 1 Another new beginning, moving in to my new flat!
From Louise's I took the train to Victoria, then the coach to Ringwood and a taxi to Bickton.
Bickton House, built in the 1880s, was a large Victorian family house overlooking the River Avon. It is in a hamlet of around 12 houses and a several flats in the converted Bickton Mill. Just off the main Salisbury to Bournemouth road, (which I call the racetrack between the 2 cities) it is on the edge of the New Forest, a local beauty spot where wild ponies roam throughout. Being out in the country, it was very dark at night, wonderful for seeing the stars, different hemisphere from the US sky. I soon realized the importance of having a torch (flashlight), as the December daylight disappeared around 4:30 in the afternoon. It wasn't until February that I got a car, so I was dependent on shank's pony or the buses. I walked daily along the river where I watched the pair of swans (who mate for life and are always within sight of each other), and often into Fordingbridge, an interesting little town a couple of miles away. The artist Augustus John lived in there in his later years and there is a small exhibition of his work in the Fordingbridge Museum. There is also now, a statue of him by the river Avon, which runs through the town. At first, there was a lot of dissension by the townspeople over the statue, as John's bohemian life did not sit well with the ordinary people. However behavioral values have changed and the statue was finally installed. It is not easily seen from the bridge and it was only out of curiosity that I went down to the riverside to look at it, and discovered who the person it commemorated.
I was in the flat for 3 weeks before my trip to Rome for Christmas. I realized then my romantic idea of a Victorian life in a modern day world, especially in winter, was not for me. I loved the countryside and the walks by the river, but felt quite cut-off from life in Salisbury where so much of my daily life had happened. The buses ran often, but were expensive, and Oxfam was only able to pay for one trip a week. It was a good place for for practicing, which I needed to do, as concerts were coming up in the New Year.
Although the landlord had done a good job getting the flat mostly in order, the furnishings were shabby chic, probably from the charity shops, except for the bed which was a huge sleigh style, very comfy. The kitchen was newly renovated with a good stove and fridge, and the bathroom next to it had new fittings with a very large Victorian claw bath. Although promised a shower, it was not installed until just before I left, so for most of my stay I had baths, which is not my favorite method of ablution, especially in a freezing bathroom. Although promised, the washing machine was never hooked up, so I was dependent on the house machine, which was not very convenient being downstairs in the back of the house and entailed going into freezing areas. However, the main problem was the lack of decent heating. Apart from the high ceilings of Victorian houses, the insulation was very poor and there were holes in the floors and ceiling that had not been filled in after the renovation. The gas central heating which was used in the main house, had not been extended to the flat, necessitating the use of electric panels. Consequently when I finally left the flat, my bill for the electric heating for the ten weeks I was there, (including the 3 weeks when I was away in Rome, with the landlady keeping the heat on as she was afraid the pipes would burst) was £300/$450. That was usage for heating one room at a time (living room during the day, some at night to warm-up the bedroom) and occasionally in the kitchen.I was constantly cold. It's no wonder the British Empire expanded during the Victorian era - everyone who could, went out to the warmer climes of the colonies!
Fortunately there were happier things to think about and do before I left for Christmas in Rome.
Dec. 6. Rehearsal and "Winter Warmer" Concert by the Millstream Orchestra in Whiteparish Church.
The epitome of an English parish church, in the middle of the village, surrounded by the graveyard, was a perfect setting for the concert. The program was light, with arrangements of carols, musicals, and Christmas pieces. On the program was a female vocal quartet who were very entertaining with their selections.
Par for the course, Paul the bass player, and his wife provided a sumptuous tea at their house between the rehearsal and performance.
Dec. 7. Concert by the Wiltshire String Quartet, at St. Thomas’ Church music.
The first violinist was an early contact I met soon after I arrived, she too plays in the Salisbury Sinfonia. Catherine is an American, and has lived in Salisbury for several years, so she understood what I was doing. She still keeps up the Thanksgiving Day holiday and invited me for the dinner, but I was in Rome with the family. They played a light program of classics and Christmas music, perfect accompaniment for the Festival of Christmas trees decorated by the many charities and groups that abound in the town. The trees are then sold, bringing cheer to the buyers and gifts for the needy.
Dec. 13. Meryl’s Christmas Party.
A good time was had by all at this party for friends and family. She puts on a great spread and the house is beautifully decorated with ornaments collected from different places and countries.
Dec. 14. Millstream Orchestra concert at Alderholt Village Hall.
A small group from the orchestra accompanied the choir from the Anglican church in Alderholt where my cousin and her family live, with the audience joining in a Carol Singalong. Can't get much more British than that! Who would have thought two members of our family from different continents would be performing in this village hall within a few weeks of each other? Nia, my cousin's daughter, at 14 is a singer/songwriter and good guitarist, and had played there for the opener of an established band concert, and then three weeks later, I show up playing Christmas carols! Another reason to feel at home.
Dec. 15. Carol concert at Frogham Church in the New Forest.
The next day I played for another carol concert in the Frogham Congregational Church on the edge of the New Forest. This was at the invitation of a lovely lady I met at the Bickton bus stop. She too, volunteered at a charity shop in Salisbury, and we struck up a friendship on our bus rides into Salisbury. She asked me to play at her church, which I did, playing some solo Bach pieces. I chose the lighter movements from the Third Suite and the audience was very complimentary. In both of these last two events, a typical English afternoon tea was served, all home baked goodies, with the favorites - mince pies, Christmas cake, cookies, meringues and more.
Dec. 20. Ringwood to Victoria Coach Station, the Wallace Collection and the Hilliard at the Wigmore Hall.
I took the coach to Victoria, leaving my luggage at the bus station, just taking an overnight bag for staying at Louise’s. I made my way up to Oxford Street to the Wallace Collection where there was a special exhibition “Joshua Reynolds -Experiments in Paint”. As he is one of my favorites, I was excited to see it. …….
I had to leave a little earlier than I wanted, as I thought about getting some Christmas gifts in Oxford Street, but that was a mistake. The street and shops were jam-packed, and I gave up. I needed to get some supper before going to one of the most important events in my musical year. It was the final farewell concert by the Hilliard Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, a much loved venue by musicians from all over the world, and Rogers had kindly given me one of the few comps he had been given. There was also pre-concert conversation with the group monitored by…… I have many memories of fabulous chamber music concerts, including one of Jacqueline du Pre. When a student at the Guildhall, I would go even if there were sold out notices, and very often when standing in line for returns, someone would come up and give me a ticket. This happened to Louise at the last minute, as she wanted to attend the concert, but it had been sold out for some time. Finally at the box office, a ticket was returned and she grabbed it. It was a thrill just to walk into the lobby again, but I cringed with embarrassment at the memory of having once practiced the piano on the Wigmore Hall stage. That came about when I flew to London on my way down to Dartington in Devon. A friend of my mother agreed to meet and look after me until it was time to get the train down to Dartington. Harry (the friend) was on the Arts Council of Great Britain, knew everybody, and arranged a place for me to practice as I had not had the opportunity in some time, and I was a bit anxious with the Foundation course looming up. Nowhere better than the Wigmore Hall, thinks Harry. My piano skills were minimal, I can’t imagine what anyone who heard me was wondering what on earth was going on in that hallowed place!
Louise and I met for the pre-concert conversation event, and it was fascinating. The four singers and facilitator Fiona Talkington, a BBC broadcaster sat on the stage and each took a turn in telling about their participation in the group over the 40 years the ensemble had been performing. They discussed their repertoire and how Arvo Part had been such a huge influence in their musical lives. I could have listened all night, but it had to end, and after a short break, they came on stage for their final concert. No doubt there were many tears shed, I certainly did, it was an end of an era, not only for the music, but seeing a good friend end a marvellous career. We were left with their glorious sounds ringing in our ears, and fortunately, thanks to technology, knowing that their large body of work had been recorded, they would still be with us. The crème de la crème audience was there in full force as could be expected - friends, musician colleagues, composers, musicologists, even a couple of Dartington people from the 60s. I wish I had recognized more people, but it’s been so long since I was in the London musical scene, I don’t know that many now.
I was so pleased that Rogers’ youngest daughter and his ex-wife were also there for the concert so that we could have a chat afterwards. It had been some time since I had seen them. Janet and I were at Dartington together, so it’s been a long friendship, in spite of living an ocean apart. We’ve kept up with each other’s lives, and slip into a companionable pattern whenever we meet.
Dec. 21. London-Luton-Rome
On that high, the excitement continued the next day after the concert with a visit to Rome for Christmas.
On this visit, my project was to see and photograph as many of the Nativity scenes (presepe) as I could find. The Italian Christmas Creche is almost more iconic than the Christmas tree here in Italy, and there are displays all over Rome.in the Vatican Basilica, there is a large presepe and Sala del Bramante next to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in the Piazza di Popolo, has the largest exhibition of them, so many variations on a theme. Other venues were much quieter and respectful; I enjoyed taking pictures, and sometimes videos of the great variety of scenes.
Afterwards, we explored the area around the Piazza di Popolo, one of my favorites, enjoying the walk in the cooler weather. Branching out from the Piazza are three of Rome’s famous streets, laid out in 1518 - Via di Ripetta, Via del Corso and Via del Babuino. Via del Corso is the Italian version of 5th Avenue, and oh, so elegant. At this time of year, the main streets have Christmas lights strung across them, giving a thrill of excitement at being there with all the festivities. The Via del Babuino, is home to the English Anglican church, All Saints, airlifted from Mayfair, as one guide said. On an earlier visit, we had attended a marvelous concert there of operatic arias with orchestra, all in period costumes.
Dec. 24. Walking and exploring.
Continuing a walk the next day on Christmas Eve, I discovered the Trevi fountain totally encased in scaffolding. Fortunately I had seen it several time in all its glory. It was possible to walk on wooden planks to see the statues, but there was no water in the fountain. I thought about the visitors who would only have one chance to see it, and how disappointed they would be if they were visiting then. On my visit the following June, it was still under wraps. Note to myself, if wanting to see something specifically, check to see if it is available.
The Christmas tree goes up on Christmas Eve next to the outdoor nativity scene in Saint Peter's Square.This year, the Nativity scene caused quite a stir one day. We were wondering why there were so many police around, we had missed the action by a few minutes. It turned out that a topless young woman jumped over the barrier, ran to the manger, grabbed the baby Jesus doll, and on the way out, was caught by the Vatican police. Not sure if it was one of the Swiss guards who are so colorfully dressed.
Dec. 25, Christmas Day.
The Italians don’t seem to celebrate Christmas Day as in the US and UK. It is a day for family, much like Thanksgiving in the US. On January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany, La Befana, the friendly old lady flies through the sky on January 6, dropping gifts for the children, following the tradition of the wise men going to the manger with presents for the baby Jesus.
Zoe was really into Christmas this year, and loved all the preparations, decorations and of course, the presents. Elisa had invited a friend whose daughter was a school friend of Zoe, and they had a good time playing together. Later, we walked around the Vatican square which was full of people, but very quiet. The very tall Christmas tree was lit up and made it all magical. We noticed the Police guards were still around the nativity scene! No sign of the Swiss Guards.
Dec. 26
My sister-in-law, Betsy, arrived from the US. Not having been to Rome before, we chose a few must-see places for her. It’s important to personalize itineraries, as each person has their own likes and dislikes. In Rome especially, you have to be very definite about what is top priority, as there is so much to see, you could spend your whole life there and not see everything on your list. However, on several occasions when I was walking, I made many detours to my itineraries, and enjoyed unexpected delights.
Dec. 27. Walking around the castle area
For Betsy,this first day getting over jet lag and because it was a little chilly, we just walked around the neighborhood, Prati, which backs up to the Vatican City wall. It was a wonderful area for walking to the river, the Castle, shops, market, bus and metro. We went to the Castel d’Angelo, beside the Tiber River, a few blocks away. It’s lovely to see it in winter, as the leaves are off the trees that line the river embankment and you can see much further down the roads and river. There was a small ice rink next to the Castle, but Zoe was not inclined to take vigorous exercise after the excitement of Christmas.
Dec. 28 The Coliseum and a special treat for Zoe.
How could I have been to Rome so many times and not been into the Coliseum! I hate crowds and it can be blistering hot there. However, with fewer people around and cooler weather, I felt I should join Betsy, Dan and Zoe for a visit. It was an excellent time to see it, and of course is quite amazing. The thought that it was the gathering place of the people of Rome 2000 years ago is overwhelming, doing their thing which are very similar to us today – meeting friends for a drink, stall holders selling their wares, watching performances in the arena. Even that continues to this day in Spain with bullfighting.
Later that afternoon, Betsy and I took Zoe to a live performance of Rapunzel in a nearby theatre. In spite of it being in Italian, we got the gist. Zoe thoroughly understood everything and loved it.
Dec. 29. Exhibition of photographs by Henri Cartier–Bresson.
The wonderful experience of meandering around a city and finding gems. I had crossed the river and was walking towards the Piazza Navona, when a large sign on a building attracted my attention. It was for an exhibition of work by Henri Cartier Bresson, (1908-2004) and that enticed me to walk alongside the riverbank to the Museo del’Ara Pacis where the exhibition was on display. It is the first such exhibition to feature photographs from his 3 main periods, together with videos and his movie "The Return" he made with Jean Renoir. His was "the eye of the century" the greatest chronicler of the century. I spent a happy few hours there, fascinated by the photographs of the past.
Dec. 30. Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Babington’s Tea Rooms
Betsy and I explored another of my favorite parts of Rome, the area around the Piazza di Spagna, (the Spanish steps). It connects to the Via Babuino which comes from the Piazza di Popolo. Narrow streets branch off the main streets and it is a shoppers’ heaven (if you have deep pockets). Fabulous shops for clothes, leather bags, shoes, jewelry. There are some small shops such as the English bookshop on a side street not far from the Keats/ Shelley apartment which is located at the bottom on the right hand side of the Spanish Steps. The apartment where Keats died is now a museum, owned by a non-profit organization to preserve the memory of the famous English poet.
On the bottom of the steps to the left is another famous institution, Babington’s Tea Rooms. How I would have loved to have been there in the 18th and 19th centuries, watching the world go by, seeing the fashions and the young bloods on the Grand Tour with their tutors. I have always wished that I could have been born in the 1600s and live for centuries, so as to be able to experience a succession of history. Our experience of live history only lasts 100 years or so if you are lucky, a drop in the bucket of time.
Betsy and I went in to the Tea Rooms and as it was around lunch time, we had Mulligatawny soup as well as afternoon tea at a ridiculous price. Tourists have to be careful when going to restaurants in Rome, and possibly other places as well. Recently 2 couples went in to a restaurant and came out with a bill of 64 Euros (54 UK pounds) for 4 gelatos. Oh, and on that subject, the only place I have ever been pick- pocketed was in Rome, getting on the Metro at the Spanish Steps stop. There were lots of people around, I felt a big push from behind as I was getting on the train, I looked back behind me and saw a young woman jumping off the train. An older lady on the train motioned to me to look in my backpack. It was open and my little change purse with bus tickets was gone. Unfortunately, I had just withdrawn some money from the ATM, so the purse contained that as well, together with my debit card. My Metro stop was the next one, so it was only about 15 minutes to the apartment where I was able to call my bank in the US to lock the card. Our NC State Employees Credit Union is the best in the world. Even though I was thousands of miles away, the card got locked immediately and money from my account was transferred to my son’s account, so I could have access to funds. Over the years travelling in Africa, Europe and the UK, we have come across a few sudden monetary situations, and the bank has always been immediately responsive.
Dec. 31, The Rome Synagogue, Lunch in the former ghetto, walk through Largo Argentina, Nutcracker at Rome Opera House.
The Great Synagogue celebrated its centenary in 2004, although there have been Jews in Rome since the second century BC. The Jewish community in 1904 wanted a building that would stand out and they could be proud of. They certainly got that, and it is beautiful, even in this city of notable buildings and structures. It was built on the banks of the Tiber, overlooking the former ghetto. The aluminium dome is the only squared dome in the city, making it visible from many vantage points.
Visitors to the two synagogues on the property enter down some steps to the lower level where the Jewish Museum, the smaller synagogue, (the Sephardic “Spanish”) and the gift store are located.
A guide takes a group of visitors through the different areas, going through into the museum, where you can wander around with the audio headphones, looking at the beautifully embroidered textiles, marble pieces, silver objects, parchments and historical documents. There is a video to sit and watch “A Star over the Tiber” about the Roman Jews from the Emancipation to the present day. The guide then takes you into the tiny “Spanish” synagogue where the Sephardic community meets for morning prayers. It is has beautiful dark carved wooden pews. The little gift shop has beautifully crafted silver, glass and other items, some religious, some for adornment and pure pleasure, just to look at.
Following the guide outside and up the steps gets to the very imposing Great Synagogue (Orthodox) where services and weddings are held. It is huge, and the enormous wooden doors (showing bullet holes from past attacks) complement the style of the building. Inside it is similar in style to many of the churches in Rome.
For lunch we went to the former ghetto, where there is a street lined with kosher restaurants and delis.. I had been to a restaurant on that street during the 2009 conference trip with Louise. What stood out in my memory were the fried artichokes and I had them again. Very tasty.
After lunch we walked through the streets passing the Largo Argentina, a large city block of ruins where a small white shed marks the spot where Julius Caesar was killed. The area is also a cat sanctuary where the cats roam around the ruins, but there weren’t too many outside today in the winter chill. My son and daughter-in law adopted a cat from that sanctuary, I was there when they went to pick her up, and despite having gone through several interviews and lots of paperwork, we felt they were really reluctant to let the cat leave. The volunteers are so caring and dedicated looking after the cats.
Then to the happier part of the day, going to the Rome Opera House to see a performance of Nutcracker. It was an excellent production, much more suited to children than last year’s. The choreography was classical and beautifully danced, with gorgeous costumes and an interesting adaptation of the story. However, there were children in the production, and in talking to an usher, I gathered the music director was working on getting children involved in the ballet, as more and more children are attending the performances nowadays.
From Louise's I took the train to Victoria, then the coach to Ringwood and a taxi to Bickton.
Bickton House, built in the 1880s, was a large Victorian family house overlooking the River Avon. It is in a hamlet of around 12 houses and a several flats in the converted Bickton Mill. Just off the main Salisbury to Bournemouth road, (which I call the racetrack between the 2 cities) it is on the edge of the New Forest, a local beauty spot where wild ponies roam throughout. Being out in the country, it was very dark at night, wonderful for seeing the stars, different hemisphere from the US sky. I soon realized the importance of having a torch (flashlight), as the December daylight disappeared around 4:30 in the afternoon. It wasn't until February that I got a car, so I was dependent on shank's pony or the buses. I walked daily along the river where I watched the pair of swans (who mate for life and are always within sight of each other), and often into Fordingbridge, an interesting little town a couple of miles away. The artist Augustus John lived in there in his later years and there is a small exhibition of his work in the Fordingbridge Museum. There is also now, a statue of him by the river Avon, which runs through the town. At first, there was a lot of dissension by the townspeople over the statue, as John's bohemian life did not sit well with the ordinary people. However behavioral values have changed and the statue was finally installed. It is not easily seen from the bridge and it was only out of curiosity that I went down to the riverside to look at it, and discovered who the person it commemorated.
I was in the flat for 3 weeks before my trip to Rome for Christmas. I realized then my romantic idea of a Victorian life in a modern day world, especially in winter, was not for me. I loved the countryside and the walks by the river, but felt quite cut-off from life in Salisbury where so much of my daily life had happened. The buses ran often, but were expensive, and Oxfam was only able to pay for one trip a week. It was a good place for for practicing, which I needed to do, as concerts were coming up in the New Year.
Although the landlord had done a good job getting the flat mostly in order, the furnishings were shabby chic, probably from the charity shops, except for the bed which was a huge sleigh style, very comfy. The kitchen was newly renovated with a good stove and fridge, and the bathroom next to it had new fittings with a very large Victorian claw bath. Although promised a shower, it was not installed until just before I left, so for most of my stay I had baths, which is not my favorite method of ablution, especially in a freezing bathroom. Although promised, the washing machine was never hooked up, so I was dependent on the house machine, which was not very convenient being downstairs in the back of the house and entailed going into freezing areas. However, the main problem was the lack of decent heating. Apart from the high ceilings of Victorian houses, the insulation was very poor and there were holes in the floors and ceiling that had not been filled in after the renovation. The gas central heating which was used in the main house, had not been extended to the flat, necessitating the use of electric panels. Consequently when I finally left the flat, my bill for the electric heating for the ten weeks I was there, (including the 3 weeks when I was away in Rome, with the landlady keeping the heat on as she was afraid the pipes would burst) was £300/$450. That was usage for heating one room at a time (living room during the day, some at night to warm-up the bedroom) and occasionally in the kitchen.I was constantly cold. It's no wonder the British Empire expanded during the Victorian era - everyone who could, went out to the warmer climes of the colonies!
Fortunately there were happier things to think about and do before I left for Christmas in Rome.
Dec. 6. Rehearsal and "Winter Warmer" Concert by the Millstream Orchestra in Whiteparish Church.
The epitome of an English parish church, in the middle of the village, surrounded by the graveyard, was a perfect setting for the concert. The program was light, with arrangements of carols, musicals, and Christmas pieces. On the program was a female vocal quartet who were very entertaining with their selections.
Par for the course, Paul the bass player, and his wife provided a sumptuous tea at their house between the rehearsal and performance.
Dec. 7. Concert by the Wiltshire String Quartet, at St. Thomas’ Church music.
The first violinist was an early contact I met soon after I arrived, she too plays in the Salisbury Sinfonia. Catherine is an American, and has lived in Salisbury for several years, so she understood what I was doing. She still keeps up the Thanksgiving Day holiday and invited me for the dinner, but I was in Rome with the family. They played a light program of classics and Christmas music, perfect accompaniment for the Festival of Christmas trees decorated by the many charities and groups that abound in the town. The trees are then sold, bringing cheer to the buyers and gifts for the needy.
Dec. 13. Meryl’s Christmas Party.
A good time was had by all at this party for friends and family. She puts on a great spread and the house is beautifully decorated with ornaments collected from different places and countries.
Dec. 14. Millstream Orchestra concert at Alderholt Village Hall.
A small group from the orchestra accompanied the choir from the Anglican church in Alderholt where my cousin and her family live, with the audience joining in a Carol Singalong. Can't get much more British than that! Who would have thought two members of our family from different continents would be performing in this village hall within a few weeks of each other? Nia, my cousin's daughter, at 14 is a singer/songwriter and good guitarist, and had played there for the opener of an established band concert, and then three weeks later, I show up playing Christmas carols! Another reason to feel at home.
Dec. 15. Carol concert at Frogham Church in the New Forest.
The next day I played for another carol concert in the Frogham Congregational Church on the edge of the New Forest. This was at the invitation of a lovely lady I met at the Bickton bus stop. She too, volunteered at a charity shop in Salisbury, and we struck up a friendship on our bus rides into Salisbury. She asked me to play at her church, which I did, playing some solo Bach pieces. I chose the lighter movements from the Third Suite and the audience was very complimentary. In both of these last two events, a typical English afternoon tea was served, all home baked goodies, with the favorites - mince pies, Christmas cake, cookies, meringues and more.
Dec. 20. Ringwood to Victoria Coach Station, the Wallace Collection and the Hilliard at the Wigmore Hall.
I took the coach to Victoria, leaving my luggage at the bus station, just taking an overnight bag for staying at Louise’s. I made my way up to Oxford Street to the Wallace Collection where there was a special exhibition “Joshua Reynolds -Experiments in Paint”. As he is one of my favorites, I was excited to see it. …….
I had to leave a little earlier than I wanted, as I thought about getting some Christmas gifts in Oxford Street, but that was a mistake. The street and shops were jam-packed, and I gave up. I needed to get some supper before going to one of the most important events in my musical year. It was the final farewell concert by the Hilliard Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, a much loved venue by musicians from all over the world, and Rogers had kindly given me one of the few comps he had been given. There was also pre-concert conversation with the group monitored by…… I have many memories of fabulous chamber music concerts, including one of Jacqueline du Pre. When a student at the Guildhall, I would go even if there were sold out notices, and very often when standing in line for returns, someone would come up and give me a ticket. This happened to Louise at the last minute, as she wanted to attend the concert, but it had been sold out for some time. Finally at the box office, a ticket was returned and she grabbed it. It was a thrill just to walk into the lobby again, but I cringed with embarrassment at the memory of having once practiced the piano on the Wigmore Hall stage. That came about when I flew to London on my way down to Dartington in Devon. A friend of my mother agreed to meet and look after me until it was time to get the train down to Dartington. Harry (the friend) was on the Arts Council of Great Britain, knew everybody, and arranged a place for me to practice as I had not had the opportunity in some time, and I was a bit anxious with the Foundation course looming up. Nowhere better than the Wigmore Hall, thinks Harry. My piano skills were minimal, I can’t imagine what anyone who heard me was wondering what on earth was going on in that hallowed place!
Louise and I met for the pre-concert conversation event, and it was fascinating. The four singers and facilitator Fiona Talkington, a BBC broadcaster sat on the stage and each took a turn in telling about their participation in the group over the 40 years the ensemble had been performing. They discussed their repertoire and how Arvo Part had been such a huge influence in their musical lives. I could have listened all night, but it had to end, and after a short break, they came on stage for their final concert. No doubt there were many tears shed, I certainly did, it was an end of an era, not only for the music, but seeing a good friend end a marvellous career. We were left with their glorious sounds ringing in our ears, and fortunately, thanks to technology, knowing that their large body of work had been recorded, they would still be with us. The crème de la crème audience was there in full force as could be expected - friends, musician colleagues, composers, musicologists, even a couple of Dartington people from the 60s. I wish I had recognized more people, but it’s been so long since I was in the London musical scene, I don’t know that many now.
I was so pleased that Rogers’ youngest daughter and his ex-wife were also there for the concert so that we could have a chat afterwards. It had been some time since I had seen them. Janet and I were at Dartington together, so it’s been a long friendship, in spite of living an ocean apart. We’ve kept up with each other’s lives, and slip into a companionable pattern whenever we meet.
Dec. 21. London-Luton-Rome
On that high, the excitement continued the next day after the concert with a visit to Rome for Christmas.
On this visit, my project was to see and photograph as many of the Nativity scenes (presepe) as I could find. The Italian Christmas Creche is almost more iconic than the Christmas tree here in Italy, and there are displays all over Rome.in the Vatican Basilica, there is a large presepe and Sala del Bramante next to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in the Piazza di Popolo, has the largest exhibition of them, so many variations on a theme. Other venues were much quieter and respectful; I enjoyed taking pictures, and sometimes videos of the great variety of scenes.
Afterwards, we explored the area around the Piazza di Popolo, one of my favorites, enjoying the walk in the cooler weather. Branching out from the Piazza are three of Rome’s famous streets, laid out in 1518 - Via di Ripetta, Via del Corso and Via del Babuino. Via del Corso is the Italian version of 5th Avenue, and oh, so elegant. At this time of year, the main streets have Christmas lights strung across them, giving a thrill of excitement at being there with all the festivities. The Via del Babuino, is home to the English Anglican church, All Saints, airlifted from Mayfair, as one guide said. On an earlier visit, we had attended a marvelous concert there of operatic arias with orchestra, all in period costumes.
Dec. 24. Walking and exploring.
Continuing a walk the next day on Christmas Eve, I discovered the Trevi fountain totally encased in scaffolding. Fortunately I had seen it several time in all its glory. It was possible to walk on wooden planks to see the statues, but there was no water in the fountain. I thought about the visitors who would only have one chance to see it, and how disappointed they would be if they were visiting then. On my visit the following June, it was still under wraps. Note to myself, if wanting to see something specifically, check to see if it is available.
The Christmas tree goes up on Christmas Eve next to the outdoor nativity scene in Saint Peter's Square.This year, the Nativity scene caused quite a stir one day. We were wondering why there were so many police around, we had missed the action by a few minutes. It turned out that a topless young woman jumped over the barrier, ran to the manger, grabbed the baby Jesus doll, and on the way out, was caught by the Vatican police. Not sure if it was one of the Swiss guards who are so colorfully dressed.
Dec. 25, Christmas Day.
The Italians don’t seem to celebrate Christmas Day as in the US and UK. It is a day for family, much like Thanksgiving in the US. On January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany, La Befana, the friendly old lady flies through the sky on January 6, dropping gifts for the children, following the tradition of the wise men going to the manger with presents for the baby Jesus.
Zoe was really into Christmas this year, and loved all the preparations, decorations and of course, the presents. Elisa had invited a friend whose daughter was a school friend of Zoe, and they had a good time playing together. Later, we walked around the Vatican square which was full of people, but very quiet. The very tall Christmas tree was lit up and made it all magical. We noticed the Police guards were still around the nativity scene! No sign of the Swiss Guards.
Dec. 26
My sister-in-law, Betsy, arrived from the US. Not having been to Rome before, we chose a few must-see places for her. It’s important to personalize itineraries, as each person has their own likes and dislikes. In Rome especially, you have to be very definite about what is top priority, as there is so much to see, you could spend your whole life there and not see everything on your list. However, on several occasions when I was walking, I made many detours to my itineraries, and enjoyed unexpected delights.
Dec. 27. Walking around the castle area
For Betsy,this first day getting over jet lag and because it was a little chilly, we just walked around the neighborhood, Prati, which backs up to the Vatican City wall. It was a wonderful area for walking to the river, the Castle, shops, market, bus and metro. We went to the Castel d’Angelo, beside the Tiber River, a few blocks away. It’s lovely to see it in winter, as the leaves are off the trees that line the river embankment and you can see much further down the roads and river. There was a small ice rink next to the Castle, but Zoe was not inclined to take vigorous exercise after the excitement of Christmas.
Dec. 28 The Coliseum and a special treat for Zoe.
How could I have been to Rome so many times and not been into the Coliseum! I hate crowds and it can be blistering hot there. However, with fewer people around and cooler weather, I felt I should join Betsy, Dan and Zoe for a visit. It was an excellent time to see it, and of course is quite amazing. The thought that it was the gathering place of the people of Rome 2000 years ago is overwhelming, doing their thing which are very similar to us today – meeting friends for a drink, stall holders selling their wares, watching performances in the arena. Even that continues to this day in Spain with bullfighting.
Later that afternoon, Betsy and I took Zoe to a live performance of Rapunzel in a nearby theatre. In spite of it being in Italian, we got the gist. Zoe thoroughly understood everything and loved it.
Dec. 29. Exhibition of photographs by Henri Cartier–Bresson.
The wonderful experience of meandering around a city and finding gems. I had crossed the river and was walking towards the Piazza Navona, when a large sign on a building attracted my attention. It was for an exhibition of work by Henri Cartier Bresson, (1908-2004) and that enticed me to walk alongside the riverbank to the Museo del’Ara Pacis where the exhibition was on display. It is the first such exhibition to feature photographs from his 3 main periods, together with videos and his movie "The Return" he made with Jean Renoir. His was "the eye of the century" the greatest chronicler of the century. I spent a happy few hours there, fascinated by the photographs of the past.
Dec. 30. Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Babington’s Tea Rooms
Betsy and I explored another of my favorite parts of Rome, the area around the Piazza di Spagna, (the Spanish steps). It connects to the Via Babuino which comes from the Piazza di Popolo. Narrow streets branch off the main streets and it is a shoppers’ heaven (if you have deep pockets). Fabulous shops for clothes, leather bags, shoes, jewelry. There are some small shops such as the English bookshop on a side street not far from the Keats/ Shelley apartment which is located at the bottom on the right hand side of the Spanish Steps. The apartment where Keats died is now a museum, owned by a non-profit organization to preserve the memory of the famous English poet.
On the bottom of the steps to the left is another famous institution, Babington’s Tea Rooms. How I would have loved to have been there in the 18th and 19th centuries, watching the world go by, seeing the fashions and the young bloods on the Grand Tour with their tutors. I have always wished that I could have been born in the 1600s and live for centuries, so as to be able to experience a succession of history. Our experience of live history only lasts 100 years or so if you are lucky, a drop in the bucket of time.
Betsy and I went in to the Tea Rooms and as it was around lunch time, we had Mulligatawny soup as well as afternoon tea at a ridiculous price. Tourists have to be careful when going to restaurants in Rome, and possibly other places as well. Recently 2 couples went in to a restaurant and came out with a bill of 64 Euros (54 UK pounds) for 4 gelatos. Oh, and on that subject, the only place I have ever been pick- pocketed was in Rome, getting on the Metro at the Spanish Steps stop. There were lots of people around, I felt a big push from behind as I was getting on the train, I looked back behind me and saw a young woman jumping off the train. An older lady on the train motioned to me to look in my backpack. It was open and my little change purse with bus tickets was gone. Unfortunately, I had just withdrawn some money from the ATM, so the purse contained that as well, together with my debit card. My Metro stop was the next one, so it was only about 15 minutes to the apartment where I was able to call my bank in the US to lock the card. Our NC State Employees Credit Union is the best in the world. Even though I was thousands of miles away, the card got locked immediately and money from my account was transferred to my son’s account, so I could have access to funds. Over the years travelling in Africa, Europe and the UK, we have come across a few sudden monetary situations, and the bank has always been immediately responsive.
Dec. 31, The Rome Synagogue, Lunch in the former ghetto, walk through Largo Argentina, Nutcracker at Rome Opera House.
The Great Synagogue celebrated its centenary in 2004, although there have been Jews in Rome since the second century BC. The Jewish community in 1904 wanted a building that would stand out and they could be proud of. They certainly got that, and it is beautiful, even in this city of notable buildings and structures. It was built on the banks of the Tiber, overlooking the former ghetto. The aluminium dome is the only squared dome in the city, making it visible from many vantage points.
Visitors to the two synagogues on the property enter down some steps to the lower level where the Jewish Museum, the smaller synagogue, (the Sephardic “Spanish”) and the gift store are located.
A guide takes a group of visitors through the different areas, going through into the museum, where you can wander around with the audio headphones, looking at the beautifully embroidered textiles, marble pieces, silver objects, parchments and historical documents. There is a video to sit and watch “A Star over the Tiber” about the Roman Jews from the Emancipation to the present day. The guide then takes you into the tiny “Spanish” synagogue where the Sephardic community meets for morning prayers. It is has beautiful dark carved wooden pews. The little gift shop has beautifully crafted silver, glass and other items, some religious, some for adornment and pure pleasure, just to look at.
Following the guide outside and up the steps gets to the very imposing Great Synagogue (Orthodox) where services and weddings are held. It is huge, and the enormous wooden doors (showing bullet holes from past attacks) complement the style of the building. Inside it is similar in style to many of the churches in Rome.
For lunch we went to the former ghetto, where there is a street lined with kosher restaurants and delis.. I had been to a restaurant on that street during the 2009 conference trip with Louise. What stood out in my memory were the fried artichokes and I had them again. Very tasty.
After lunch we walked through the streets passing the Largo Argentina, a large city block of ruins where a small white shed marks the spot where Julius Caesar was killed. The area is also a cat sanctuary where the cats roam around the ruins, but there weren’t too many outside today in the winter chill. My son and daughter-in law adopted a cat from that sanctuary, I was there when they went to pick her up, and despite having gone through several interviews and lots of paperwork, we felt they were really reluctant to let the cat leave. The volunteers are so caring and dedicated looking after the cats.
Then to the happier part of the day, going to the Rome Opera House to see a performance of Nutcracker. It was an excellent production, much more suited to children than last year’s. The choreography was classical and beautifully danced, with gorgeous costumes and an interesting adaptation of the story. However, there were children in the production, and in talking to an usher, I gathered the music director was working on getting children involved in the ballet, as more and more children are attending the performances nowadays.
Nativity scenes in Rome and UK
chapter 5 - January 2015
January 1, 2015
Happy New Year! This year, no wild party with the next door neighbors! Last New Year’s Eve, they invited us to dinner which lasted for four hours. They gave us course after course – fish, meat, vegetables, baked dishes, pasta, cheese, bread, fruit, desserts, wine of course. Then at midnight it’s the custom to throw firecrackers out the windows into the courtyard. Quite a racket as you can imagine.
This year, we moved slowly after yesterday’s excursion to the Synagogue and Nutcracker. We rested up and planned our upcoming trips.
Jan. 2. Train to Ostia Antica, the ancient port town for Rome.
It’s an easy train ride on the Metro with one change to Ostia Antica, about 30 minutes from the flat. It was a lovely sunny day, perfect for walking around the beautifully preserved ruins of Ostia which lie twenty miles from Rome, in the meadows between the Tiber River and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded, probably in the 4th century BC, as a military colony to guard the river mouth against seaborne invasions. Later, during the centuries when virtually all imports reached the Capital via the Tiber, Ostia gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. By the 2nd century AD, it had become a flourishing commercial center inhabited by upwards of 100,000 people, whose apartment buildings, taverns, and grocery shops are still intact.
Although Ostia now sprawls over 10,000 acres around a main street that runs for more than a mile, it is still easy to imagine the local shepherds who for centuries sheltered their animals among its ruins, for they are an integral part of the tranquil Roman countryside. No modern houses, roads or telephone wires are visible on the horizon. The streets are so quiet one hears only the crickets in the trees and perhaps the echoes of ancient children playing stick-ball. As you walk along Ostia's main street, the Decumanus Maximus, your feet settle into deep ruts left by carrucas, the four-wheeled carts used to ferry merchandise and baggage between Rome and Ostia. A fleet of two-wheeled cisia provided public transportation for commuters.
Part of an article by Kristin Jarrat. Here is the full article about it. http://www.initaly.com/regions/latium/ostia.htm
Walking around Ostia could put you in another world, but I disagree with Kristin’s mention of the quiet. These days, Ostia is now on the flight path to the main international airport for Rome. The planes come in so low over the park, you can identify which airline they are, and together with the wheels coming down, it makes for a very noisy day, as they come in every few minutes.
However, one concentrates on the surroundings which are fascinating. It’s not hard to see in your mind how the shops were situated next to each other and mosaics in front of each shop depicted the goods that were being sold there. Many of those mosaics are still in excellent condition, unbelievable that they are 2000 years old. A couple of examples I photographed were fish, representing the fishmonger, and Neptune, perhaps representing a ship’s chandler. In another area, several sarcophagi were lined up together, showing beautiful carving on the marble sides. We climbed up some steep tower steps to get a great view towards the coast, and looking back, seeing the buildings behind the tree-lined avenues. The day ended after having coffee on the patio of the café and shop area, enjoying the atmosphere. We had hoped to wander around some more, but heard someone ringing a bell furiously and telling everyone the park was closing. I am sure many people over the years have stayed overnight in the park, there are so many hiding places!
Happy New Year! This year, no wild party with the next door neighbors! Last New Year’s Eve, they invited us to dinner which lasted for four hours. They gave us course after course – fish, meat, vegetables, baked dishes, pasta, cheese, bread, fruit, desserts, wine of course. Then at midnight it’s the custom to throw firecrackers out the windows into the courtyard. Quite a racket as you can imagine.
This year, we moved slowly after yesterday’s excursion to the Synagogue and Nutcracker. We rested up and planned our upcoming trips.
Jan. 2. Train to Ostia Antica, the ancient port town for Rome.
It’s an easy train ride on the Metro with one change to Ostia Antica, about 30 minutes from the flat. It was a lovely sunny day, perfect for walking around the beautifully preserved ruins of Ostia which lie twenty miles from Rome, in the meadows between the Tiber River and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded, probably in the 4th century BC, as a military colony to guard the river mouth against seaborne invasions. Later, during the centuries when virtually all imports reached the Capital via the Tiber, Ostia gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. By the 2nd century AD, it had become a flourishing commercial center inhabited by upwards of 100,000 people, whose apartment buildings, taverns, and grocery shops are still intact.
Although Ostia now sprawls over 10,000 acres around a main street that runs for more than a mile, it is still easy to imagine the local shepherds who for centuries sheltered their animals among its ruins, for they are an integral part of the tranquil Roman countryside. No modern houses, roads or telephone wires are visible on the horizon. The streets are so quiet one hears only the crickets in the trees and perhaps the echoes of ancient children playing stick-ball. As you walk along Ostia's main street, the Decumanus Maximus, your feet settle into deep ruts left by carrucas, the four-wheeled carts used to ferry merchandise and baggage between Rome and Ostia. A fleet of two-wheeled cisia provided public transportation for commuters.
Part of an article by Kristin Jarrat. Here is the full article about it. http://www.initaly.com/regions/latium/ostia.htm
Walking around Ostia could put you in another world, but I disagree with Kristin’s mention of the quiet. These days, Ostia is now on the flight path to the main international airport for Rome. The planes come in so low over the park, you can identify which airline they are, and together with the wheels coming down, it makes for a very noisy day, as they come in every few minutes.
However, one concentrates on the surroundings which are fascinating. It’s not hard to see in your mind how the shops were situated next to each other and mosaics in front of each shop depicted the goods that were being sold there. Many of those mosaics are still in excellent condition, unbelievable that they are 2000 years old. A couple of examples I photographed were fish, representing the fishmonger, and Neptune, perhaps representing a ship’s chandler. In another area, several sarcophagi were lined up together, showing beautiful carving on the marble sides. We climbed up some steep tower steps to get a great view towards the coast, and looking back, seeing the buildings behind the tree-lined avenues. The day ended after having coffee on the patio of the café and shop area, enjoying the atmosphere. We had hoped to wander around some more, but heard someone ringing a bell furiously and telling everyone the park was closing. I am sure many people over the years have stayed overnight in the park, there are so many hiding places!
Jan. 3 - Palazzo Doria Pamphili.
This is my favorite small palazzo in Rome. Built around a square courtyard with orange trees in the center, the galleries upstairs are filled with paintings on all the walls from top to bottom. One gallery occupies the whole side of the square and is a smaller version of the Versailles' Mirror Gallery, wonderful reflections of light. However, my favorite room in the palazzo is the ballroom. Especially set up for dancing, the floor is wooden rather than tiled, and is still in great condition today. It is a thrill to see the alcove where the musicians played for the dancing. It has not been refurbished since it was built, and here were examples of the livery the musicians presumably had to wear. George Frederich Handel conducted and played there, I wonder if he wore the livery as well? There’s a unique 18th century harp in its original set up, and it is a goosebump moment seeing the wall with worn markings where the musicians had pushed their chairs. Real people, just like us! There is an amazing story associated with this ballroom. On one wall is a painting by Caravaggio “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” depicting the Holy Family. Mary and the baby are sleeping, but Joseph is holding up a music manuscript for an angel who is playing the violin. Recently a musicologist was looking at the music on the manuscript and realized it was the soprano part of a
missing motet, “Quam pulchra est” by Noel Bauldewijn. The Director of the Schola Romana Ensemble, Stefano Sabene, reconstructed
this motet, and a performance was given in the ballroom in front of the painting. I would have flown from anywhere in the world to have had the opportunity to attend that concert !
The Ballroom with the alcove where George F. Handel conducted the orchestra for dancing and performances.
The Caravaggio painting of Joseph holding the music for the Angel.
Jan. 4 Road trip to Pitigliano and Siena.
Dan and I went down to the Train Termini to rent the car for our road trip. We were given a 7 seater Ford van! Zoe was thrilled with her seat table top, and the adults were glad to have a number of ports for the devices, especially for the GPS, which unfortunately did not give us all the right moves, but was still a great asset. We needed all the help we could get. Driving through Rome was a challenge, although Dan has had experience of this on earlier trips. We were stared at as the Italians aren’t used to large family cars. They’re used to the Ferraris, Alpha Romeos and Lamborghinis, but they are small and sleek. Range Rovers are accepted in spite of their size, as they are classy vehicles, and the Italians like status symbols, but a Ford van?
Dan maneuvered around the streets and soon we were on the highway going north. The drive was very comfortable and smooth, and being high up, we could easily see a lot of the countryside. However nothing is perfect, and soon we became confused with the directions. Before we got to the sign for Pitigliano, our first stop, there was a town sign for Siena, which we were not expecting. It didn’t look like a hilly cathedral town, was in lovely flat Tuscan fields, not in the mountains, all very confusing. We decided that it was not the Siena we were planning to stay the night at, so we opted for another road that would take us through the hills to Pitigliano, about 105 miles from Rome. I am so glad we took that road which was not the super highway, as we got to see some spectacular scenery going up into the hills. We passed through Montefiascone high up on the mountain, and which, when turning a corner, had the most marvelous view of the Lago di Bolsena, way below us. It is a huge lake in the middle of the forests, and breathtaking. We continued down the mountain and on to the next mountain to Pitigliano. It is not a touristy town in spite of its beauty and ancient history. Those who visit mostly want to explore the Jewish area known as the “La Piccola Gerusalemme” “ The Little Jerusalem “. The road winds up the mountain to the town, 1,026 feet above sea level. We parked the van in a lot below the old town, where there was plenty of room for maneuvering. It was a short walk up the hill, passing shops on the way. One shop specializes in local wines, and had the largest bottle of wine I have ever seen. The shops, all of good quality and variety, had local foodstuffs, beautifully carved olive wood items and of course the local wine and spirits. Added to that, it was still during the 12 days of Christmas, Befana was on the 6th, and there were lots of gift items in the windows for that day. In the piazza beyond the medieval gate, a tall Christmas tree had been decorated by the local school children.
Before going through the medieval gate to the old town, we stopped to have lunch in the piazza which had a magnificent view from the parapet overlooking the valley below. It was warm enough to eat outdoors, which we did, enjoying the ambience. A lovely relaxed Italian lunch, one that brings back memories of a time gone by when people could enjoy good food with company and not have to eat on the run in the middle of the day. Oh, la dolce vita.
Eventually we did get moving, going through the gate, past the Christmas tree and shops to the Orsini Palace on the top of the mountain. It was a 14th century fortress, and is now a museum. The church nearby is even older. Running though the town are the remnants of a 17th century aqueduct built by the Medici family. Jews lived a peaceful existence with the Christian population during the 16th century, due to an Orsini count allowing them to work and live in the town to prosper the economy, but that changed somewhat after the Medici family came into power. In 1622, the Jews in Pitigliano were confined to a ghetto; men were required to wear red hats, and women red badges on their sleeves. Many homes still have mezuzas on their doors. Eventually the ghetto was desegregated and by 1850 there were about 400 Jews in the town. This changed gradually as Jews began to move to Rome and Florence, and by 1938, when the Fascist racial laws were applied, only about 60 Jews were living in Pitigliano.
During World War II the Catholic farmers in the valley protected the Jews from the Germans. They hid in caves for months, the region is punctuated with tunnels and caves etched into the tufa stone, called Vie Caves (Etruscan Pathways) while neighbors and farmers took food and water to them. At the end of the war, there were only about 30 Jewish families left in Pitigliano. In the courtyard of the museum, a plaque commemorates the 22 Jews born in Pitigliano who were killed in concentration camps.
To get to the Jewish museum we walked beneath an arch with a half-moon-shaped sign emblazoned with the words Antico Quartiere Ebraico, (Old Jewish Quarter). It is quite a steep descent by staircase into cavern-like rooms carved out of the red volcanic tufa stone. There are individual rooms for different aspects of the faith - the ritual bath, or mikvah; a forno delle azzime, or oven for baking leavened and unleavened bread (which was in use until 1939); a textile-dyeing room; a wine cellar; and a kosher butcher. Windows that had been carved through the stone give views right from the edge of the precipice looking over the valley to the mountain opposite, and brings in welcome sunlight. In the neighboring synagogue, although services are no longer held there, it is open for viewing. The gold-and-white building, with its carved pews, wooden pulpit and Holy Ark, was restored to its 1598 splendor after the roof collapsed in 1961. From their gallery upstairs, women glimpsed the goings-on through an intricate wooden screen, as was customary in Orthodox Judaism.
Each street and alleyway in the old town culminates in a spectacular view of rolling hills dotted with olive groves, chestnut, oak and pine trees. Along the road in the valley below the town there is a Jewish cemetery hidden in a cypress grove.
It was getting late and time to leave. We still had quite a drive to Siena. It had been an afternoon of many emotions - the beauty of the town, the good food and ambience, but also an insight of how over the centuries, certain people were so cruelly treated by other human beings.
Dan and I went down to the Train Termini to rent the car for our road trip. We were given a 7 seater Ford van! Zoe was thrilled with her seat table top, and the adults were glad to have a number of ports for the devices, especially for the GPS, which unfortunately did not give us all the right moves, but was still a great asset. We needed all the help we could get. Driving through Rome was a challenge, although Dan has had experience of this on earlier trips. We were stared at as the Italians aren’t used to large family cars. They’re used to the Ferraris, Alpha Romeos and Lamborghinis, but they are small and sleek. Range Rovers are accepted in spite of their size, as they are classy vehicles, and the Italians like status symbols, but a Ford van?
Dan maneuvered around the streets and soon we were on the highway going north. The drive was very comfortable and smooth, and being high up, we could easily see a lot of the countryside. However nothing is perfect, and soon we became confused with the directions. Before we got to the sign for Pitigliano, our first stop, there was a town sign for Siena, which we were not expecting. It didn’t look like a hilly cathedral town, was in lovely flat Tuscan fields, not in the mountains, all very confusing. We decided that it was not the Siena we were planning to stay the night at, so we opted for another road that would take us through the hills to Pitigliano, about 105 miles from Rome. I am so glad we took that road which was not the super highway, as we got to see some spectacular scenery going up into the hills. We passed through Montefiascone high up on the mountain, and which, when turning a corner, had the most marvelous view of the Lago di Bolsena, way below us. It is a huge lake in the middle of the forests, and breathtaking. We continued down the mountain and on to the next mountain to Pitigliano. It is not a touristy town in spite of its beauty and ancient history. Those who visit mostly want to explore the Jewish area known as the “La Piccola Gerusalemme” “ The Little Jerusalem “. The road winds up the mountain to the town, 1,026 feet above sea level. We parked the van in a lot below the old town, where there was plenty of room for maneuvering. It was a short walk up the hill, passing shops on the way. One shop specializes in local wines, and had the largest bottle of wine I have ever seen. The shops, all of good quality and variety, had local foodstuffs, beautifully carved olive wood items and of course the local wine and spirits. Added to that, it was still during the 12 days of Christmas, Befana was on the 6th, and there were lots of gift items in the windows for that day. In the piazza beyond the medieval gate, a tall Christmas tree had been decorated by the local school children.
Before going through the medieval gate to the old town, we stopped to have lunch in the piazza which had a magnificent view from the parapet overlooking the valley below. It was warm enough to eat outdoors, which we did, enjoying the ambience. A lovely relaxed Italian lunch, one that brings back memories of a time gone by when people could enjoy good food with company and not have to eat on the run in the middle of the day. Oh, la dolce vita.
Eventually we did get moving, going through the gate, past the Christmas tree and shops to the Orsini Palace on the top of the mountain. It was a 14th century fortress, and is now a museum. The church nearby is even older. Running though the town are the remnants of a 17th century aqueduct built by the Medici family. Jews lived a peaceful existence with the Christian population during the 16th century, due to an Orsini count allowing them to work and live in the town to prosper the economy, but that changed somewhat after the Medici family came into power. In 1622, the Jews in Pitigliano were confined to a ghetto; men were required to wear red hats, and women red badges on their sleeves. Many homes still have mezuzas on their doors. Eventually the ghetto was desegregated and by 1850 there were about 400 Jews in the town. This changed gradually as Jews began to move to Rome and Florence, and by 1938, when the Fascist racial laws were applied, only about 60 Jews were living in Pitigliano.
During World War II the Catholic farmers in the valley protected the Jews from the Germans. They hid in caves for months, the region is punctuated with tunnels and caves etched into the tufa stone, called Vie Caves (Etruscan Pathways) while neighbors and farmers took food and water to them. At the end of the war, there were only about 30 Jewish families left in Pitigliano. In the courtyard of the museum, a plaque commemorates the 22 Jews born in Pitigliano who were killed in concentration camps.
To get to the Jewish museum we walked beneath an arch with a half-moon-shaped sign emblazoned with the words Antico Quartiere Ebraico, (Old Jewish Quarter). It is quite a steep descent by staircase into cavern-like rooms carved out of the red volcanic tufa stone. There are individual rooms for different aspects of the faith - the ritual bath, or mikvah; a forno delle azzime, or oven for baking leavened and unleavened bread (which was in use until 1939); a textile-dyeing room; a wine cellar; and a kosher butcher. Windows that had been carved through the stone give views right from the edge of the precipice looking over the valley to the mountain opposite, and brings in welcome sunlight. In the neighboring synagogue, although services are no longer held there, it is open for viewing. The gold-and-white building, with its carved pews, wooden pulpit and Holy Ark, was restored to its 1598 splendor after the roof collapsed in 1961. From their gallery upstairs, women glimpsed the goings-on through an intricate wooden screen, as was customary in Orthodox Judaism.
Each street and alleyway in the old town culminates in a spectacular view of rolling hills dotted with olive groves, chestnut, oak and pine trees. Along the road in the valley below the town there is a Jewish cemetery hidden in a cypress grove.
It was getting late and time to leave. We still had quite a drive to Siena. It had been an afternoon of many emotions - the beauty of the town, the good food and ambience, but also an insight of how over the centuries, certain people were so cruelly treated by other human beings.
We left Pitigliano and had no trouble getting to the Siena we had planned on, that is, until we tried to find our hotel. By this time it was getting quite late, and we had to negotiate the unknown, driving in the dark with not much Italian vocabulary between us, except for Zoe who is fluent, but shy. We arrived in the outskirts of Siena, and according to our GPS the hotel was within the old medieval city, so we drove through the gate. We did notice as we were going through, that there was a sign saying cars were not permitted except for commercial deliveries and hotel residents, but we confidently went along the narrow street in the huge van as if we were on our way to a hotel. Luckily we didn’t come across any other cars, but there was no sign of any hotel and the GPS was not being helpful. There were pedestrians looking at us with surprised faces, although no-one yelled at us or told to stop. We looked around for police, and eventually did find two, a man and a woman. The woman spoke some English, and assured us we were quite near the hotel, and gave us directions. That involved turning the van around which was not easy. Of course we immediately got lost, and ended up in a parking area, which the next day we discovered was behind the Duomo. It was so dark, I didn’t even realize that it was the great Siena Cathedral. How can one miss it? While we were sitting in the car, I saw a shopkeeper getting ready to close up, so jumped out with the hotel address and in my best Italian/French/Spanish/English asked for help. The very cooperative man made a phone call to the hotel and explained our difficulty. He wrote down the directions and I thanked him profusely. Getting back into the car, now armed with written directions, we realised, that although we were not far from the hotel as the crow flies, there was a ravine between us and them. The GPS didn’t pick that one up. So somewhat sheepishly, we crept out of the old city through the gate and in about 3 minutes were by the steps to the hotel. We unloaded our bags and waited while Dan went to park the car in the designated hotel space. When he returned, we walked down a few steps to the entrance to the hotel. After registering and putting our things in the rooms, we went out for dinner. It was a gorgeous evening, a little chilly, but although we were outside we were covered, and there was a heater. We gave a sigh of relief and really enjoyed our dinner. I think the episode of driving inside the Siena Old City gates will remain with us forever.
Our hotel in Siena, just below the Duomo, except there's a ravine between it and us.
Our hotel in Siena, just below the Duomo, except there's a ravine between it and us.
January 5 Siena
We woke up to a good breakfast. We certainly needed it for all the walking and climbing we were going to do. Our difficulties of the previous night all became clear in the daylight when we left the hotel which is on the modern side of Siena. It faces the Old City on the opposite side of the ravine. I think there should be a zip line across the ravine between the old and the modern. Walking down two hundred or so steep steps outside the hotel patio takes you from the top of the ravine to the bottom. At the bottom, crossing over a narrow road, was the entrance to the escalators that whizzed you up to the Old City. Guess where it came out? Right by the Duomo! That was our first port of call. Now I get serious. OMG. I can’t begin to describe the effect that place has, so I’ll just give some comments and suggest that if you ever have an opportunity, go to Siena. Nothing you can see on the net compares to the actual place. That’s what travel is all about. I will never forget the feeling of amazement at seeing this cathedral I knew nothing about. For me of course, the highlight was the side chapel where the illuminated manuscripts are housed. It’s called the Piccolomini Library. I will treasure it for the rest of my life. Not only are the manuscripts themselves beautiful works of art, the chapel is breathtaking, with a beautiful blue and white tiled floor, large paintings along the curved wall, and the ceiling is beyond belief. The slideshow gives a small indication of the beauty of the interior. That, the Manuscript Library and the Duomo floor, was all I could take in on one trip.
Adjoining the cathedral is the Piccolomini Library, housing precious illuminated choir books and frescoes painted by the Umbrian Bernardino di Betto, called Pinturicchio, probably based on designs by Raphael.The visual impact of these very colourful frescoes is stunning. The frescoes tell the story of the life of Siena's favourite son, cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who eventually became Pope Pius II. He was the uncle of cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini (then archbishop of Siena and the future pope Pius III), who commissioned this library in 1492 as a repository of the books and the manuscript collection of his uncle. The ceiling is covered with painted panels of mythological subjects. They were executed between 1502 and 1503 by Pinturicchio and his assistants.The entrance is a finely carved marble monument with two openings with round arches, executed in 1497 by Lorenzo di Mariano. It contains a round relief of St. John the Evangelist (probably) by Giovanni di Stefano and, below the altar, a polychrome Pietà by the sculptor Alberto di Betto da Assisi in 1421. Above this marble monument is a fresco of the Papal Coronation of Pius III by Pinturicchio in 1504.In the middle of the library is the famous statue Three Graces, a Roman copy of a Greek original.Pinturicchio painted this cycle of frescoes around the library between 1502 and 1507, representing Raphael and himself in several of them. This masterpiece is full of striking detail and vivacious colours. Each scene is explained in Latin by the text below. They depict ten remarkable events from the secular and religious career of pope Pius II, first as a high prelate, then bishop, a cardinal and ultimately pope:
Enea Silvio Piccolomini (ESP) leaves for the Council of Basel. The storm scene in the background is a first in western art.
ESP, ambassador at the Scottish Court
ESP crowned court poet by emperor Frederick III
ESP makes an act of submission to Pope Eugene IV
ESP, bishop of Siena, presents emperor Frederick III with his bride-to-be Eleanora of Portugal at the Porta Camollia in Siena.
ESP receives the cardinal's hat in 1456
ESP, enters the Lateran as pontiff in 1458
Pius II convokes a Diet of Princes at Mantua to proclaim a new crusade in 1459
Pius II canonizes Saint Catherine of Siena in 1461
Pius II arrives in Ancona to launch the crusade.
Beneath the frescoes, the psalters of the cathedral's sacristy are on display. These exquisite illuminations by Liberale da Verona and Girolamo da Cremona were executed between 1466 and 1478 and later carried on by other Sienese illuminators.
After I returned to Salisbury, and was working at Oxfam, I came across an exquisite book of these manuscripts, all in glorious color. The title is “The Choir Book Miniatures for Siena Cathedral” by Enzo Carli, published by I.F.I. Editions-Florence.
The inlaid mosaic floor is the other superb part of the cathedral that blew my mind. It is one of the most ornate of its kind in Italy, covering the whole floor of the cathedral. This undertaking went on from the 14th to the 16th centuries, and about forty artists made their contribution. The floor consists of 56 panels in different sizes. Most have a rectangular shape, but the later ones in the transept are hexagons or rhombuses. They represent the sibyls, scenes from the Old Testament, allegories and virtues. Most are still in their original state.This was interesting to me as a few years ago, I and some other viol players accompanied the Duke University Collegium Musicum in the "Sybylline Prophecies" by Orlando Lassus. Between 1481 and 1483 the ten panels of the Sibyls were worked out. A few are ascribed to eminent artists, such as Matteo di Giovanni (The Samian Sibyl), Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi (Hellespontine Sibyl) and Benvenuto di Giovanni (Albunenan Sibyl). The Cumaean, Delphic, Persian and Phrygian Sibyls are from the hand of the obscure German artist Vito di Marco. The Erythraean Sibyl was originally by Antonio Federighi, the Libyan Sibyl by the painter Guidoccio Cozzarelli, but both have been extensively renovated. The uncovered floor can only be seen for a period of six to ten weeks each year, generally including the month of September.The rest of the year, they are covered and only a few are on display.
The She-Wolf of Siena with the emblems of the confederate cities (Lupa senese e simboli delle città alleate) probably dates from 1373 (also restored in 1864).
Reading through these two sections of the Duomo is overwhelming, but how else to get a sense of the magnitude of the building, the people who created it, and contributed to the magnificence of the interior?
We woke up to a good breakfast. We certainly needed it for all the walking and climbing we were going to do. Our difficulties of the previous night all became clear in the daylight when we left the hotel which is on the modern side of Siena. It faces the Old City on the opposite side of the ravine. I think there should be a zip line across the ravine between the old and the modern. Walking down two hundred or so steep steps outside the hotel patio takes you from the top of the ravine to the bottom. At the bottom, crossing over a narrow road, was the entrance to the escalators that whizzed you up to the Old City. Guess where it came out? Right by the Duomo! That was our first port of call. Now I get serious. OMG. I can’t begin to describe the effect that place has, so I’ll just give some comments and suggest that if you ever have an opportunity, go to Siena. Nothing you can see on the net compares to the actual place. That’s what travel is all about. I will never forget the feeling of amazement at seeing this cathedral I knew nothing about. For me of course, the highlight was the side chapel where the illuminated manuscripts are housed. It’s called the Piccolomini Library. I will treasure it for the rest of my life. Not only are the manuscripts themselves beautiful works of art, the chapel is breathtaking, with a beautiful blue and white tiled floor, large paintings along the curved wall, and the ceiling is beyond belief. The slideshow gives a small indication of the beauty of the interior. That, the Manuscript Library and the Duomo floor, was all I could take in on one trip.
Adjoining the cathedral is the Piccolomini Library, housing precious illuminated choir books and frescoes painted by the Umbrian Bernardino di Betto, called Pinturicchio, probably based on designs by Raphael.The visual impact of these very colourful frescoes is stunning. The frescoes tell the story of the life of Siena's favourite son, cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who eventually became Pope Pius II. He was the uncle of cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini (then archbishop of Siena and the future pope Pius III), who commissioned this library in 1492 as a repository of the books and the manuscript collection of his uncle. The ceiling is covered with painted panels of mythological subjects. They were executed between 1502 and 1503 by Pinturicchio and his assistants.The entrance is a finely carved marble monument with two openings with round arches, executed in 1497 by Lorenzo di Mariano. It contains a round relief of St. John the Evangelist (probably) by Giovanni di Stefano and, below the altar, a polychrome Pietà by the sculptor Alberto di Betto da Assisi in 1421. Above this marble monument is a fresco of the Papal Coronation of Pius III by Pinturicchio in 1504.In the middle of the library is the famous statue Three Graces, a Roman copy of a Greek original.Pinturicchio painted this cycle of frescoes around the library between 1502 and 1507, representing Raphael and himself in several of them. This masterpiece is full of striking detail and vivacious colours. Each scene is explained in Latin by the text below. They depict ten remarkable events from the secular and religious career of pope Pius II, first as a high prelate, then bishop, a cardinal and ultimately pope:
Enea Silvio Piccolomini (ESP) leaves for the Council of Basel. The storm scene in the background is a first in western art.
ESP, ambassador at the Scottish Court
ESP crowned court poet by emperor Frederick III
ESP makes an act of submission to Pope Eugene IV
ESP, bishop of Siena, presents emperor Frederick III with his bride-to-be Eleanora of Portugal at the Porta Camollia in Siena.
ESP receives the cardinal's hat in 1456
ESP, enters the Lateran as pontiff in 1458
Pius II convokes a Diet of Princes at Mantua to proclaim a new crusade in 1459
Pius II canonizes Saint Catherine of Siena in 1461
Pius II arrives in Ancona to launch the crusade.
Beneath the frescoes, the psalters of the cathedral's sacristy are on display. These exquisite illuminations by Liberale da Verona and Girolamo da Cremona were executed between 1466 and 1478 and later carried on by other Sienese illuminators.
After I returned to Salisbury, and was working at Oxfam, I came across an exquisite book of these manuscripts, all in glorious color. The title is “The Choir Book Miniatures for Siena Cathedral” by Enzo Carli, published by I.F.I. Editions-Florence.
The inlaid mosaic floor is the other superb part of the cathedral that blew my mind. It is one of the most ornate of its kind in Italy, covering the whole floor of the cathedral. This undertaking went on from the 14th to the 16th centuries, and about forty artists made their contribution. The floor consists of 56 panels in different sizes. Most have a rectangular shape, but the later ones in the transept are hexagons or rhombuses. They represent the sibyls, scenes from the Old Testament, allegories and virtues. Most are still in their original state.This was interesting to me as a few years ago, I and some other viol players accompanied the Duke University Collegium Musicum in the "Sybylline Prophecies" by Orlando Lassus. Between 1481 and 1483 the ten panels of the Sibyls were worked out. A few are ascribed to eminent artists, such as Matteo di Giovanni (The Samian Sibyl), Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi (Hellespontine Sibyl) and Benvenuto di Giovanni (Albunenan Sibyl). The Cumaean, Delphic, Persian and Phrygian Sibyls are from the hand of the obscure German artist Vito di Marco. The Erythraean Sibyl was originally by Antonio Federighi, the Libyan Sibyl by the painter Guidoccio Cozzarelli, but both have been extensively renovated. The uncovered floor can only be seen for a period of six to ten weeks each year, generally including the month of September.The rest of the year, they are covered and only a few are on display.
The She-Wolf of Siena with the emblems of the confederate cities (Lupa senese e simboli delle città alleate) probably dates from 1373 (also restored in 1864).
Reading through these two sections of the Duomo is overwhelming, but how else to get a sense of the magnitude of the building, the people who created it, and contributed to the magnificence of the interior?
On the way to the Academia going through the narrow streets (remember, cars are not supposed to be there!) there was a slew of small ceramic shops, and in their own way, they too were magnificent. One especially caught my eye.
We had arranged to meet in the Piazza del Campo, which is rather like a large bowl tipped on its side, where the famous annual horse race, the Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is held there twice each year, on July 2 and August 16. It seems inconceivable that 10 horses and their riders gallop around the square at breakneck speeds.
The origins of the Palio date back to the 12th century and the earliest mention of the ‘Palio di Siena’ is in a 13th century document from 1238, nearly 800 years ago.Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards. The Palio held on July 2 is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia. The Palio held on August 16 is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.
The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is usual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys, but a horse without a rider can still win!
A pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.
I don’t think I would want to be there for the race, but I loved standing in the piazza, thinking about the history of and the people who have passed through it over the centuries.
The origins of the Palio date back to the 12th century and the earliest mention of the ‘Palio di Siena’ is in a 13th century document from 1238, nearly 800 years ago.Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards. The Palio held on July 2 is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia. The Palio held on August 16 is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.
The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is usual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys, but a horse without a rider can still win!
A pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.
I don’t think I would want to be there for the race, but I loved standing in the piazza, thinking about the history of and the people who have passed through it over the centuries.
Jan. 5/6. Befana – Florence - the Great Synagogue, Kosher restaurant, city market, Procession and Duomo Nativity scene.
We finally tore ourselves away and drove on to Florence. It was a comfortable trip, enjoying the views of the winter countryside. We drove fairly easily into the center of Florence and found we had been upgraded to the Style Hotel, opposite the train station. It was very modern, but pleasant and comfortable and we were glad for a good night’s sleep after a Chinese dinner, not far away from the hotel.
Since we had so little time in Florence, we each had a few must-see/things to do. Mine were to walk around the center see the Duomo Nativity Scene, and to wait for the Procession of Epiphany to arrive at the Duomo.
We all went to the Great Synagogue which was built between 1874 and 1882. The design integrated the architectural traditions of the Islamic and Italian worlds.Layers of travertine and granite alternate in the masonry, creating a striped effect like that of the Siena Cathedral. Old photographs show bold red and beige stripes, but the bold colors of the stone have faded over time, leaving a more mottled effect. During World War II Fascist soldiers used the synagogue as a vehicle garage. In August 1944 retreating German troops worked with Italian Fascists to lay explosives to destroy the synagogue. However, Italian resistance fighters managed to defuse most of the explosives and only a limited amount of damage was done. What damage was done was restored after the war. The synagogue was restored yet again after damage from the flood of the River Arno in 1966. My London friend Louise, a conservator, went to Florence as a volunteer to help restore the damage after that flood.
There is a museum and a video, but I did not want to see it. Yad Vashem was enough for me. I stayed out in the pale sun, and contemplated.
For lunch we went to Ruth’s Kosher Deli, next to the Synagogue, and platters with combinations of vegetables, falafel, hummus and potato latkes. All delicious.
While I was walking around after lunch, I kept an ear open for the sounds of the procession which was coming from the Pitti Palace to the Duomo. When I heard it distinctly, I walked to the piazza in front of the Duomo where the live Nativity scene was setting up. Mary, Joseph and the baby were ensconced in the stable shelter. The donkeys, together with a pony and a sheep were in pens below the crèche. After the procession was in place, there was an introduction by an official and a performance by a choir, on the steps of yet another magnificent cathedral.
We finally tore ourselves away and drove on to Florence. It was a comfortable trip, enjoying the views of the winter countryside. We drove fairly easily into the center of Florence and found we had been upgraded to the Style Hotel, opposite the train station. It was very modern, but pleasant and comfortable and we were glad for a good night’s sleep after a Chinese dinner, not far away from the hotel.
Since we had so little time in Florence, we each had a few must-see/things to do. Mine were to walk around the center see the Duomo Nativity Scene, and to wait for the Procession of Epiphany to arrive at the Duomo.
We all went to the Great Synagogue which was built between 1874 and 1882. The design integrated the architectural traditions of the Islamic and Italian worlds.Layers of travertine and granite alternate in the masonry, creating a striped effect like that of the Siena Cathedral. Old photographs show bold red and beige stripes, but the bold colors of the stone have faded over time, leaving a more mottled effect. During World War II Fascist soldiers used the synagogue as a vehicle garage. In August 1944 retreating German troops worked with Italian Fascists to lay explosives to destroy the synagogue. However, Italian resistance fighters managed to defuse most of the explosives and only a limited amount of damage was done. What damage was done was restored after the war. The synagogue was restored yet again after damage from the flood of the River Arno in 1966. My London friend Louise, a conservator, went to Florence as a volunteer to help restore the damage after that flood.
There is a museum and a video, but I did not want to see it. Yad Vashem was enough for me. I stayed out in the pale sun, and contemplated.
For lunch we went to Ruth’s Kosher Deli, next to the Synagogue, and platters with combinations of vegetables, falafel, hummus and potato latkes. All delicious.
While I was walking around after lunch, I kept an ear open for the sounds of the procession which was coming from the Pitti Palace to the Duomo. When I heard it distinctly, I walked to the piazza in front of the Duomo where the live Nativity scene was setting up. Mary, Joseph and the baby were ensconced in the stable shelter. The donkeys, together with a pony and a sheep were in pens below the crèche. After the procession was in place, there was an introduction by an official and a performance by a choir, on the steps of yet another magnificent cathedral.
Eventually Dan, Zoe, Betsy and I found each other and walked around the San Lorenzo Leather Market. Florence is famous for its fabulous leather goods on the stalls and in the fancier shops. Although I was not in the market to buy, I couldn’t resist a beautifully designed little change purse (in purple leather!) We had to return then to the hotel as they were driving back to Rome and I was going to the station to catch the train to Cremona. After saying goodbye to them I still had some time before the train was leaving, so I explored the area near the hotel. I took my last crèche photo, then made my way back to the hotel. It was with some trepidation I picked up my bags from the hotel and crossed the road for the train journey. What an adventure it became!
Jan. 6/7 Cremona.
The first leg of the journey was to Bologna on the highspeed train. Great ride, but unfortunately the outlet for the iPhone charger was not working. This had severe repercussions later. At Bologna I had to change to Fidenza on a local commuter train that stopped at many stations. By this time it was dark and the stations' names were not easily visible. As I had no idea how long it took to get to Fidenza, I was on tenterhooks as to when I should get off. I did understand an announcement saying the train was 30 minutes late. The other passengers were mostly Italians, non-English speaking, and oddly enough, didn't seem to know where Fidenza was. Of course by then my trusty iPhone with Google maps was out of power, so I couldn't check it! However a friendly male passenger did have a phone with a maps app and showed me that I was on the right train and going toward Fidenza. A huge relief. We stopped at Parma and Modena and then some smaller stations, with me asking every time "is this Fidenza?" Finally while waiting at the doors, some young people came through, and amongst them was a young woman who spoke English. An angel from heaven! Her name is Alessandra, and she is a musicology student at the University of Cremona on her way back there after the holidays! Her English was so good because she had spent 6 months at a language school in Bristol. When I told her I lived near Salisbury she was so excited, having visited the town when in England and absolutely loved it. She was so friendly and helpful. We got off at Fidenza and caught the train to Cremona. So easy with her to guide me. She insisted on ringing for a taxi to take me to the hotel, and wouldn't let me drop her off at her apartment which was just around the corner. She also offered to show me around the town the next morning before her class, so I invited her to have breakfast with me before going sightseeing.
The hotel, Duomo Della Musica was just a few feet away from the Duomo Square, and was perfect choice for me. Small and cosy with lots of posters and music memorabilia, and beautifully etched violin designs on the glass windows. In spite of me showing up after 10pm, the friendly receptionist was very welcoming. The room was warm and comfortable with a good shower, and after a cup of tea, I had a good night's sleep.
Early the next morning Alessandra came on her bicycle which had been her mother's university bicycle, and after coffee and some breakfast we walked through the streets to see the statues of Stradivarius, one in the market square, another one in a little park, and one of Monteverdi. The center of Cremona is not very large and we walked to the Museum of Violin where I said goodbye to Alessandra as she had to go to her University class. What a kind young woman she was, taking her time to show me around. The museum is phenomenal and all string players should have the opportunity to visit it. What a find! There are 7 galleries with different aspects of the violin family. The Cremona Gallery has the Stradivaries, Amatis, del Gesu, quite breathtaking and overwhelming to see so many of them together. I especially liked the feature of being able to scan an icon on selected instruments, and to see and hear the instrument being played. My favorite of course, was a Stradivarius cello. Other instruments were set up with audio links to listen to. I am so glad I did this trip. I have wanted to visit Cremona for a long time.
Outside it was market day, there were lots of stalls and I bought a pair of warm slippers for England. Just off the main square there are number of violin luthier shops opposite the house where Stradivarius lived with his first wife. There were some beautiful looking instruments in the window display. There wasn’t time to go into the Duomo itself, but I did get to admire the great clock.
The Torrazzo is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Cremona, Lombardy, in northern Italy. At 112.7 metres (343 ft 6 in), it is the third tallest brickwork bell tower in the world, the first being the tower of St. Martin's Church in Landshut, Bavaria, and the second at the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium. However the Torrazzo (completed in 1309) is older than the Landshut tower (completed in 1500) and the Bruges tower (completed in 1465), and it is the oldest brick structure taller than 100 m that is still standing.
According to popular tradition, construction on the tower began in 754. In reality, it was built in four phases: a first dating back to the 1230s, up to the third dripstone, a second, between 1250 and 1267, up to the dripstone under the quadriphore, a third around 1284, and the completion of the marble spire in 1309. Its height is announced by a plaque embedded in the wall at the base of the Torrazzo itself, stating 250 arms and 2 ounces, which in the ancient measuring system of the Lombard towns translates to approximately 111 metres. The seven bells are tuned in the scale of A major, and date back to the 18th century.
Archaeological excavations made in the 1980s have discovered the presence of underlying structures which are supposed to be the remains of a more ancient churchyard (or a cemetery associated to it), or even previous Roman buildings.
After a cappuccino in the Duomo Square, I went back to the hotel to pick up my bags and take a taxi to the station. It was chilly, around 46 degrees, there had been snow a few days before, still some on the ground. The journey back to Bologna was easier in the daylight, and the highspeed train to Rome zipped along at 239 km an hour. And this time, the outlet for the phone charger worked.
Jan. 6/7 Cremona.
The first leg of the journey was to Bologna on the highspeed train. Great ride, but unfortunately the outlet for the iPhone charger was not working. This had severe repercussions later. At Bologna I had to change to Fidenza on a local commuter train that stopped at many stations. By this time it was dark and the stations' names were not easily visible. As I had no idea how long it took to get to Fidenza, I was on tenterhooks as to when I should get off. I did understand an announcement saying the train was 30 minutes late. The other passengers were mostly Italians, non-English speaking, and oddly enough, didn't seem to know where Fidenza was. Of course by then my trusty iPhone with Google maps was out of power, so I couldn't check it! However a friendly male passenger did have a phone with a maps app and showed me that I was on the right train and going toward Fidenza. A huge relief. We stopped at Parma and Modena and then some smaller stations, with me asking every time "is this Fidenza?" Finally while waiting at the doors, some young people came through, and amongst them was a young woman who spoke English. An angel from heaven! Her name is Alessandra, and she is a musicology student at the University of Cremona on her way back there after the holidays! Her English was so good because she had spent 6 months at a language school in Bristol. When I told her I lived near Salisbury she was so excited, having visited the town when in England and absolutely loved it. She was so friendly and helpful. We got off at Fidenza and caught the train to Cremona. So easy with her to guide me. She insisted on ringing for a taxi to take me to the hotel, and wouldn't let me drop her off at her apartment which was just around the corner. She also offered to show me around the town the next morning before her class, so I invited her to have breakfast with me before going sightseeing.
The hotel, Duomo Della Musica was just a few feet away from the Duomo Square, and was perfect choice for me. Small and cosy with lots of posters and music memorabilia, and beautifully etched violin designs on the glass windows. In spite of me showing up after 10pm, the friendly receptionist was very welcoming. The room was warm and comfortable with a good shower, and after a cup of tea, I had a good night's sleep.
Early the next morning Alessandra came on her bicycle which had been her mother's university bicycle, and after coffee and some breakfast we walked through the streets to see the statues of Stradivarius, one in the market square, another one in a little park, and one of Monteverdi. The center of Cremona is not very large and we walked to the Museum of Violin where I said goodbye to Alessandra as she had to go to her University class. What a kind young woman she was, taking her time to show me around. The museum is phenomenal and all string players should have the opportunity to visit it. What a find! There are 7 galleries with different aspects of the violin family. The Cremona Gallery has the Stradivaries, Amatis, del Gesu, quite breathtaking and overwhelming to see so many of them together. I especially liked the feature of being able to scan an icon on selected instruments, and to see and hear the instrument being played. My favorite of course, was a Stradivarius cello. Other instruments were set up with audio links to listen to. I am so glad I did this trip. I have wanted to visit Cremona for a long time.
Outside it was market day, there were lots of stalls and I bought a pair of warm slippers for England. Just off the main square there are number of violin luthier shops opposite the house where Stradivarius lived with his first wife. There were some beautiful looking instruments in the window display. There wasn’t time to go into the Duomo itself, but I did get to admire the great clock.
The Torrazzo is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Cremona, Lombardy, in northern Italy. At 112.7 metres (343 ft 6 in), it is the third tallest brickwork bell tower in the world, the first being the tower of St. Martin's Church in Landshut, Bavaria, and the second at the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium. However the Torrazzo (completed in 1309) is older than the Landshut tower (completed in 1500) and the Bruges tower (completed in 1465), and it is the oldest brick structure taller than 100 m that is still standing.
According to popular tradition, construction on the tower began in 754. In reality, it was built in four phases: a first dating back to the 1230s, up to the third dripstone, a second, between 1250 and 1267, up to the dripstone under the quadriphore, a third around 1284, and the completion of the marble spire in 1309. Its height is announced by a plaque embedded in the wall at the base of the Torrazzo itself, stating 250 arms and 2 ounces, which in the ancient measuring system of the Lombard towns translates to approximately 111 metres. The seven bells are tuned in the scale of A major, and date back to the 18th century.
Archaeological excavations made in the 1980s have discovered the presence of underlying structures which are supposed to be the remains of a more ancient churchyard (or a cemetery associated to it), or even previous Roman buildings.
After a cappuccino in the Duomo Square, I went back to the hotel to pick up my bags and take a taxi to the station. It was chilly, around 46 degrees, there had been snow a few days before, still some on the ground. The journey back to Bologna was easier in the daylight, and the highspeed train to Rome zipped along at 239 km an hour. And this time, the outlet for the phone charger worked.
Jan. 8. Back in Rome.
It was good to be back with the family, although I only had one more day with them before flying back to London, on January 9. We celebrated my January birthday and Elisa’s February birthday all in one go, making good use of the wine bottle holder we brought back from Pitigliano, and of course the tiramisu chocolate cake from Mo’s. It had been a wonderful Christmas holiday.
It was good to be back with the family, although I only had one more day with them before flying back to London, on January 9. We celebrated my January birthday and Elisa’s February birthday all in one go, making good use of the wine bottle holder we brought back from Pitigliano, and of course the tiramisu chocolate cake from Mo’s. It had been a wonderful Christmas holiday.
Jan. 10. A day in London, with the Twelfth Night Party in the early evening at the Old Vic. This is a very special event for me, as it was my mother’s favorite event in her social year. Twelfth Night is on January 6th, which was her birthday, so she had a built-in birthday party at the Old Vic every year. There are always good stories about Lilian Baylis, the manager of the Old Vic during Mum’s time there, as well as a scrumptious repast on the groaning table. A fabulous homemade fruitcake is the center of attention and delicious, as well as other homemade goodies. A celebrity is invited to toast the evening, and this year, Vice-President Nickolas Grace (Brideshead Revisted and many, many more great roles) introduced former Prima Ballerina of the Royal Ballet, Marguerite Porter. She had good stories to tell about her teacher, Anna Pavlova who had known Lilian Baylis, and was always mentioning her name at any opportunity. So a good time was had by all. Happy Birthday Mum!
Jan 11. Coach to Ringwood from Victoria, a lovely ride down to Ringwood through the New Forest.
Jan. 12. Back to reality.
I was told the winter was mild, but to my Southern blood, it was very cold. I dealt with the cold and isolation by practicing, taking good long walks in the gorgeous countryside and working at Oxfam once a week. I really missed going in to the shop every day. The flat would have been marvelous had it been warm and cosy. I wouldn’t have minded so much not having a shower if the bathroom had been warm.
Jan. 16. The Salisbury Symphony Orchestra.
Finally, my first rehearsal of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra with conductor David Halls, who is also the Choir Director of the Cathedral Choir, whom I met in June. I really enjoyed playing for him, and his choice of repertoire. Two works I had not played before, Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances, Set 1, and the Symphony no. 5 in B minor by Hubert Parry. The third work was Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, which surprisingly I had not played in many years. I discovered the other orchestra I was playing in had also programmed the Beethoven Violin concerto, but with a different soloist. It never rains but it pours. I was happy, as I love that work, and it was no hardship to rehearse and play it twice.
Jan. 18 Fordingbridge - Movie "Ida"
During one of my walks around Fordingbridge, on the Community Noticeboard I saw a local Film Club flyer announcing the showing of the film “Ida”. It looked interesting so I went in to town to see it.
A 2013 Polish drama film directed by Paweł Pawlikowski and written by him and Rebecca Lenkiewicz was set in Poland in 1962, and is about a young woman on the verge of taking vows as a Catholic nun. Orphaned as an infant during the German occupation of World War II, before becoming a nun, she must meet her only only surviving relative, her aunt, who had been the former Communist state prosecutor. She tells her that her parents were Jewish. The two women embark on a road trip into the Polish countryside to learn the fate of their family. Called a "compact masterpiece" and an "eerily beautiful road movie", the film has also been said to "contain a cosmos of guilt, violence and pain", even if certain historical events (German occupation of Poland, the Holocaust and Stalinism) remain unsaid: "none of this is stated, but all of it is built, so to speak, into the atmosphere: the country feels dead, the population sparse". It was a very moving film.
Jan. 19. I have a car!
The car was delivered to me today. Freedom! Here was yet another example that this adventure was definitely meant to be. Zaria, my former landlady in Salisbury, had spent a long time redecorating the house next to Bickton House, as the owner was taking his family to Botswana for three years, and it would be rented out while they were gone. They had 2 cars, one they sold, and the other one being older, was left there for the use of anyone in the house. However, when the owner was told that I was looking for a car, he offered to let me have it for as long as I needed it, if I would pay for one major repair. All other repairs and MOT and taxes he would take care of, as it would still be in his name. I calculated the cost of the repair and the insurance for me, divided it into the amount of time I had left before July 14, and decided that it was worth it. An excellent decision! So now I had good working wheels. A 2004 Volvo diesel wagon with electric leather seats! OK, I couldn’t figure out how to set the radio, but everything else was a breeze, and I loved it. Apart from a flat tire at the garage when they were doing the MOT, there were no problems. It served me very well. At first, I was a little unsure about driving on the left, but it soon became automatic, and I conquered the race track to Salisbury on many occasions. I still didn’t like the speed of the other cars, especially in the dark, but got used to it. Salisbury has many roundabouts, but by the time I left in July, I was really zipping around them. Once I moved to Salisbury, I only used the car a few times a week, but when I needed it, it was great.
Jan. 25. Room hunting - Evensong
As I had an appointment to look at a room, I decided to go early to Salisbury and attend the Cathedral Evensong service. It is always a sublime experience; the choir is one of the best of the English cathedrals. Girls are now part of the choir and it’s such a peaceful way to end a Sunday.
The room in the house I went to see was way too small, and the place was a tip, so no thank you. Great location though.
Jan. 27. Flat in Salisbury.
I saw an ad for a room to rent in Salisbury, and was the first one to look at it. I took it immediately, as although it was student accommodation level, the location was excellent and was just what I was looking for. The maisonette was a small 2-bedroom upstairs flat in a building of four units. The other tenant had the lease of the flat, she had been there 5 years, and sublets the second bedroom (mine). Happily it was in the same area as the previous ad, with slightly better conditions. Enough for me to be able to cope with it, though definitely slumming, compared to my house. The area was perfect for me, on a hill on the edge of Salisbury, a 10 minute walk to the English Heritage site of Old Sarum, and miles of fields behind the end of the houses. I could walk to the center of town, catch a bus 2 minutes from the flat, or drive if I had an evening rehearsal or event. A sigh of relief!
I still had two weeks left at Bickton, and continued enjoying the winter scenery, but not the freezing cold in the flat.
Jan. 31. Lecture by organist Daniel Moult - Evensong - Playhouse "Three Men in a Boat".
Now with wheels, my world had opened up and I breezed into Salisbury for events that caught my eye. Today in the Cathedral School there was a talk by an English organist, Daniel Moult on fighting performance nervousness. His background is impressive, having been awarded the Oxford University John Betts Organ Scholarship and earning the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organ. With all his experience as a performing concert organist he was very qualified to discuss this perennial problem many musicians of all instruments face. He was very factual and organized with handout sheets, which made it easier for the teachers in the audience. Afterwards, we were invited to ask questions which some did and which we all could to relate to. By then this being England, it was time for tea, and it was the usual slap-up one. Delicious homemade sandwiches, scones and cake, and of course, tea.
I took the opportunity to go next door to the Cathedral for Evensong, and then after a quick sandwich supper and a coffee (I wasn’t hungry after that huge tea), went to the Salisbury Playhouse to see the play “Three Men in a Boat”. I went for several reasons, one because I could drive home afterwards, the second because I liked the book and wanted to see the play version, and thirdly, I was going to try out my non-existent review skills on this play. This was going to be my entry into the world of reviewing. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be asked to write a review for the London Old Vic Broadsheet, which is published quarterly. Here is some background. My mother, as a young singer, was a member of the Old Vic in the 1920’s when Lilian Baylis was the manager. For the rest of her life and especially when she returned to England to live out her life, she loved going to events at the Old Vic, especially for the Twelfth Night party I mentioned earlier. When Mum died, in her honor I became a lifetime member myself, and over the years, have received the Broadsheet and kept up with the Old Vic news. Whenever I can, I go to performances and events there. Just before leaving for England on my adventure, I wrote to the editor if future copies of the Broadsheet could be sent to a UK address, so I wouldn’t miss any while I was away. In replying to confirm, she then asked if I would write an article about my mother, which I did, and it was published in the December 2014 issue. Soon after that, I was asked to write some reviews of anything that might be of interest to the readers of the Broadsheet. For a trial run, just for family, I started with Three Men in Boat. It was a test review which I sent to Steve, my former husband, for his advice. He comes from a family of writers and had worked in various University Presses, so I knew he would be a knowledgeable critic. I passed muster with his response, which gave me the confidence to write further reviews. Since then, I have had reviews published in the Broadsheet from Salisbury and Rome. Who would have thought it?
Jan. 12. Back to reality.
I was told the winter was mild, but to my Southern blood, it was very cold. I dealt with the cold and isolation by practicing, taking good long walks in the gorgeous countryside and working at Oxfam once a week. I really missed going in to the shop every day. The flat would have been marvelous had it been warm and cosy. I wouldn’t have minded so much not having a shower if the bathroom had been warm.
Jan. 16. The Salisbury Symphony Orchestra.
Finally, my first rehearsal of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra with conductor David Halls, who is also the Choir Director of the Cathedral Choir, whom I met in June. I really enjoyed playing for him, and his choice of repertoire. Two works I had not played before, Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances, Set 1, and the Symphony no. 5 in B minor by Hubert Parry. The third work was Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, which surprisingly I had not played in many years. I discovered the other orchestra I was playing in had also programmed the Beethoven Violin concerto, but with a different soloist. It never rains but it pours. I was happy, as I love that work, and it was no hardship to rehearse and play it twice.
Jan. 18 Fordingbridge - Movie "Ida"
During one of my walks around Fordingbridge, on the Community Noticeboard I saw a local Film Club flyer announcing the showing of the film “Ida”. It looked interesting so I went in to town to see it.
A 2013 Polish drama film directed by Paweł Pawlikowski and written by him and Rebecca Lenkiewicz was set in Poland in 1962, and is about a young woman on the verge of taking vows as a Catholic nun. Orphaned as an infant during the German occupation of World War II, before becoming a nun, she must meet her only only surviving relative, her aunt, who had been the former Communist state prosecutor. She tells her that her parents were Jewish. The two women embark on a road trip into the Polish countryside to learn the fate of their family. Called a "compact masterpiece" and an "eerily beautiful road movie", the film has also been said to "contain a cosmos of guilt, violence and pain", even if certain historical events (German occupation of Poland, the Holocaust and Stalinism) remain unsaid: "none of this is stated, but all of it is built, so to speak, into the atmosphere: the country feels dead, the population sparse". It was a very moving film.
Jan. 19. I have a car!
The car was delivered to me today. Freedom! Here was yet another example that this adventure was definitely meant to be. Zaria, my former landlady in Salisbury, had spent a long time redecorating the house next to Bickton House, as the owner was taking his family to Botswana for three years, and it would be rented out while they were gone. They had 2 cars, one they sold, and the other one being older, was left there for the use of anyone in the house. However, when the owner was told that I was looking for a car, he offered to let me have it for as long as I needed it, if I would pay for one major repair. All other repairs and MOT and taxes he would take care of, as it would still be in his name. I calculated the cost of the repair and the insurance for me, divided it into the amount of time I had left before July 14, and decided that it was worth it. An excellent decision! So now I had good working wheels. A 2004 Volvo diesel wagon with electric leather seats! OK, I couldn’t figure out how to set the radio, but everything else was a breeze, and I loved it. Apart from a flat tire at the garage when they were doing the MOT, there were no problems. It served me very well. At first, I was a little unsure about driving on the left, but it soon became automatic, and I conquered the race track to Salisbury on many occasions. I still didn’t like the speed of the other cars, especially in the dark, but got used to it. Salisbury has many roundabouts, but by the time I left in July, I was really zipping around them. Once I moved to Salisbury, I only used the car a few times a week, but when I needed it, it was great.
Jan. 25. Room hunting - Evensong
As I had an appointment to look at a room, I decided to go early to Salisbury and attend the Cathedral Evensong service. It is always a sublime experience; the choir is one of the best of the English cathedrals. Girls are now part of the choir and it’s such a peaceful way to end a Sunday.
The room in the house I went to see was way too small, and the place was a tip, so no thank you. Great location though.
Jan. 27. Flat in Salisbury.
I saw an ad for a room to rent in Salisbury, and was the first one to look at it. I took it immediately, as although it was student accommodation level, the location was excellent and was just what I was looking for. The maisonette was a small 2-bedroom upstairs flat in a building of four units. The other tenant had the lease of the flat, she had been there 5 years, and sublets the second bedroom (mine). Happily it was in the same area as the previous ad, with slightly better conditions. Enough for me to be able to cope with it, though definitely slumming, compared to my house. The area was perfect for me, on a hill on the edge of Salisbury, a 10 minute walk to the English Heritage site of Old Sarum, and miles of fields behind the end of the houses. I could walk to the center of town, catch a bus 2 minutes from the flat, or drive if I had an evening rehearsal or event. A sigh of relief!
I still had two weeks left at Bickton, and continued enjoying the winter scenery, but not the freezing cold in the flat.
Jan. 31. Lecture by organist Daniel Moult - Evensong - Playhouse "Three Men in a Boat".
Now with wheels, my world had opened up and I breezed into Salisbury for events that caught my eye. Today in the Cathedral School there was a talk by an English organist, Daniel Moult on fighting performance nervousness. His background is impressive, having been awarded the Oxford University John Betts Organ Scholarship and earning the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organ. With all his experience as a performing concert organist he was very qualified to discuss this perennial problem many musicians of all instruments face. He was very factual and organized with handout sheets, which made it easier for the teachers in the audience. Afterwards, we were invited to ask questions which some did and which we all could to relate to. By then this being England, it was time for tea, and it was the usual slap-up one. Delicious homemade sandwiches, scones and cake, and of course, tea.
I took the opportunity to go next door to the Cathedral for Evensong, and then after a quick sandwich supper and a coffee (I wasn’t hungry after that huge tea), went to the Salisbury Playhouse to see the play “Three Men in a Boat”. I went for several reasons, one because I could drive home afterwards, the second because I liked the book and wanted to see the play version, and thirdly, I was going to try out my non-existent review skills on this play. This was going to be my entry into the world of reviewing. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be asked to write a review for the London Old Vic Broadsheet, which is published quarterly. Here is some background. My mother, as a young singer, was a member of the Old Vic in the 1920’s when Lilian Baylis was the manager. For the rest of her life and especially when she returned to England to live out her life, she loved going to events at the Old Vic, especially for the Twelfth Night party I mentioned earlier. When Mum died, in her honor I became a lifetime member myself, and over the years, have received the Broadsheet and kept up with the Old Vic news. Whenever I can, I go to performances and events there. Just before leaving for England on my adventure, I wrote to the editor if future copies of the Broadsheet could be sent to a UK address, so I wouldn’t miss any while I was away. In replying to confirm, she then asked if I would write an article about my mother, which I did, and it was published in the December 2014 issue. Soon after that, I was asked to write some reviews of anything that might be of interest to the readers of the Broadsheet. For a trial run, just for family, I started with Three Men in Boat. It was a test review which I sent to Steve, my former husband, for his advice. He comes from a family of writers and had worked in various University Presses, so I knew he would be a knowledgeable critic. I passed muster with his response, which gave me the confidence to write further reviews. Since then, I have had reviews published in the Broadsheet from Salisbury and Rome. Who would have thought it?
chapter 6 - February
February 1. Bickton House
It was a mild winter, but to my southern blood it was very cold. To warm up I practiced, both on the cello and the treble viol, as rehearsals and concerts were coming up. Then I would bundle up and go out for a good long walk. One day there was a sprinkling of snow over the countryside. Not enough to make it magical, but pretty.
Feb. 4 - Ladies who Lunch – with my cousin Meryl at a lovely little restaurant in Fordingbridge, “The Fig Tree”, catching up on news since her Christmas party.
Feb. 8 – Downton Moot.
A glorious winter day, perfect for bundling up and exploring. That is my favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon, and all through the spring I went all over the countryside. This Sunday, I visited Downton (no, not the fictional abbey) which is a large village between Fordingbridge and Salisbury, and has an interesting 8 acre park along the River Avon with 12th century earthworks. In the 18th century they were incorporated into a garden that was part of an estate nearby, Moot House. The garden is now owned now by a charity, (the house is separate) and is a delight for all who love the outdoors. Two large mounds in the center of the garden are the remains of the castle keep, and are a great place for children and dogs to run and roll down. Being February, it was quite bare, but gave wonderful views over the countryside when climbing above the amphitheatre.
It was a mild winter, but to my southern blood it was very cold. To warm up I practiced, both on the cello and the treble viol, as rehearsals and concerts were coming up. Then I would bundle up and go out for a good long walk. One day there was a sprinkling of snow over the countryside. Not enough to make it magical, but pretty.
Feb. 4 - Ladies who Lunch – with my cousin Meryl at a lovely little restaurant in Fordingbridge, “The Fig Tree”, catching up on news since her Christmas party.
Feb. 8 – Downton Moot.
A glorious winter day, perfect for bundling up and exploring. That is my favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon, and all through the spring I went all over the countryside. This Sunday, I visited Downton (no, not the fictional abbey) which is a large village between Fordingbridge and Salisbury, and has an interesting 8 acre park along the River Avon with 12th century earthworks. In the 18th century they were incorporated into a garden that was part of an estate nearby, Moot House. The garden is now owned now by a charity, (the house is separate) and is a delight for all who love the outdoors. Two large mounds in the center of the garden are the remains of the castle keep, and are a great place for children and dogs to run and roll down. Being February, it was quite bare, but gave wonderful views over the countryside when climbing above the amphitheatre.
Feb. 10. Writing
Having been asked to contribute more reviews to the Old Vic Broadsheet, to get some knowledge about writing, I joined a group which centered on creative writing, and met once a week during term time. It was led by a high school English teacher. The others in the group, mostly experienced writers, some had published great scientific tomes during their working lives, discussed each other’s writings, making suggestions and giving advice, all very helpful to me as I was definitely the novice. Each week members was encouraged to read something they had written. They liked the article on my mother I had written for the Broadsheet, but as time went on, I found it difficult to write creatively on a subject assigned to us. I had no trouble writing reviews (provided I made sure to take good notes!) Perhaps improvisation, whether it is in writing or music, maybe something in my deep psyche that I’m not capable of. I find it very difficult and am admiring of those who can. Improvisation in classical music is not the norm, except in the Baroque style and occasionally in contemporary works. Initially when I play a new solo piece on the cello or treble viol, I learn it from the music. Later, I may memorize it, but with orchestral music, (definitely no improvisation here!) even though one gets familiar with the music by practicing, I still need to have the music. I also wonder if it is related to memorization. Amazingly, there are some ensembles that do play orchestra or chamber music from memory. What a great gift to have such a memory.
Later in the spring, what with writing so many reviews for the Broadsheet of productions from the Salisbury Playhouse and Salisbury Festival, and keeping up with my notes for this book, my brain was too full of facts, and I decided it couldn’t cope with creative writing at this time, so sadly gave it up. It had been a good experience, meeting very interesting people and learning about the craft of writing.
In the evening, to the Salisbury Playhouse for the play "84 Charing Cross Road" This was going to be my first review for the Broadsheet, to be published in March 2015. I had read the book many years before, and enjoyed it, so was very excited to see the play.
Review of the play “84 Charing Cross Road” by Helene Hanff, adapted by James Roose-Evans
When watching this gentle and refined play, although familiar with the story of Helene Hanff’s 20 year-old connection with the bookshop as a customer, I discovered many more facets shown by the excellence of the cast, than just letters between her and the chief buyer of the London antiquarian bookshop. The two main characters exemplified the two worlds they lived in. Helene was perfectly portrayed by Janie Dee (an English actress), capturing the essence of a New York female writer. I am British, but having lived in the USA for over 40 years and with relatives from NY, I admired how she was able to do this so naturally. Clive Francis as Frank Doel, was the perfect gentleman, quiet, reticent and as bookshop manager, perfectly understanding his customer’s requests and anxious to fulfil them, even though they were 3000 miles apart. It was riveting to see the gradual changes in both of them. Helene’s more brash and outgoing character, with her enthusiasms seeping into the inner self of Frank. It is Helene who convinces him to be on first name basis, eventually calling him Frankie. Gradually he opens up and talks about more than books, even to the point of cracking jokes, speaking Americanisms and signing his last letters with love. It was heartbreaking to see him standing at the shop door, knowing that he was dealing with the disappointment yet again when Helene after all, was not coming over to England. Grief and remorse was felt when Helene did finally arrive in England, several years after the death of Frank. The shop had long been closed down by the owners, but she was able to get in to see the bare bookshelves and desk where Frank spent writing his letter to her. It was a moment to reflect on all our personal regrets of not doing something that should have been done.
The supporting cast members were drawn into this progression of the long-standing relationship between a New York female writer female and the bookshop, especially when during the postwar austerity in Britian was at a low ebb, their excitement of having care packages that Helene sent to them all. She was as just as delighted when they sent her special items, especially an Irish linen table cloth.
There was a touch of regret felt by all when bubbly Cecily leaves to follow her husband abroad. She is missed by all, even years afterwards.
Lysette Anthony as Megan and Maxine was impressive in her ability to characterize two completely different personalities. However, as Maxine, a more forceful character, she could have projected and enunciated her lines more, they were sometimes a little hard to catch.
The set was beautifully done with the shop using most of the stage. The bookshelves were packed with leather bound collections and a beautiful carved library ladder, that gave the atmosphere of time standing still over the years. Life does change though, and who would believe that in the 60’s Frank liked to open the shop door to listen to the Beatles’ music blaring out from Carnaby Street!
Helene’s desk, bookcases, and front door to her apartment were on the side, which cleverly changes when she moves into a new apartment. I liked the attention to detail when she changed clothes to reflect the passing of time and fashions. Janie Dee did not make much of getting older over the 20 year period. It was more obvious that Clive Francis did, but then he was older than Helene when they first communicated. Certainly he looked like an old man in towards the end of the play.
A very moving and beautifully presented play.
Jane Salemson
Salisbury Playhouse, February 5-28, PN February 6
Authors:
Helene Hanff, James Roose-Evans (adaptation)
Director:
James Roose-Evans
Design:
Norman Coates (set/costumes), Peter Hunter (lighting), John Leonard (sound)
Technical:
John Ticombe (production manager), Rickie Gilgunn (company stage manager), Henrietta Worrall-Thompson (costume supervisor), Barny Meats (technical manager), Anji Carroll (casting director)
Cast:
Janie Dee, Clive Francis, Lysette Anthony, Jemma Churchill, Alice Haig, Ted Merwood, Samuel Townsend
Producer:
Salisbury Playhouse
Running time:
2hrs 10mins
Feb. 11, I was able to get the DVD of 84 Charing Cross Road, to get another perspective of it. Although I adore Anthony Hopkins, I did think the play was better.
Feb. 12. Life is getting busy with rehearsals, tonight the Millstream Orchestra.
Feb. 13. Rehearsal with the Salisbury Symphony.
Having been asked to contribute more reviews to the Old Vic Broadsheet, to get some knowledge about writing, I joined a group which centered on creative writing, and met once a week during term time. It was led by a high school English teacher. The others in the group, mostly experienced writers, some had published great scientific tomes during their working lives, discussed each other’s writings, making suggestions and giving advice, all very helpful to me as I was definitely the novice. Each week members was encouraged to read something they had written. They liked the article on my mother I had written for the Broadsheet, but as time went on, I found it difficult to write creatively on a subject assigned to us. I had no trouble writing reviews (provided I made sure to take good notes!) Perhaps improvisation, whether it is in writing or music, maybe something in my deep psyche that I’m not capable of. I find it very difficult and am admiring of those who can. Improvisation in classical music is not the norm, except in the Baroque style and occasionally in contemporary works. Initially when I play a new solo piece on the cello or treble viol, I learn it from the music. Later, I may memorize it, but with orchestral music, (definitely no improvisation here!) even though one gets familiar with the music by practicing, I still need to have the music. I also wonder if it is related to memorization. Amazingly, there are some ensembles that do play orchestra or chamber music from memory. What a great gift to have such a memory.
Later in the spring, what with writing so many reviews for the Broadsheet of productions from the Salisbury Playhouse and Salisbury Festival, and keeping up with my notes for this book, my brain was too full of facts, and I decided it couldn’t cope with creative writing at this time, so sadly gave it up. It had been a good experience, meeting very interesting people and learning about the craft of writing.
In the evening, to the Salisbury Playhouse for the play "84 Charing Cross Road" This was going to be my first review for the Broadsheet, to be published in March 2015. I had read the book many years before, and enjoyed it, so was very excited to see the play.
Review of the play “84 Charing Cross Road” by Helene Hanff, adapted by James Roose-Evans
When watching this gentle and refined play, although familiar with the story of Helene Hanff’s 20 year-old connection with the bookshop as a customer, I discovered many more facets shown by the excellence of the cast, than just letters between her and the chief buyer of the London antiquarian bookshop. The two main characters exemplified the two worlds they lived in. Helene was perfectly portrayed by Janie Dee (an English actress), capturing the essence of a New York female writer. I am British, but having lived in the USA for over 40 years and with relatives from NY, I admired how she was able to do this so naturally. Clive Francis as Frank Doel, was the perfect gentleman, quiet, reticent and as bookshop manager, perfectly understanding his customer’s requests and anxious to fulfil them, even though they were 3000 miles apart. It was riveting to see the gradual changes in both of them. Helene’s more brash and outgoing character, with her enthusiasms seeping into the inner self of Frank. It is Helene who convinces him to be on first name basis, eventually calling him Frankie. Gradually he opens up and talks about more than books, even to the point of cracking jokes, speaking Americanisms and signing his last letters with love. It was heartbreaking to see him standing at the shop door, knowing that he was dealing with the disappointment yet again when Helene after all, was not coming over to England. Grief and remorse was felt when Helene did finally arrive in England, several years after the death of Frank. The shop had long been closed down by the owners, but she was able to get in to see the bare bookshelves and desk where Frank spent writing his letter to her. It was a moment to reflect on all our personal regrets of not doing something that should have been done.
The supporting cast members were drawn into this progression of the long-standing relationship between a New York female writer female and the bookshop, especially when during the postwar austerity in Britian was at a low ebb, their excitement of having care packages that Helene sent to them all. She was as just as delighted when they sent her special items, especially an Irish linen table cloth.
There was a touch of regret felt by all when bubbly Cecily leaves to follow her husband abroad. She is missed by all, even years afterwards.
Lysette Anthony as Megan and Maxine was impressive in her ability to characterize two completely different personalities. However, as Maxine, a more forceful character, she could have projected and enunciated her lines more, they were sometimes a little hard to catch.
The set was beautifully done with the shop using most of the stage. The bookshelves were packed with leather bound collections and a beautiful carved library ladder, that gave the atmosphere of time standing still over the years. Life does change though, and who would believe that in the 60’s Frank liked to open the shop door to listen to the Beatles’ music blaring out from Carnaby Street!
Helene’s desk, bookcases, and front door to her apartment were on the side, which cleverly changes when she moves into a new apartment. I liked the attention to detail when she changed clothes to reflect the passing of time and fashions. Janie Dee did not make much of getting older over the 20 year period. It was more obvious that Clive Francis did, but then he was older than Helene when they first communicated. Certainly he looked like an old man in towards the end of the play.
A very moving and beautifully presented play.
Jane Salemson
Salisbury Playhouse, February 5-28, PN February 6
Authors:
Helene Hanff, James Roose-Evans (adaptation)
Director:
James Roose-Evans
Design:
Norman Coates (set/costumes), Peter Hunter (lighting), John Leonard (sound)
Technical:
John Ticombe (production manager), Rickie Gilgunn (company stage manager), Henrietta Worrall-Thompson (costume supervisor), Barny Meats (technical manager), Anji Carroll (casting director)
Cast:
Janie Dee, Clive Francis, Lysette Anthony, Jemma Churchill, Alice Haig, Ted Merwood, Samuel Townsend
Producer:
Salisbury Playhouse
Running time:
2hrs 10mins
Feb. 11, I was able to get the DVD of 84 Charing Cross Road, to get another perspective of it. Although I adore Anthony Hopkins, I did think the play was better.
Feb. 12. Life is getting busy with rehearsals, tonight the Millstream Orchestra.
Feb. 13. Rehearsal with the Salisbury Symphony.
Feb. 14. Moving day!
It had been a busy week with the play and orchestra rehearsals, but I was ready. I was sorry to leave the countryside, but the combination of bitter cold and huge electric bills was too much for me, plus being out of Salisbury. Meryl came to help me pack up the car. Fortunately everything got in my car, so she didn’t have to load hers and drive to Salisbury. She had a rotten cold and needed to be in bed. When I arrived, my flatmate helped me take everything up the somewhat steep stairs, awkward with the cello, but it didn’t take long to unload. Although it was not a large room, I managed to get everything in, except the hard travel case for the cello which is bulky and very heavy. No worries putting the cello in the aircraft hold in that case! It stayed in the living room, which pretty much was only used for ironing. I had a soft case for carrying the cello around. The flat, sometimes called a maisonette, had two bedrooms, mine was the smaller, plus a living room, kitchen and bathroom. The best thing about the flat was its location, being upstairs flat at the top of a hill, the view looked straight over the valley to the hills and the sunset. To the right was Old Sarum Castle, my favorite walk. Location-wise, living in Salisbury was perfect for me. I could walk down to the town center to Oxfam, catch a bus back if I needed to after shopping, and park after 6pm for free next to the Salisbury Playhouse, a five-minute drive. All of this made up for the fact that the flat was basically student accommodation, with general maintenance and cleanliness not being high on the list. Heating too, was not a priority, although it was supposedly included in the rent, but it was not quite as cold as the Victorian house. I really missed the comforts of my own home.
It had been a busy week with the play and orchestra rehearsals, but I was ready. I was sorry to leave the countryside, but the combination of bitter cold and huge electric bills was too much for me, plus being out of Salisbury. Meryl came to help me pack up the car. Fortunately everything got in my car, so she didn’t have to load hers and drive to Salisbury. She had a rotten cold and needed to be in bed. When I arrived, my flatmate helped me take everything up the somewhat steep stairs, awkward with the cello, but it didn’t take long to unload. Although it was not a large room, I managed to get everything in, except the hard travel case for the cello which is bulky and very heavy. No worries putting the cello in the aircraft hold in that case! It stayed in the living room, which pretty much was only used for ironing. I had a soft case for carrying the cello around. The flat, sometimes called a maisonette, had two bedrooms, mine was the smaller, plus a living room, kitchen and bathroom. The best thing about the flat was its location, being upstairs flat at the top of a hill, the view looked straight over the valley to the hills and the sunset. To the right was Old Sarum Castle, my favorite walk. Location-wise, living in Salisbury was perfect for me. I could walk down to the town center to Oxfam, catch a bus back if I needed to after shopping, and park after 6pm for free next to the Salisbury Playhouse, a five-minute drive. All of this made up for the fact that the flat was basically student accommodation, with general maintenance and cleanliness not being high on the list. Heating too, was not a priority, although it was supposedly included in the rent, but it was not quite as cold as the Victorian house. I really missed the comforts of my own home.
Feb. 15. To London.
One of the major highlights of my adventure. A concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London to see and hear the 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic!!!!!! They gave a stupendous performance of many types of music arranged or composed for the group. Horn player, Sarah Willis, also a member of the Berlin Philharmonic, narrated the concert with great aplomb and humour, even playing with the group in the last piece. I thought I had died and gone to cello heaven. Am totally besotted.They, along with the rest of the Berlin Philharmoniker Orchestra were on a London residency, combining the 12 Cello concert, the Young Orchestra of London conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, ending with an evening performance of the full orchestra.
There was the added bonus to my day at the Royal Festival Hall after the performance by the 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic. An impressive performance by a new youth group, The Young Orchestra for London. Brought together early in January, the handpicked young musicians were coached and rehearsed steadily until the performance, which was conducted by Simon Rattle, the Maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic. I chatted with the mother of a violist in the youth orchestra. She was so proud of her daughter, it had been a huge commitment but definitely I hope it continues. Good for Simon Rattle! Its just been announced that he will be the new music director of the London Symphony when he leaves the Berlin Philharmonic.
To warm the cockles of your musical soul. http://www.barbican.org.uk/youngorchestrafotlondon
One of the major highlights of my adventure. A concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London to see and hear the 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic!!!!!! They gave a stupendous performance of many types of music arranged or composed for the group. Horn player, Sarah Willis, also a member of the Berlin Philharmonic, narrated the concert with great aplomb and humour, even playing with the group in the last piece. I thought I had died and gone to cello heaven. Am totally besotted.They, along with the rest of the Berlin Philharmoniker Orchestra were on a London residency, combining the 12 Cello concert, the Young Orchestra of London conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, ending with an evening performance of the full orchestra.
There was the added bonus to my day at the Royal Festival Hall after the performance by the 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic. An impressive performance by a new youth group, The Young Orchestra for London. Brought together early in January, the handpicked young musicians were coached and rehearsed steadily until the performance, which was conducted by Simon Rattle, the Maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic. I chatted with the mother of a violist in the youth orchestra. She was so proud of her daughter, it had been a huge commitment but definitely I hope it continues. Good for Simon Rattle! Its just been announced that he will be the new music director of the London Symphony when he leaves the Berlin Philharmonic.
To warm the cockles of your musical soul. http://www.barbican.org.uk/youngorchestrafotlondon
Feb. 21. To Bath.
After a quiet few days to recover from the excitement of the previous weekend, another musical treat on the spur of the moment. I'm like a child in a candy store! This time, beautiful Bath, an hour away on one of the most beautiful train rides in the UK, and believe me there are many! There was an an hour or so daylight left, so I was able to have a little wander around Bath before the concert. It is beautiful, and I hope to show it off sometime to a visitor, and to spend more time exploring. In the 70s, with my NC friend Judy, a Jane Austen aficionado, we went around the town, but for not nearly long enough. The Pump Room is added on to my must-do list of Tea Rooms to visit. I was drooling looking in the window!
When I was Dartington, together with the other students, we were taken up to the Bath Festival for a performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto with soloist Yehudi Menuhin. I had never heard that work before, not even a recording, and it was sublime, certainly one of the best unforgettable musical experiences I have ever had. In that setting and acoustics Menuhin’s pure sound spread all through the Abbey. There must have been other works played by the orchestra, but those I don’t remember, only the Beethoven. Never forgotten, so how could I not go back there? I had read in the paper about a concert by the Gabrieli Consort and Players in Bath Abbey. This was part of the Bath Bach Fest, but this performance featured Handel and Corelli. It was a glorious performance of Baroque music in the Abbey - exquisite singing by the soprano soloist in the Handel "Donna, Che in ciel", with superb continuo playing. The Corelli Concerto Grosso op.6 #4 was thrilling, fast tempos, pure tuning and a slow movement to die for. The chorus patiently waited for their turn, joining in Handel's Dixie Dominus and added great choral sound to the orchestral playing. All of this in the atmosphere of an eleven hundred year old building.
It was very easy getting back to Salisbury, the Abbey is about a 10 minute walk to the train station, and I had parked the car in the Salisbury station lot for the weekend fee of £2. Ten minutes(had to scrape frost off the windshield) and I was home. Can't get much better than that!
Feb. 22.
More lovely music, this time an evensong in Salisbury’s Cathedral. Musical friends, a couple, had told me about this particular evensong, as they were singing in an invited group for it. The husband is a lay clerk in the Cathedral and sings in the Cathedral choir, and his wife, a freelance singer, also joined the group for this one. The Cathedral choir was on a break - good choirs from surrounding areas are often asked to sing Evensong in their stead. In the summer, when the Cathedral choir is on holiday, choirs from overseas are invited to give a concert or to sing an evensong in the Cathedral. I heard a choir from Texas earlier in the summer, it was the highlight of their tour.
Feb. 25 Meeting for volunteers for the Salisbury Festival
Feb. 28. A new sound for Evensong. First ever in this director’s tenure. A viol consort with lute, together with the choir! It was so natural in that setting, I’m sure the 12 century cathedral had hosted many such groups during the 13th, 14th 15th and 16th centuries. A thrilling sound.
After a quiet few days to recover from the excitement of the previous weekend, another musical treat on the spur of the moment. I'm like a child in a candy store! This time, beautiful Bath, an hour away on one of the most beautiful train rides in the UK, and believe me there are many! There was an an hour or so daylight left, so I was able to have a little wander around Bath before the concert. It is beautiful, and I hope to show it off sometime to a visitor, and to spend more time exploring. In the 70s, with my NC friend Judy, a Jane Austen aficionado, we went around the town, but for not nearly long enough. The Pump Room is added on to my must-do list of Tea Rooms to visit. I was drooling looking in the window!
When I was Dartington, together with the other students, we were taken up to the Bath Festival for a performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto with soloist Yehudi Menuhin. I had never heard that work before, not even a recording, and it was sublime, certainly one of the best unforgettable musical experiences I have ever had. In that setting and acoustics Menuhin’s pure sound spread all through the Abbey. There must have been other works played by the orchestra, but those I don’t remember, only the Beethoven. Never forgotten, so how could I not go back there? I had read in the paper about a concert by the Gabrieli Consort and Players in Bath Abbey. This was part of the Bath Bach Fest, but this performance featured Handel and Corelli. It was a glorious performance of Baroque music in the Abbey - exquisite singing by the soprano soloist in the Handel "Donna, Che in ciel", with superb continuo playing. The Corelli Concerto Grosso op.6 #4 was thrilling, fast tempos, pure tuning and a slow movement to die for. The chorus patiently waited for their turn, joining in Handel's Dixie Dominus and added great choral sound to the orchestral playing. All of this in the atmosphere of an eleven hundred year old building.
It was very easy getting back to Salisbury, the Abbey is about a 10 minute walk to the train station, and I had parked the car in the Salisbury station lot for the weekend fee of £2. Ten minutes(had to scrape frost off the windshield) and I was home. Can't get much better than that!
Feb. 22.
More lovely music, this time an evensong in Salisbury’s Cathedral. Musical friends, a couple, had told me about this particular evensong, as they were singing in an invited group for it. The husband is a lay clerk in the Cathedral and sings in the Cathedral choir, and his wife, a freelance singer, also joined the group for this one. The Cathedral choir was on a break - good choirs from surrounding areas are often asked to sing Evensong in their stead. In the summer, when the Cathedral choir is on holiday, choirs from overseas are invited to give a concert or to sing an evensong in the Cathedral. I heard a choir from Texas earlier in the summer, it was the highlight of their tour.
Feb. 25 Meeting for volunteers for the Salisbury Festival
Feb. 28. A new sound for Evensong. First ever in this director’s tenure. A viol consort with lute, together with the choir! It was so natural in that setting, I’m sure the 12 century cathedral had hosted many such groups during the 13th, 14th 15th and 16th centuries. A thrilling sound.
chapter 7 - March
Mar.1 Old Sarum Castle and grounds on the original site of Salisbury.
One of my favorite walks. Here’s a bit of history.
Old Sarum is approached via an opening in two high Iron Age banks, which obscure the site from outside, and give it the air of a mysterious hidden castle. The banks were begun almost 5000 years ago, and remained intact until the Roman invasion. The Romans installed a garrison in the river valley below the site and it was probably used as a market centre. At this time it was called Sorviodunum.
Following the departure of the Romans the Saxons may have used the site, but when the Normans came they quickly realised its strategic importance and constructed a motte and bailey castle within the old earthwork. In 1100 this was replaced by a stone keep, and a royal palace was erected within the banks in 1130. In the meantime the first cathedral on the site was completed in 1092, but it burned down only 5 days after it was consecrated. A new, larger cathedral was completed around 1190. Relations between the clerics of the cathedral and the castle guard were punctuated with outbreaks of petulance and occasional violence. The churchmen became so exasperated that in 1219 Bishop Richard Poore decided that enough was enough, and he determined to build a new cathedral at a location several miles to the south. A settlement grew up around the site of the new cathedral, and it is this settlement that is the modern city of Salisbury.
With the shift of settlement away from Old Sarum to New Sarum (Salisbury) the old site lapsed and the castle fell into disuse. Despite the fact that the site was derelict, Old Sarum continued to send a representative to Parliament until the mid 19th century.
One of my favorite walks. Here’s a bit of history.
Old Sarum is approached via an opening in two high Iron Age banks, which obscure the site from outside, and give it the air of a mysterious hidden castle. The banks were begun almost 5000 years ago, and remained intact until the Roman invasion. The Romans installed a garrison in the river valley below the site and it was probably used as a market centre. At this time it was called Sorviodunum.
Following the departure of the Romans the Saxons may have used the site, but when the Normans came they quickly realised its strategic importance and constructed a motte and bailey castle within the old earthwork. In 1100 this was replaced by a stone keep, and a royal palace was erected within the banks in 1130. In the meantime the first cathedral on the site was completed in 1092, but it burned down only 5 days after it was consecrated. A new, larger cathedral was completed around 1190. Relations between the clerics of the cathedral and the castle guard were punctuated with outbreaks of petulance and occasional violence. The churchmen became so exasperated that in 1219 Bishop Richard Poore decided that enough was enough, and he determined to build a new cathedral at a location several miles to the south. A settlement grew up around the site of the new cathedral, and it is this settlement that is the modern city of Salisbury.
With the shift of settlement away from Old Sarum to New Sarum (Salisbury) the old site lapsed and the castle fell into disuse. Despite the fact that the site was derelict, Old Sarum continued to send a representative to Parliament until the mid 19th century.
Mar. 6 A good music day with viol duets in the morning and a Salisbury Symphony rehearsal in the evening.
Mar. 11 Fordingbridge Museum Open House
Taking the bus to Fordingbridge, a pleasure during the daytime, no driving to distract from enjoying the glorious countryside. Sheep, cows dotting all over swathes of fields up and down the hills.Not being able to visit the museum while I was living in Bickton, as it's closed during the winter months, I jumped at the chance to go to the open house, especially as the top floor was open which generally is not usually to the public.
The museum is in a 3 story building, part of an old Granary, and is chock a block with items of daily life from years gone by. Binders full of photos and information about the town and neighboring villages.
To commemorate the centenary of WW1, there was a temporary display of WW1 artifacts donated by local people as well as a battlefield diorama and models of WW1 aircraft.
Permanent Displays at the Fordingbridge museum include the following -
A large Victorian furnished dolls house
Victorian domestic kitchen and entertainment equipment
Local educational artefacts
Albums of photographs of Fordingbridge and surrounding villages
A display about local public houses
Carpentry equipment
A representation of a blacksmith’s premises
A display about the local Turks football club
otball club
A display about the artist Augustus John and his statue
A recreation of a WW2 air raid shelter with WW2 artefacts
A display about the railway in Fordingbridge
A display on Fordingbridge Regatta
Local brick making artefacts and history
WW1 display
Cobblers equipment
Early bicycles
A dramatic illustrated account of local smugglers
Mar.12. Ladies who Lunch,
with Meryl in an old pub, The Bat and Ball, near Braemere House.
Mar. 11 Fordingbridge Museum Open House
Taking the bus to Fordingbridge, a pleasure during the daytime, no driving to distract from enjoying the glorious countryside. Sheep, cows dotting all over swathes of fields up and down the hills.Not being able to visit the museum while I was living in Bickton, as it's closed during the winter months, I jumped at the chance to go to the open house, especially as the top floor was open which generally is not usually to the public.
The museum is in a 3 story building, part of an old Granary, and is chock a block with items of daily life from years gone by. Binders full of photos and information about the town and neighboring villages.
To commemorate the centenary of WW1, there was a temporary display of WW1 artifacts donated by local people as well as a battlefield diorama and models of WW1 aircraft.
Permanent Displays at the Fordingbridge museum include the following -
A large Victorian furnished dolls house
Victorian domestic kitchen and entertainment equipment
Local educational artefacts
Albums of photographs of Fordingbridge and surrounding villages
A display about local public houses
Carpentry equipment
A representation of a blacksmith’s premises
A display about the local Turks football club
otball club
A display about the artist Augustus John and his statue
A recreation of a WW2 air raid shelter with WW2 artefacts
A display about the railway in Fordingbridge
A display on Fordingbridge Regatta
Local brick making artefacts and history
WW1 display
Cobblers equipment
Early bicycles
A dramatic illustrated account of local smugglers
Mar.12. Ladies who Lunch,
with Meryl in an old pub, The Bat and Ball, near Braemere House.
Mar. 19. A Salisbury Playhouse play, for reviewing.
"Posh" by Laura Wade. Boys behaving badly. A challenge for me.
This play emerged from a Royal Court Theatre research project the author had been invited to conduct, together with the original "Posh" director, Lyndsey Turner. First staged in 2010, it mirrored the lifestyle of a very privileged select group of young university men – moneyed aristocrats, upper class twats, politicians - all public school products who banded together to form select clubs where they could be boys behaving badly. This play, based on one of the university clubs that still exists after 200 years, accurately depicts a way of life which probably harks back to the first of the species and before. I wonder if Jane Goodall ever did any comparative research between human males and male chimpanzees.
In the first scene, a young man was confiding to his godfather, a prominent MP who himself had been a member of the club in his university days about his fears and concerns on becoming a member. He was encouraged by the older man to try it out, as it would be a valuable asset in his future public life.
Arriving at the pub in the country, there was a certain amount of awkwardness by the early arrivals to begin with. I was not sure if it was to do with the players themselves having a slow start, or the fact that in the play, they arrive singly at the country pub and are somewhat unsure of a new situation. They gradually become more sociable and are quite civilized before the dinner. The set was beautifully designed. A pleasant, comfortably proportioned dining room with country paintings and posters on the walls, the table well laid with red and white covers, silver candelabras and fine china settings, which don’t last long. It didn’t take them much time after being seated to down enough wine to lose their language skills, being only able to keep conversation going by constant repetition of the same vulgar word, and other profanities. It got tiresome very quickly and the quality of the conversation sank mightily into the depths of incomprehensiveness. From then on, the evening disintegrated from boys behaving badly, to losing all sense of decency, gaining courage by egging each other on to more and more degrading language actions, finally ending with a catastrophic event.
The play brilliantly depicts the void between the haves (drunk or sober) and the have-nots who are trying to make a decent living. The haves think they are impervious to any sort of self-discipline. Humiliating the daughter of the pub owner when she would not cooperate with their demands (after the prostitute they had hired left, refusing to comply with a request which was not on her list) was sickening and degrading. The pub owner, seeing his dining room totally destroyed , and other diners having their Ruby anniversary dinner disrupted by their noise and language, was further degraded by the insistence that he take the money that was being flashed around, making him realize they had planned this all along. It was a cringing moment (akin to Rick Gervase in The Office) seeing how they operated. This however was not the worst, and they lost every shred of humanitarian conscience in their final act which sobered them up very quickly. The fear and panic amongst them was terrifying, and ended by picking the weakest of them to carry the blame. It was only at that stage that the individual personalities showed up and one was privy to them. Some were more shocked by the proceedings than others, some were bullies, and some defiant. The acting by all was excellent to the point that I felt I was a voyeur in a real-life situation. Too scary for me!
The final scene was with the MP godfather who sanctioned the action of the club members, and left the scapegoat wondering if he would be looked after, as they had promised. This play, a Salisbury Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company Production, is not for the faint-hearted!
Review by Jane Salemson for the Vic-Wells Broadsheet
Mar. 28. Salisbury Symphony Concert in the City Hall.
A good crowd showed up for this performance, and it was a fun and stimulating one for all. I really enjoyed getting to know English music that I had not played before, namely Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances, Set 1, which are lots of fun, and the Symphony #5 in B minor, also known as the Symphonic Fantasia 1912, by Hubert Parry, 1848-1918, (he died from the Spanish flu). He’s known mostly for his choral writing, especially "Jerusalem" the hymn which brings tears to the English, even today.
The final work was Beethoven’s violin concerto (Parry adored Beethoven). I too love that work, remembering Menuhin and Bath. For some reason none of the US orchestras I played in have programmed it, but during my time in Salisbury, I played it twice. It is exquisite, loving music, sometimes I weep at the beauty of it. The ending is so happy though, with the dialogues between the soloist and orchestra, that one feels so uplifted. The soloist was David Le Page, who a brought a sweetness of tone which made the slow movement sublime. It was a great evening.
"Posh" by Laura Wade. Boys behaving badly. A challenge for me.
This play emerged from a Royal Court Theatre research project the author had been invited to conduct, together with the original "Posh" director, Lyndsey Turner. First staged in 2010, it mirrored the lifestyle of a very privileged select group of young university men – moneyed aristocrats, upper class twats, politicians - all public school products who banded together to form select clubs where they could be boys behaving badly. This play, based on one of the university clubs that still exists after 200 years, accurately depicts a way of life which probably harks back to the first of the species and before. I wonder if Jane Goodall ever did any comparative research between human males and male chimpanzees.
In the first scene, a young man was confiding to his godfather, a prominent MP who himself had been a member of the club in his university days about his fears and concerns on becoming a member. He was encouraged by the older man to try it out, as it would be a valuable asset in his future public life.
Arriving at the pub in the country, there was a certain amount of awkwardness by the early arrivals to begin with. I was not sure if it was to do with the players themselves having a slow start, or the fact that in the play, they arrive singly at the country pub and are somewhat unsure of a new situation. They gradually become more sociable and are quite civilized before the dinner. The set was beautifully designed. A pleasant, comfortably proportioned dining room with country paintings and posters on the walls, the table well laid with red and white covers, silver candelabras and fine china settings, which don’t last long. It didn’t take them much time after being seated to down enough wine to lose their language skills, being only able to keep conversation going by constant repetition of the same vulgar word, and other profanities. It got tiresome very quickly and the quality of the conversation sank mightily into the depths of incomprehensiveness. From then on, the evening disintegrated from boys behaving badly, to losing all sense of decency, gaining courage by egging each other on to more and more degrading language actions, finally ending with a catastrophic event.
The play brilliantly depicts the void between the haves (drunk or sober) and the have-nots who are trying to make a decent living. The haves think they are impervious to any sort of self-discipline. Humiliating the daughter of the pub owner when she would not cooperate with their demands (after the prostitute they had hired left, refusing to comply with a request which was not on her list) was sickening and degrading. The pub owner, seeing his dining room totally destroyed , and other diners having their Ruby anniversary dinner disrupted by their noise and language, was further degraded by the insistence that he take the money that was being flashed around, making him realize they had planned this all along. It was a cringing moment (akin to Rick Gervase in The Office) seeing how they operated. This however was not the worst, and they lost every shred of humanitarian conscience in their final act which sobered them up very quickly. The fear and panic amongst them was terrifying, and ended by picking the weakest of them to carry the blame. It was only at that stage that the individual personalities showed up and one was privy to them. Some were more shocked by the proceedings than others, some were bullies, and some defiant. The acting by all was excellent to the point that I felt I was a voyeur in a real-life situation. Too scary for me!
The final scene was with the MP godfather who sanctioned the action of the club members, and left the scapegoat wondering if he would be looked after, as they had promised. This play, a Salisbury Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company Production, is not for the faint-hearted!
Review by Jane Salemson for the Vic-Wells Broadsheet
Mar. 28. Salisbury Symphony Concert in the City Hall.
A good crowd showed up for this performance, and it was a fun and stimulating one for all. I really enjoyed getting to know English music that I had not played before, namely Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances, Set 1, which are lots of fun, and the Symphony #5 in B minor, also known as the Symphonic Fantasia 1912, by Hubert Parry, 1848-1918, (he died from the Spanish flu). He’s known mostly for his choral writing, especially "Jerusalem" the hymn which brings tears to the English, even today.
The final work was Beethoven’s violin concerto (Parry adored Beethoven). I too love that work, remembering Menuhin and Bath. For some reason none of the US orchestras I played in have programmed it, but during my time in Salisbury, I played it twice. It is exquisite, loving music, sometimes I weep at the beauty of it. The ending is so happy though, with the dialogues between the soloist and orchestra, that one feels so uplifted. The soloist was David Le Page, who a brought a sweetness of tone which made the slow movement sublime. It was a great evening.
Mar. 29. Palm Sunday. Mottisfont, Romsey Abbey, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
Members of the Church of St. Thomas (older than the Cathedral), has a tradition of processing on Palm Sunday from the Salisbury Market Square to the church. A donkey leads the procession followed by the choir, vestry and townsfolk. I was really looking forward to being part of it, and walked down to the square. In my heart I knew it was not going to happen, as it was raining on and off, but you never know with the Brits, they are game for anything even in foul weather. The donkey carers said no, and back he went into his trailer, so that was that.
The weather improved during the day, and in the afternoon I drove to Romsey, a pretty little town near Southampton. On the way I stopped for tea at Mottisfont Abbey, the name comes from a spring that is still producing water in the grounds. It is a small country house (compared to Highclere, AKA Downton Abbey) with gorgeous gardens and walks, and magnificent, pungeant rose gardens, particularly on early summer evenings. It also has the largest specimen in the country of a plane tree. It was too early to see the roses in bloom for which they are famous. I made a note to get over there in May, but did not, and was sorry to miss it. I’ll have to make another visit to see them and the house, which I did not go in either.
An Augustinian Priory was founded there in 1201. Later, under Henry V111's Dissolution of the monasteries, the priory was dissolved and he gave Mottisfont to a favoured statesman, who turned it into a country home, and rather unusually, chose not to demolish the existing priory. Sandys instead turned the church nave into the main body of the new mansion, building additional wings on either side. Sections of the original medieval church may still be seen, with the later additions built around them. The 13th-century cellarium also remains present today.
In the 18th century, the house was renamed Mottisfort Abbey, and the old monastic cloisters and Tudor courtyard were demolished by the Mill family. In the early 19th century, the estate became a center for hunting, shooting and fishing, and a new stable block was built. The last decades of the 19th century saw Mottisfont let to wealthy banker Daniel Meinertzhagen under eccentric terms that forbade the installation of electric light or central heating. The arrival of Maud and Gilbert Russell in 1934 made Mottisfont the
center of a fashionable artistic and political circle. Maud was a wealthy patron of the arts, and created a substantial country house where she entertained artists and writers including Ben Nicholson and Ian Fleming. Later she gifted the house to the National Trust, and lived there until she died in 1972.
Too soon, I had to get to Romsey Abbey, not far away, for the performance of JS Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. His greatest work, it tells the story of the Crucifixion. My Salisbury viol buddy, Louise, was singing in it and invited me to hear the performance, which I did. I was especially pleased that the musicians were playing on original instruments as in Bach's time, together with a small choir. It was a very intimate setting in the beautiful Abbey and truly meaningful for the singers, as the conductor had been a former Bishop of Salisbury, who often conducted concerts in the Cathedral until retiring a few years ago. He then went up to Durham University, and has collected a superb group of soloists and players specializing in early music.
Lasting nearly 3 hours, the instrumentalists were divided up into two orchestras, so they all didn't have to play the whole time. The Evangelist who told the story was superb in his diction and put so much emotion into his recitatives. The solos from the singers and the instrumentalists were outstanding. A truly memorable and moving performance. So glad I was able to be there.
Members of the Church of St. Thomas (older than the Cathedral), has a tradition of processing on Palm Sunday from the Salisbury Market Square to the church. A donkey leads the procession followed by the choir, vestry and townsfolk. I was really looking forward to being part of it, and walked down to the square. In my heart I knew it was not going to happen, as it was raining on and off, but you never know with the Brits, they are game for anything even in foul weather. The donkey carers said no, and back he went into his trailer, so that was that.
The weather improved during the day, and in the afternoon I drove to Romsey, a pretty little town near Southampton. On the way I stopped for tea at Mottisfont Abbey, the name comes from a spring that is still producing water in the grounds. It is a small country house (compared to Highclere, AKA Downton Abbey) with gorgeous gardens and walks, and magnificent, pungeant rose gardens, particularly on early summer evenings. It also has the largest specimen in the country of a plane tree. It was too early to see the roses in bloom for which they are famous. I made a note to get over there in May, but did not, and was sorry to miss it. I’ll have to make another visit to see them and the house, which I did not go in either.
An Augustinian Priory was founded there in 1201. Later, under Henry V111's Dissolution of the monasteries, the priory was dissolved and he gave Mottisfont to a favoured statesman, who turned it into a country home, and rather unusually, chose not to demolish the existing priory. Sandys instead turned the church nave into the main body of the new mansion, building additional wings on either side. Sections of the original medieval church may still be seen, with the later additions built around them. The 13th-century cellarium also remains present today.
In the 18th century, the house was renamed Mottisfort Abbey, and the old monastic cloisters and Tudor courtyard were demolished by the Mill family. In the early 19th century, the estate became a center for hunting, shooting and fishing, and a new stable block was built. The last decades of the 19th century saw Mottisfont let to wealthy banker Daniel Meinertzhagen under eccentric terms that forbade the installation of electric light or central heating. The arrival of Maud and Gilbert Russell in 1934 made Mottisfont the
center of a fashionable artistic and political circle. Maud was a wealthy patron of the arts, and created a substantial country house where she entertained artists and writers including Ben Nicholson and Ian Fleming. Later she gifted the house to the National Trust, and lived there until she died in 1972.
Too soon, I had to get to Romsey Abbey, not far away, for the performance of JS Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. His greatest work, it tells the story of the Crucifixion. My Salisbury viol buddy, Louise, was singing in it and invited me to hear the performance, which I did. I was especially pleased that the musicians were playing on original instruments as in Bach's time, together with a small choir. It was a very intimate setting in the beautiful Abbey and truly meaningful for the singers, as the conductor had been a former Bishop of Salisbury, who often conducted concerts in the Cathedral until retiring a few years ago. He then went up to Durham University, and has collected a superb group of soloists and players specializing in early music.
Lasting nearly 3 hours, the instrumentalists were divided up into two orchestras, so they all didn't have to play the whole time. The Evangelist who told the story was superb in his diction and put so much emotion into his recitatives. The solos from the singers and the instrumentalists were outstanding. A truly memorable and moving performance. So glad I was able to be there.
chapter 8 - April
Apr. 4. An outing with Meryl to Somerly House, not far from Fordingbridge.
Another lovely country house hosting a craft fair in one of the luscious green fields that surround it. Craft fairs like these are all over the country at this time of year, and people come up with amazing ideas. I loved the wooden seats to have on a patio or pool area. They come in all sorts of combinations; my favorite being the double seater, with a little table in the middle, and holders for champagne glasses and the champagne bottle. Sitting in those seats with a mimosa (USA) Bucks Fizz (UK) watching the sun go down would be a great ending to the day.Unfortunately there was not enough time to visit the house as well, as I had to get back to Salisbury for an Oxfam stint and later a play at the Salisbury Playhouse, but there was time for a quick lunch at the Royal Oak, a pretty pub in the New Forest.
Apr. 6. Easter Monday.
Across from the road from Old Sarum castle is Old Sarum Airfield, a grass field which was heavily used in WW2. Nowadays, it is used by private pilots in various shapes and sizes of planes, an occasional helicopter and most of all, by sky divers. I enjoy going up there for some fresh air and a cup of coffee from the little café, to read the paper and watch the goings on. It’s fascinating following the procedure of the divers kitting up, being called into the corral across from the waiting plane and picking out the first timers versus the old hands as they make their way on to the plane. The plane has an open side, a net is pulled across when taking off, so the divers don’t unintentionally fall out. When it takes off, it climbs to about 7 or 8 thousand feet, until it’s a silver speck, and a few minutes later little black specks dot the sky. I was told the parachutisits who were coming in very slowly were the instructors calling to the students as they opened their chutes. I am always so amazed that they were so accurate in landing on the target.
Further along the airfield where the WW2 offices and hangers used to be is a small museum of aircraft parts, mostly cockpits that you can sit in and memorabilia and photos. I think of my Dad when I see these places, he would have loved it. My earliest memories are being in the SAAF Club in Johannesburg where we would go on weekends. I remember some old planes at the entrance to the clubhouse or perhaps airfield.
With history being the theme for the day, I went a few miles up the road to Amesbury and visited the History Center. I was the only one there and was given a thorough tour of the exhibits by the director. I think it had been a lonely day for him, being Easter Monday, when most families who were still in town would probably be enjoying a day out at the seaside or picnicking on Old Sarum Castle. For me, I enjoyed being able to wander around at my leisure and listen to the director talk about the history of the area.
Another lovely country house hosting a craft fair in one of the luscious green fields that surround it. Craft fairs like these are all over the country at this time of year, and people come up with amazing ideas. I loved the wooden seats to have on a patio or pool area. They come in all sorts of combinations; my favorite being the double seater, with a little table in the middle, and holders for champagne glasses and the champagne bottle. Sitting in those seats with a mimosa (USA) Bucks Fizz (UK) watching the sun go down would be a great ending to the day.Unfortunately there was not enough time to visit the house as well, as I had to get back to Salisbury for an Oxfam stint and later a play at the Salisbury Playhouse, but there was time for a quick lunch at the Royal Oak, a pretty pub in the New Forest.
Apr. 6. Easter Monday.
Across from the road from Old Sarum castle is Old Sarum Airfield, a grass field which was heavily used in WW2. Nowadays, it is used by private pilots in various shapes and sizes of planes, an occasional helicopter and most of all, by sky divers. I enjoy going up there for some fresh air and a cup of coffee from the little café, to read the paper and watch the goings on. It’s fascinating following the procedure of the divers kitting up, being called into the corral across from the waiting plane and picking out the first timers versus the old hands as they make their way on to the plane. The plane has an open side, a net is pulled across when taking off, so the divers don’t unintentionally fall out. When it takes off, it climbs to about 7 or 8 thousand feet, until it’s a silver speck, and a few minutes later little black specks dot the sky. I was told the parachutisits who were coming in very slowly were the instructors calling to the students as they opened their chutes. I am always so amazed that they were so accurate in landing on the target.
Further along the airfield where the WW2 offices and hangers used to be is a small museum of aircraft parts, mostly cockpits that you can sit in and memorabilia and photos. I think of my Dad when I see these places, he would have loved it. My earliest memories are being in the SAAF Club in Johannesburg where we would go on weekends. I remember some old planes at the entrance to the clubhouse or perhaps airfield.
With history being the theme for the day, I went a few miles up the road to Amesbury and visited the History Center. I was the only one there and was given a thorough tour of the exhibits by the director. I think it had been a lonely day for him, being Easter Monday, when most families who were still in town would probably be enjoying a day out at the seaside or picnicking on Old Sarum Castle. For me, I enjoyed being able to wander around at my leisure and listen to the director talk about the history of the area.
April 15. Trip to London, Birmingham, Presteigne via Hereford, Salisbury. The start of a very varied and interesting five days.
I caught the train from Salisbury to London Waterloo, then a bus to Oxford Street. I discovered on boarding the bus, that my Oyster card was empty, but now if that happens, you are given a one-time free ride to your destination so you don't get stranded. I was heading towards the Wallace Collection, primarily known for its extensive holdings of French 18th-century paintings and decorative arts, lured there by a special exhibition of Joshua Reynold's paintings. I have always enjoyed his paintings and although I don’t know anything about conservation, I certainly wanted to see this exhibition. Added bonus - free entry. There were 18 paintings in all in the exhibition, of which 12 belonged to the Wallace Collection. Most of these had never been touched by a conservator – at least, not since Lady Wallace bequeathed them to the nation in 1897. The others had been loaned from the National Portrait Gallery. Five years ago Christoph Vogtherr, now director of the Wallace Collection, instigated an ambitious project to understand how these pictures were painted and if possible to clean or restore them. It tells you something about the experimental nature of Reynolds’ technique that at the end of the five-year project only four of the pictures were considered stable enough to be treated. The actual work of restoration was carried out by Alexandra Gent at the National Gallery of London. What was learned from her work and that of Lucy Davis, Mark Hallett and all those associated with the project completely transforms our understanding of the kind of painter Reynolds was. There is a book by Lucy Davis about this project. It was just such a pleasure to see the paintings in a lovely setting, including a great outdoor café for a cup of tea. I was so mesmerized by the exhibition, I got gently lost on my way to Louise’s trying to remember which mainline station - Victoria, Waterloo East, Waterloo or Blackfriars, had trains to her station. It would be impossible to figure out if drunk. Each of those I knew had trains going south, but some necessitated a change, and I couldn’t remember all the possibilities. Shades of the journey to Cremona, but at least this time I could read the station signs and speak the language! I ended up finding a new way to get to Louise's house, via train and bus, so it was a good learning experience. Louise was out for the evening, and as usual, she had been very thoughtful and provided several options for dinner. I had a little bit of everything, all delicious.
Apr. 16. To Birmingham
A 5:30am wakeup call (with a cup of tea!) and off to catch the train to St. Pancras Station. A dash to Euston Station for the train to Birmingham. We made it, and it was an easy one and a half hour journey to the Birmingham International airport station where the huge NEC convention halls are. A short walk took us to the Ancestry.com three-day convention hall. We were only staying for one day. Louise was somewhat underwhelmed with the set-up as she is used to the huge Olympia arena in London, where it is normally held. However, it was perfect me, the first-timer me, not at all overwhelming.
There is a very popular TV program in Britain called “Who do you think you are?” Many celebrities have been on the show to find out their ancestry, and some have come up with some very interesting information. It is sponsored by Ancestry.com who host the convention. There were many booths, mostly of local genealogy clubs, so it’s easy to find yours if you know which county you were born in. I got some good information about Lincolnshire and Wales from there, also at the Military Pavilion. There were also workshops available, one was on the Irish which turned out to be very interesting, as although I thought my paternal family was all English, my half-brother found out that Hodsons had come over from Ireland to Lincolnshire, so we may have Irish DNA in our blood as well. It needs more research though, and have sent Clifford some of the materials I collected to encourage him to do that since he is interested in the family history.
2014-18 is the centenary of WW, but WW2 was represented as well, and many people dressed up in period outfits.
It was a full day, I’m not sure I could manage 3 days of it, but it was well worth it. I’d certainly like to go again, perhaps with more knowledge and information to get the most out of it. It had a wonderful atmosphere of camaraderie, and everyone I spoke to very willing to answer questions. The workshops were very informative, one was with a celebrity, Reggie Yates. Born in the UK, an actor, TV presenter and Radio DJ, he gave a heartwarming account of his genealogical search to find his Ghanaian extended family. His parents were Ghanaian, but his grandfather on his father's side was the son of an English accountant who worked in the gold mining industry, and his grandmother was also of mixed race, her father being an English colonial administrator and her mother a farmer and trader. This is an example of studiously going back through the generations, that's why the convention was so interesting.
At closing, Louise took a train back to London, and I took the train into the city center, where I was met by Daniel, my former cello student, who came with a bouquet of flowers, he is a such a sweetie. He gave me the grand tour around the city. I had never been to Birmingham, and was impressed by the old and new architecture. Daniel has been working there for the nonprofit organization City Birmingham. It's his last few months before he returns to the USA to attend Harvard Divinity School. We went to the top of the new library which had sweeping 360 degree views of the surrounding area and far beyond. Back down on terra firmer, we walked along the canal and had a leisurely dinner at a pub and caught up on each other’s news and discussing various issues. Afterwards, Daniel took me back to the train station and guided me to the platform for the suburb where my Airb&b was booked. This was a new experience for me, and a bit scary at 10pm. It was very dark and I took a wrong turn getting out of the station, but fortunately, my trusty iPhone came to the rescue and guided me back to the right road. The room was in a family house, but nobody answered the doorbell. I had tried calling the owners, but no response! Eventually, I saw someone walking around inside, and knocked loudly on the door. The two teenage daughters came to the door, very apologetically saying the doorbell didn't work. They were very pleasant and showed me the room and bathroom, offered me a cup of tea which I declined at that time of the night. I did take a shower which helped me settle down, it had been a long day. I had a good night's sleep, in a comfy student-type room, clean and nicely painted.
I caught the train from Salisbury to London Waterloo, then a bus to Oxford Street. I discovered on boarding the bus, that my Oyster card was empty, but now if that happens, you are given a one-time free ride to your destination so you don't get stranded. I was heading towards the Wallace Collection, primarily known for its extensive holdings of French 18th-century paintings and decorative arts, lured there by a special exhibition of Joshua Reynold's paintings. I have always enjoyed his paintings and although I don’t know anything about conservation, I certainly wanted to see this exhibition. Added bonus - free entry. There were 18 paintings in all in the exhibition, of which 12 belonged to the Wallace Collection. Most of these had never been touched by a conservator – at least, not since Lady Wallace bequeathed them to the nation in 1897. The others had been loaned from the National Portrait Gallery. Five years ago Christoph Vogtherr, now director of the Wallace Collection, instigated an ambitious project to understand how these pictures were painted and if possible to clean or restore them. It tells you something about the experimental nature of Reynolds’ technique that at the end of the five-year project only four of the pictures were considered stable enough to be treated. The actual work of restoration was carried out by Alexandra Gent at the National Gallery of London. What was learned from her work and that of Lucy Davis, Mark Hallett and all those associated with the project completely transforms our understanding of the kind of painter Reynolds was. There is a book by Lucy Davis about this project. It was just such a pleasure to see the paintings in a lovely setting, including a great outdoor café for a cup of tea. I was so mesmerized by the exhibition, I got gently lost on my way to Louise’s trying to remember which mainline station - Victoria, Waterloo East, Waterloo or Blackfriars, had trains to her station. It would be impossible to figure out if drunk. Each of those I knew had trains going south, but some necessitated a change, and I couldn’t remember all the possibilities. Shades of the journey to Cremona, but at least this time I could read the station signs and speak the language! I ended up finding a new way to get to Louise's house, via train and bus, so it was a good learning experience. Louise was out for the evening, and as usual, she had been very thoughtful and provided several options for dinner. I had a little bit of everything, all delicious.
Apr. 16. To Birmingham
A 5:30am wakeup call (with a cup of tea!) and off to catch the train to St. Pancras Station. A dash to Euston Station for the train to Birmingham. We made it, and it was an easy one and a half hour journey to the Birmingham International airport station where the huge NEC convention halls are. A short walk took us to the Ancestry.com three-day convention hall. We were only staying for one day. Louise was somewhat underwhelmed with the set-up as she is used to the huge Olympia arena in London, where it is normally held. However, it was perfect me, the first-timer me, not at all overwhelming.
There is a very popular TV program in Britain called “Who do you think you are?” Many celebrities have been on the show to find out their ancestry, and some have come up with some very interesting information. It is sponsored by Ancestry.com who host the convention. There were many booths, mostly of local genealogy clubs, so it’s easy to find yours if you know which county you were born in. I got some good information about Lincolnshire and Wales from there, also at the Military Pavilion. There were also workshops available, one was on the Irish which turned out to be very interesting, as although I thought my paternal family was all English, my half-brother found out that Hodsons had come over from Ireland to Lincolnshire, so we may have Irish DNA in our blood as well. It needs more research though, and have sent Clifford some of the materials I collected to encourage him to do that since he is interested in the family history.
2014-18 is the centenary of WW, but WW2 was represented as well, and many people dressed up in period outfits.
It was a full day, I’m not sure I could manage 3 days of it, but it was well worth it. I’d certainly like to go again, perhaps with more knowledge and information to get the most out of it. It had a wonderful atmosphere of camaraderie, and everyone I spoke to very willing to answer questions. The workshops were very informative, one was with a celebrity, Reggie Yates. Born in the UK, an actor, TV presenter and Radio DJ, he gave a heartwarming account of his genealogical search to find his Ghanaian extended family. His parents were Ghanaian, but his grandfather on his father's side was the son of an English accountant who worked in the gold mining industry, and his grandmother was also of mixed race, her father being an English colonial administrator and her mother a farmer and trader. This is an example of studiously going back through the generations, that's why the convention was so interesting.
At closing, Louise took a train back to London, and I took the train into the city center, where I was met by Daniel, my former cello student, who came with a bouquet of flowers, he is a such a sweetie. He gave me the grand tour around the city. I had never been to Birmingham, and was impressed by the old and new architecture. Daniel has been working there for the nonprofit organization City Birmingham. It's his last few months before he returns to the USA to attend Harvard Divinity School. We went to the top of the new library which had sweeping 360 degree views of the surrounding area and far beyond. Back down on terra firmer, we walked along the canal and had a leisurely dinner at a pub and caught up on each other’s news and discussing various issues. Afterwards, Daniel took me back to the train station and guided me to the platform for the suburb where my Airb&b was booked. This was a new experience for me, and a bit scary at 10pm. It was very dark and I took a wrong turn getting out of the station, but fortunately, my trusty iPhone came to the rescue and guided me back to the right road. The room was in a family house, but nobody answered the doorbell. I had tried calling the owners, but no response! Eventually, I saw someone walking around inside, and knocked loudly on the door. The two teenage daughters came to the door, very apologetically saying the doorbell didn't work. They were very pleasant and showed me the room and bathroom, offered me a cup of tea which I declined at that time of the night. I did take a shower which helped me settle down, it had been a long day. I had a good night's sleep, in a comfy student-type room, clean and nicely painted.
Apr. 17. Birmingham-Hereford-Presteigne
No sign of anyone in the morning, not sure if the breakfast items on the table were for me, so I just took a banana, let myself out of the house and walked to the station to go to the City Center. From there city centerI changed to the local train to Hereford. It was a lovely slow meandering journey through beautiful countryside. My Dartington friend Janet, met me at the station and as I was still a bit tired after yesterday's events, instead of going to the Cider Museum in Hereford, drove to Presteigne where she lives, about 50 minutes towards the border of England and Wales. More beautiful scenery with hills. After lunch, I spent the afternoon enjoying Janet’s lovely garden and new summer house, where I had a good snooze. I definitely would want to have a garden summer house in England. A good place to write and practice.
Apr. 18. Shropshire, Stokesay Castle, Craven Arms, "The Land of Lost Content" National Museum
The next day, Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast we drove off toward Ludlow, to the 12th c. Stokesay Castle and medieval gatehouse. Run by English Heritage, it is well organized with a well thought out audio guide. An old church sits close by, they have a good set of bells, was sorry not to hear them. It was a gorgeous day, cloudless blue sky, warm, lambs in the fields, all's well in Shropshire. A nourishing and delicious homemade mushroom soup with roll fed the soul.
Following the map on the brochure, we went to Craven Arms to investigate an unusual attraction, “The Land of Lost Content” (its name taken from the poem by AE Housman, “A Shropshire Lad”) in the National Museum of British Popular Culture. It turned out to be a collection of nostalgia that mostly only Brits will cherish, as whatever age they are, it brings back so many memories of their lives. The owner, Stellla Mitchell has filled to the brim three stories of a warehouse with everything you can think of since the early 1900s and maybe some things before that. There are exhibits of living rooms, kitchens, pop stars, fashions, appliances, it goes on and on. Within each exhibit are related items of that era. A truly fascinating visit, we stayed for a long time, broken by a welcome cup of tea and home-made pastry in a 1940s cafe.
Apr. 19 To Hereford and Salisbury.
Sunday morning featured a leisurely breakfast and the drive to Hereford to catch the train to Salisbury. Another meandering journey south with the glorious Black mountains of Wales to the west. An easy change at Newport for the Salisbury train. Back home again. A fascinating and enjoyable few days.
Apr. 17. Birmingham-Hereford-Presteigne
No sign of anyone in the morning, not sure if the breakfast items on the table were for me, so I just took a banana, let myself out of the house and walked to the station to go to the City Center. From there city centerI changed to the local train to Hereford. It was a lovely slow meandering journey through beautiful countryside. My Dartington friend Janet, met me at the station and as I was still a bit tired after yesterday's events, instead of going to the Cider Museum in Hereford, drove to Presteigne where she lives, about 50 minutes towards the border of England and Wales. More beautiful scenery with hills. After lunch, I spent the afternoon enjoying Janet’s lovely garden and new summer house, where I had a good snooze. I definitely would want to have a garden summer house in England. A good place to write and practice.
Apr. 18. Shropshire, Stokesay Castle, Craven Arms, "The Land of Lost Content" National Museum
The next day, Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast we drove off toward Ludlow, to the 12th c. Stokesay Castle and medieval gatehouse. Run by English Heritage, it is well organized with a well thought out audio guide. An old church sits close by, they have a good set of bells, was sorry not to hear them. It was a gorgeous day, cloudless blue sky, warm, lambs in the fields, all's well in Shropshire. A nourishing and delicious homemade mushroom soup with roll fed the soul.
Following the map on the brochure, we went to Craven Arms to investigate an unusual attraction, “The Land of Lost Content” (its name taken from the poem by AE Housman, “A Shropshire Lad”) in the National Museum of British Popular Culture. It turned out to be a collection of nostalgia that mostly only Brits will cherish, as whatever age they are, it brings back so many memories of their lives. The owner, Stellla Mitchell has filled to the brim three stories of a warehouse with everything you can think of since the early 1900s and maybe some things before that. There are exhibits of living rooms, kitchens, pop stars, fashions, appliances, it goes on and on. Within each exhibit are related items of that era. A truly fascinating visit, we stayed for a long time, broken by a welcome cup of tea and home-made pastry in a 1940s cafe.
Apr. 19 To Hereford and Salisbury.
Sunday morning featured a leisurely breakfast and the drive to Hereford to catch the train to Salisbury. Another meandering journey south with the glorious Black mountains of Wales to the west. An easy change at Newport for the Salisbury train. Back home again. A fascinating and enjoyable few days.
Apr. 25. To London. St. George's Day.
Upon arriving in Trafalgar Square from the train journey to London, I discovered it packed with people celebrating St. George’s Day. St. George is the Patron saint of England, his flag noted by a red cross on a white background. He slew the dragon, here’s the story, thanks to Wikipedia.
According to the Golden Legend, the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place somewhere he called "Silene", in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this story in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be found. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and the idolatrous emperor who rules the city is called Selinus.
The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelt that poisoned all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is called Sabra in some versions of the story. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.
Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, (hence his flag) charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.
The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease. Activities and a special attraction for me, the Tea Tent. This was taken very seriously, with experts sharing their knowledge of different types of tea, how it is grown, sorted and packaged for the world market. Next were the tea tasting, and finally, an afternoon tea with all the trimmings. Sadly I couldn’t partake in that as I was on my way to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s paintings.
The exhibition “Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends” is startling. For the first time, the exhibition brings together a collection of Sargent's warm and familiar portraits of his extraordinary circle of friends, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin. It follows the artist’s time in Paris, London, Boston and New York as well as his travels in the Italian and English countryside. He is a great favorite of mine, his portraits are so evocative of the era he was painting.
I could sit in front of his paintings forever, but suddenly realized I had to meet Louise in front of the Old Vic as we were going to the Vic-Wells Shakespeare Party. Not having gone from the NPG to the Old Vic before, I was a bit worried about getting there, I’m always a bit woolly after spending time in exhibitions, but I actually made it in time by bus. Louise was at the front entrance talking to the actor Nickolas Grace, who was serving as an usher, making sure the guests knew that the party had been switched to the rehearsal room from the Circle Bar, which was full of props for a show "High Society" which was being rehearsed on stage. Going up in the original lift, now a bit creaky, I feel sure the rehearsal room has not changed much since the 20s and maybe longer. I was pleased the party was there, as that was where my mother would have spent many hours in rehearsal with the opera singers and chorus. How I would love to have heard them as well as Olivier, Ashcroft, Gielgud who also trod those boards during rehearsals for the Shakespeare plays.
Apr. 25. To London. St. George's Day.
Upon arriving in Trafalgar Square from the train journey to London, I discovered it packed with people celebrating St. George’s Day. St. George is the Patron saint of England, his flag noted by a red cross on a white background. He slew the dragon, here’s the story, thanks to Wikipedia.
According to the Golden Legend, the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place somewhere he called "Silene", in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this story in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be found. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and the idolatrous emperor who rules the city is called Selinus.
The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelt that poisoned all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is called Sabra in some versions of the story. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.
Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, (hence his flag) charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.
The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease. Activities and a special attraction for me, the Tea Tent. This was taken very seriously, with experts sharing their knowledge of different types of tea, how it is grown, sorted and packaged for the world market. Next were the tea tasting, and finally, an afternoon tea with all the trimmings. Sadly I couldn’t partake in that as I was on my way to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s paintings.
The exhibition “Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends” is startling. For the first time, the exhibition brings together a collection of Sargent's warm and familiar portraits of his extraordinary circle of friends, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin. It follows the artist’s time in Paris, London, Boston and New York as well as his travels in the Italian and English countryside. He is a great favorite of mine, his portraits are so evocative of the era he was painting.
I could sit in front of his paintings forever, but suddenly realized I had to meet Louise in front of the Old Vic as we were going to the Vic-Wells Shakespeare Party. Not having gone from the NPG to the Old Vic before, I was a bit worried about getting there, I’m always a bit woolly after spending time in exhibitions, but I actually made it in time by bus. Louise was at the front entrance talking to the actor Nickolas Grace, who was serving as an usher, making sure the guests knew that the party had been switched to the rehearsal room from the Circle Bar, which was full of props for a show "High Society" which was being rehearsed on stage. Going up in the original lift, now a bit creaky, I feel sure the rehearsal room has not changed much since the 20s and maybe longer. I was pleased the party was there, as that was where my mother would have spent many hours in rehearsal with the opera singers and chorus. How I would love to have heard them as well as Olivier, Ashcroft, Gielgud who also trod those boards during rehearsals for the Shakespeare plays.
chapter 9 - may
May 1 - May Day holiday in Italy. No school for Zoe. We had a lazy day after all that culture during the week.
May 2 A family walk along the river down to Trastavere, the Bohemian side of town. It's not really so in the Carnaby Street sense, but it is an artistic area with lots of little shops, home to many students as there are several international universities in that area. We stopped at All Fonte D'Oro to have the Italian version of a slushie - manually shaved ice, flavored with syrups (mint, barley water, coconut, lemon, cherry, tamarind...) or fruit or both. It's a very popular thirst quencher in the heat for Romans and tourists alike. The booth has been in business since 1913, but has upgraded to having a small freezer hooked up to a generator, which I am sure has boosted sales. After cooling down, we walked to the English movie theatre and saw "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" I loved the first, and also the second, what a group of characters!
May 3. Busker Festival for Emergency, a non-profit organization, with buskers of all genres around the Coliseum area.
It was hot but pleasantly so, especially since the roads around the Coliseum had been closed for the Festival. That is such a treat for Romans and tourists, as normally traffic is a nightmare and dreadful for the lungs. It wasn't a large event, disappointingly there were only a few instrumentalists on the sidewalks. The most fun was watching spectators join in the tango dancing, one couple was outstanding with their moves. Another group gave an impressive rhythmical performance of sticks.
The closed-off road was beside the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele 11, an enormous white marble monument that dominates the Piazza Venezia, a tribute to the first king of the united Italy. It's fondly known as "the wedding cake". We decided to leave that visit for another day as it was getting too hot to start a new adventure. Instead we did as Italians and especially Roman do, walked around, watching the world go by, and taking in the way of life in Rome. La dolce vita.
May 4. Keats-Shelley House, the Pantheon, and the Palazzo Farnese, now the home of the French Embassy.
When in the US some time ago, I came upon a box of cards of city walks in Rome. I thought it looked interesting and took it with me on my first visit. It was the best guide information I have ever had. Since most of my exploring in Rome was done by walking, before I left for the day, I would plan out my itinerary and match it up with the corresponding cards, so I didn't have to carry heavy books around. On each card one side had the map of the walk and on the other side, descriptions and locations of the places to visit. The first part of my walk would take me past the Castel Angelo on the road by the river where I had seen an intriguing baroque style church. It was quite different from most of the churches with rather menacing statues in the front of the edifice. The church was closed (that was unusual in itself) only open at mass times, so I made a note to try again on my next visit in June.
Continuing on with my walk from the scary church, I headed towards the Piazza di Spagna, which was on my route of the day. I had chosen several cards, as it was going to be long walk. Card#3 covered the area from the Piazza di Spagna to the Piazza di Pietra, and here's part of the description. "This walk heads from east to west across Rome's center, from its most glittery piazza to one of its quietest. After a look around the Piazza di Spagna, and partaking in at least one gelato, stop at the Keats/Shelley Museum , climb to the top of the steps for a spectacular view across Rome, visit the Church of the Trinitia dei Monti, then take a brief detour left up the Via della Trinita dei Monti to the Villa Medici ". There were 6 stops in all, with many snippets of history and facts, all on a card 3 1/2"x5 1/2. If I remembered to, I would also take a paper map to have the general layout of the city in case I got lost, but that rarely happened. In these days of technology I also had my faithful (sometimes) IPhone with Google maps, but too often, as I was gone for long periods, the battery died, and I could not rely on it. On the other hand when I did have power, my trusty IPhone got me out of a few potential difficulties, and without it I would not have done nearly as much as I did.
I knew the area of Card #3 well, but had not visited the Keats House (which is across the Spanish steps from the Babington Tea Rooms, my favorite tea shop). The Museum is in Keats' apartment where he stayed for a few months before he died of tuberculosis in 1821 at the age of 25. His bedroom overlooked the steps, and he loved sitting by the window where he could look onto the Piazza and see the people walking by. The tour of the museum is self-guiding, so one could spend time wherever the most interesting things were. There was a video to watch before going in to the small apartment, narrated in part by Prince Charles who is the Patron of the Association. The museum houses one of the world's most extensive collections of memorabilia, letters, manuscripts and paintings relating to Keats and Shelley, as well as items of many other romantic authors.The furniture is not Keats' as when he died because of tuberculosis, everything in the apartment had to be burnt, and the walls scraped, according to the health laws of 19th century Rome. Several benefactors from England, the USA and Italy, made it possible in the early part of the 1900s to purchase and restore the 2 room apartment, (although the museum now has more rooms), and to find furniture of the period when Keats lived there. Fortunately, because of forward thinking, the contents of the museum were saved from the Nazis by going "underground". All exterior signs relating to the museum were removed from the building, and although the 10,000 volumes were not removed, boxes of artifacts and memorabilia were taken to the Abbey of Monte Cassino. When in 1943 the abbey was evacuated, the abbey's archivist put the boxes amongst his own personal possessions, so they could be removed when evacuating and not fall in to the hands of the Germans. Upon arrival of the Allied Forces in 1944, the boxes were reclaimed by the museum's curator and returned to the house.
From the Keats' Museum it was a lovely walk through the narrow streets, leading to the Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately at this time it was undergoing an extensive renovation and there was no water in the basin. A walkway had been built so visitors could walk across the basin, and the good thing about that was that you were able to see more closely the statues that were towards the back of the fountain. I felt so sorry for the visitors who only had one chance to see the fountain in all its glory, and must have been so disappointed.
A turn in the road, and there you are facing the most magnificent edifice in the world, the Pantheon. Huge columns topped with a dome. It's all built on arches, the use of which the Romans had perfected. It amazes me that, in spite of having a huge hole in the dome, the beautifully finished interior of the edifice, together with the paintings, floors and furniture are not ruined when it rains.
Elisa and Zoe went there earlier in the year for a special occasion, La Domenica della Rose, the Sunday of the Rose. In 608 AD the Byzantine emperor Focas gave the Pantheon to Pope Bonifatius as a gift, who in 609 AD converted it in to a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs. The "rain of red roses" on the day of Pentecost symbolizes the descent of the Holy Spirit in the forms of flames to make a red carpet, while the choir sings the hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus".For many years the ceremony was suspended, but in 1995 the tradition was resurrected and is now held after the Mass of Pentecost. At the end of the mass five fire fighters climb to the top of the dome with seven canvas bags containing rose petals given by the town of Giffoni Valle Piana in the province of Salerno. The petals are dropped by the firefighters through the "eye of the sky" the large circular opening that radiates light and heat inside the Pantheon. As the petals flutter to the floor some of the congregation gather up the petals and throw them in the air to symbolize the presence of the Holy Ghost.
It seems terribly disrespectful to sit outside the Pantheon under the columns to eat one's lunch, but that's what I did, as so many other people were doing. I just hope all the good souls looking down on me would know that I meant no disrespect, and that I was feeling so privileged to be there. On a lighter note, the fountain in the piazza in front of the Pantheon, has become a gathering spot for musicians, specifically jazz musicians, and one time I was there, I was spellbound listening to a guitarist whose playing just fit the atmosphere in the square. People were mesmerized, as I was. I stayed as long as I could, even gave him some money. On other occasions when we went to the Pantheon, I listened out for him, but never saw him or heard that quality of playing again. Perhaps it was a similar event like Joshua Bell's playing on his Strad in Penn station, New York, with only a few people recognizing his quality. I think he made around $38 that day.
From the Pantheon, I walked through the section that included Piazza Navona, Largo Argentina where Julius Caeser was killed and where the cat sanctuary is. I had to meet Dan at the Palazzo Farnese for a 4pm tour. Planning this was quite a saga, so anyone wanting to see this magnificent building, read carefully. The first thing to remember is that the name Farnese is common in Rome. They pretty much had the biggest palaces and most of the real estate. "They made their fortune in the bosom of the church and knew how to spend it". So make sure you know which palace you are planning to visit. My first attempt looking at the map was to walk down Via Giulia. I did so and came across a Palazzo Farnese. It had the French tricolor flag flying, and I thought I had found it. Wrong. It turned out to be the consular building, only part of the Palazzo, the rest of it was on the other side of the street, so I made my way up and around the front. It looked pretty impressive with a large piazza in front, and had tricolor flags all over, plus a couple of army jeeps with guards standing around. I smiled at them and went to the huge front door and walked in. There was an small entrance to the side for security checks. I went through two Xray machines before getting to the reception foyer, saw a lady and asked her if I could book tickets for a tour. Her shocked face made me realize that something I had done was not kosher. Oops. "How did you get in?" she says. Fortunately my French was up to dealing with the conversation, and I thought that would more prudent than speaking English. It turned out that perhaps my smile to the soldiers threw them off guard, as they were supposed to interrogate me as to why I wanted to enter the Palazzo. Bookings for tours can only be arranged on-line, (3 months in advance is the minimum) they want every bit of information from you they can get. Of course now, as I write this six months later, I can understand, but then it seemed way too bureaucratic, especially in Rome where everything is so much more laissez faire. On my return to England I went on-line to book the tickets during my next visit, and it took me a couple of weeks to secure the date in May. So you can see why I was anxious not to be late for the 4pm tour. In fact we met up at the Piazza Farnese with enough time to get a gelato. We checked to make sure we had our passports and the printed out tickets, and waited until the guide called our name to give him our papers and passport.
The Palazzo Farnese is the most perfect of the Renaissance palaces. Begun in 1514 by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, later Pope Pius 111, with his fabulous income, did not scrimp. It took 50 years to complete, but by then Alessandro was dead. Sangallo, Italy's greatest architect worked on it until he died in 1546, then Michaelangelo contributed the third story, the cornice and one of a series of arches for an unfinished viaduct meant to connect the palace to a bridge across the Tiber. Since 1871, when the Italian government gave it to France in exchange for the Hotel Galiffet in Paris, it has been the French Embassy. Standing in the piazza on evenings where the palace is having a reception, the lit rooms give tantalizing glimpses of the upper rooms. Probably the only way you will really get to see the best of the Palazzo is if you get an invitation to a reception or embassy function.
To end the day, we went to the flat of one of Zoe's school friends, whose mother was looking after her so we could visit the Farnese. They had a great time and we went to a restaurant for dinner. Later she sent me a photo she had taken of the full moon from her apartment window
May 2 A family walk along the river down to Trastavere, the Bohemian side of town. It's not really so in the Carnaby Street sense, but it is an artistic area with lots of little shops, home to many students as there are several international universities in that area. We stopped at All Fonte D'Oro to have the Italian version of a slushie - manually shaved ice, flavored with syrups (mint, barley water, coconut, lemon, cherry, tamarind...) or fruit or both. It's a very popular thirst quencher in the heat for Romans and tourists alike. The booth has been in business since 1913, but has upgraded to having a small freezer hooked up to a generator, which I am sure has boosted sales. After cooling down, we walked to the English movie theatre and saw "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" I loved the first, and also the second, what a group of characters!
May 3. Busker Festival for Emergency, a non-profit organization, with buskers of all genres around the Coliseum area.
It was hot but pleasantly so, especially since the roads around the Coliseum had been closed for the Festival. That is such a treat for Romans and tourists, as normally traffic is a nightmare and dreadful for the lungs. It wasn't a large event, disappointingly there were only a few instrumentalists on the sidewalks. The most fun was watching spectators join in the tango dancing, one couple was outstanding with their moves. Another group gave an impressive rhythmical performance of sticks.
The closed-off road was beside the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele 11, an enormous white marble monument that dominates the Piazza Venezia, a tribute to the first king of the united Italy. It's fondly known as "the wedding cake". We decided to leave that visit for another day as it was getting too hot to start a new adventure. Instead we did as Italians and especially Roman do, walked around, watching the world go by, and taking in the way of life in Rome. La dolce vita.
May 4. Keats-Shelley House, the Pantheon, and the Palazzo Farnese, now the home of the French Embassy.
When in the US some time ago, I came upon a box of cards of city walks in Rome. I thought it looked interesting and took it with me on my first visit. It was the best guide information I have ever had. Since most of my exploring in Rome was done by walking, before I left for the day, I would plan out my itinerary and match it up with the corresponding cards, so I didn't have to carry heavy books around. On each card one side had the map of the walk and on the other side, descriptions and locations of the places to visit. The first part of my walk would take me past the Castel Angelo on the road by the river where I had seen an intriguing baroque style church. It was quite different from most of the churches with rather menacing statues in the front of the edifice. The church was closed (that was unusual in itself) only open at mass times, so I made a note to try again on my next visit in June.
Continuing on with my walk from the scary church, I headed towards the Piazza di Spagna, which was on my route of the day. I had chosen several cards, as it was going to be long walk. Card#3 covered the area from the Piazza di Spagna to the Piazza di Pietra, and here's part of the description. "This walk heads from east to west across Rome's center, from its most glittery piazza to one of its quietest. After a look around the Piazza di Spagna, and partaking in at least one gelato, stop at the Keats/Shelley Museum , climb to the top of the steps for a spectacular view across Rome, visit the Church of the Trinitia dei Monti, then take a brief detour left up the Via della Trinita dei Monti to the Villa Medici ". There were 6 stops in all, with many snippets of history and facts, all on a card 3 1/2"x5 1/2. If I remembered to, I would also take a paper map to have the general layout of the city in case I got lost, but that rarely happened. In these days of technology I also had my faithful (sometimes) IPhone with Google maps, but too often, as I was gone for long periods, the battery died, and I could not rely on it. On the other hand when I did have power, my trusty IPhone got me out of a few potential difficulties, and without it I would not have done nearly as much as I did.
I knew the area of Card #3 well, but had not visited the Keats House (which is across the Spanish steps from the Babington Tea Rooms, my favorite tea shop). The Museum is in Keats' apartment where he stayed for a few months before he died of tuberculosis in 1821 at the age of 25. His bedroom overlooked the steps, and he loved sitting by the window where he could look onto the Piazza and see the people walking by. The tour of the museum is self-guiding, so one could spend time wherever the most interesting things were. There was a video to watch before going in to the small apartment, narrated in part by Prince Charles who is the Patron of the Association. The museum houses one of the world's most extensive collections of memorabilia, letters, manuscripts and paintings relating to Keats and Shelley, as well as items of many other romantic authors.The furniture is not Keats' as when he died because of tuberculosis, everything in the apartment had to be burnt, and the walls scraped, according to the health laws of 19th century Rome. Several benefactors from England, the USA and Italy, made it possible in the early part of the 1900s to purchase and restore the 2 room apartment, (although the museum now has more rooms), and to find furniture of the period when Keats lived there. Fortunately, because of forward thinking, the contents of the museum were saved from the Nazis by going "underground". All exterior signs relating to the museum were removed from the building, and although the 10,000 volumes were not removed, boxes of artifacts and memorabilia were taken to the Abbey of Monte Cassino. When in 1943 the abbey was evacuated, the abbey's archivist put the boxes amongst his own personal possessions, so they could be removed when evacuating and not fall in to the hands of the Germans. Upon arrival of the Allied Forces in 1944, the boxes were reclaimed by the museum's curator and returned to the house.
From the Keats' Museum it was a lovely walk through the narrow streets, leading to the Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately at this time it was undergoing an extensive renovation and there was no water in the basin. A walkway had been built so visitors could walk across the basin, and the good thing about that was that you were able to see more closely the statues that were towards the back of the fountain. I felt so sorry for the visitors who only had one chance to see the fountain in all its glory, and must have been so disappointed.
A turn in the road, and there you are facing the most magnificent edifice in the world, the Pantheon. Huge columns topped with a dome. It's all built on arches, the use of which the Romans had perfected. It amazes me that, in spite of having a huge hole in the dome, the beautifully finished interior of the edifice, together with the paintings, floors and furniture are not ruined when it rains.
Elisa and Zoe went there earlier in the year for a special occasion, La Domenica della Rose, the Sunday of the Rose. In 608 AD the Byzantine emperor Focas gave the Pantheon to Pope Bonifatius as a gift, who in 609 AD converted it in to a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs. The "rain of red roses" on the day of Pentecost symbolizes the descent of the Holy Spirit in the forms of flames to make a red carpet, while the choir sings the hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus".For many years the ceremony was suspended, but in 1995 the tradition was resurrected and is now held after the Mass of Pentecost. At the end of the mass five fire fighters climb to the top of the dome with seven canvas bags containing rose petals given by the town of Giffoni Valle Piana in the province of Salerno. The petals are dropped by the firefighters through the "eye of the sky" the large circular opening that radiates light and heat inside the Pantheon. As the petals flutter to the floor some of the congregation gather up the petals and throw them in the air to symbolize the presence of the Holy Ghost.
It seems terribly disrespectful to sit outside the Pantheon under the columns to eat one's lunch, but that's what I did, as so many other people were doing. I just hope all the good souls looking down on me would know that I meant no disrespect, and that I was feeling so privileged to be there. On a lighter note, the fountain in the piazza in front of the Pantheon, has become a gathering spot for musicians, specifically jazz musicians, and one time I was there, I was spellbound listening to a guitarist whose playing just fit the atmosphere in the square. People were mesmerized, as I was. I stayed as long as I could, even gave him some money. On other occasions when we went to the Pantheon, I listened out for him, but never saw him or heard that quality of playing again. Perhaps it was a similar event like Joshua Bell's playing on his Strad in Penn station, New York, with only a few people recognizing his quality. I think he made around $38 that day.
From the Pantheon, I walked through the section that included Piazza Navona, Largo Argentina where Julius Caeser was killed and where the cat sanctuary is. I had to meet Dan at the Palazzo Farnese for a 4pm tour. Planning this was quite a saga, so anyone wanting to see this magnificent building, read carefully. The first thing to remember is that the name Farnese is common in Rome. They pretty much had the biggest palaces and most of the real estate. "They made their fortune in the bosom of the church and knew how to spend it". So make sure you know which palace you are planning to visit. My first attempt looking at the map was to walk down Via Giulia. I did so and came across a Palazzo Farnese. It had the French tricolor flag flying, and I thought I had found it. Wrong. It turned out to be the consular building, only part of the Palazzo, the rest of it was on the other side of the street, so I made my way up and around the front. It looked pretty impressive with a large piazza in front, and had tricolor flags all over, plus a couple of army jeeps with guards standing around. I smiled at them and went to the huge front door and walked in. There was an small entrance to the side for security checks. I went through two Xray machines before getting to the reception foyer, saw a lady and asked her if I could book tickets for a tour. Her shocked face made me realize that something I had done was not kosher. Oops. "How did you get in?" she says. Fortunately my French was up to dealing with the conversation, and I thought that would more prudent than speaking English. It turned out that perhaps my smile to the soldiers threw them off guard, as they were supposed to interrogate me as to why I wanted to enter the Palazzo. Bookings for tours can only be arranged on-line, (3 months in advance is the minimum) they want every bit of information from you they can get. Of course now, as I write this six months later, I can understand, but then it seemed way too bureaucratic, especially in Rome where everything is so much more laissez faire. On my return to England I went on-line to book the tickets during my next visit, and it took me a couple of weeks to secure the date in May. So you can see why I was anxious not to be late for the 4pm tour. In fact we met up at the Piazza Farnese with enough time to get a gelato. We checked to make sure we had our passports and the printed out tickets, and waited until the guide called our name to give him our papers and passport.
The Palazzo Farnese is the most perfect of the Renaissance palaces. Begun in 1514 by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, later Pope Pius 111, with his fabulous income, did not scrimp. It took 50 years to complete, but by then Alessandro was dead. Sangallo, Italy's greatest architect worked on it until he died in 1546, then Michaelangelo contributed the third story, the cornice and one of a series of arches for an unfinished viaduct meant to connect the palace to a bridge across the Tiber. Since 1871, when the Italian government gave it to France in exchange for the Hotel Galiffet in Paris, it has been the French Embassy. Standing in the piazza on evenings where the palace is having a reception, the lit rooms give tantalizing glimpses of the upper rooms. Probably the only way you will really get to see the best of the Palazzo is if you get an invitation to a reception or embassy function.
To end the day, we went to the flat of one of Zoe's school friends, whose mother was looking after her so we could visit the Farnese. They had a great time and we went to a restaurant for dinner. Later she sent me a photo she had taken of the full moon from her apartment window
the 2015 international salisbury arts festival, May 22- June 6.
There were so many events for the Festival, I decided to put them all on one page.
Feb. 25, 2015 The Introduction Meeting
In the spring of 2104, I was wistfully looking at the Salisbury Festival website and wishing I could be there, knowing I was meant to be part of it. A year later, it came true! I happened to walk into the Festival office this afternoon to ask about volunteering, and was invited to attend the meeting at the White Hart Hotel that evening for prospective volunteers, with wine and hors d'oeuvres to tempt us while the staff described the activities of the Festival. It’s a two week event in late May/early June and has a very eclectic range of events, from early music to the latest in pop, literary evenings, plays, children’s events, walks. All sorts of exciting and intriguing things to see and do. Of course I signed up and looked forward to receiving a letter of acceptance which I got. There are always too many would-be volunteers for the Festival, and of course all the returning old-timers, some of whom had been volunteering for years, so I felt honored to be accepted.The Festival Staff gave us a good idea of needs and requirements, everything was meticulously organized. Sign up sheets were handed out to be filled in with our interests and skills, and a few days later I was sent a prospective list of job titles. So far I have two - Front of Office and Steward.
May 12. The Salisbury Festival volunteer preparations are gearing up.
I had been assigned to Front of Office stints, and there was a meeting for all the new Front of Office volunteers - learning about the phone system, what we could handle and what should be passed on to Staff. I found it very useful, as of course I didn't know anybody or anything about the festival. In addition I was given some Stewarding stints for concerts, one was as a wine steward, but no drinking for me, I had to drive home. In addition to those stints, there were ten performances I had selected with a view of writing reviews, so armed with a Press Pass, I was ready. The events ranged from classical and light music, to theatre, community and children's events. Quite a variety. A hectic couple of weeks.
Apropos of that, The Vic-Well's Broadsheet has published two more of my reviews in their June edition, "Posh" at the Salisbury Playhouse and "Aida" at the Rome Opera House. Whoever would have thought it!
May 22 Salisbury Festival 2015 www.salisburyfestival.co.uk
Today was the first day of the Festival and I had the afternoon shift in the office. Getting to grips with the phone was a little tricky, fortunately it didn't ring too often, but it won't take long to get used to it. The new till at Oxfam is much more challenging!
Later that afternoon was the opening event and my first review of the Festival.
Review. "Market Songs" in the Market Square, was a great delight. Toby Smith, the Festival Director, collaborated with composer Michael Betteridge to come up with a innovative way to pull together different facets of Salisbury's history. From its medieval beginnings, the Market Square had 4 crosses on each corner of the square, representing four areas of trading - Poultry, Cheese, Wool and the Pub, the Blue Boar Inn officially representing the hostelry and inn trade. Important to have plenty of beer and cider on tap!
Only one Cross remains today, the Poultry Cross, "There's a handsome stone Cross in the midst of the town, Under cover of which, market people sit down, "To sell poultry and eggs, with such other good stuff, Of which may we never have less than enough." says Miss Child (no date).
At the Wool Cross area "The best white clothes in England are made at Salisbury where the water running through chalk becomes very nitrous and therefore aspersive. "These fine clothes are dyed black in London and in Holland, scarlet" from Haskins 1912, p.382.
The third was the Cheese Cross.
Each choir stood in the area of a cross and sang a program of four songs depicting their relationship with Salisbury. The singers really got into the spirit of the music and words of their songs, extolling the virtues of their wares such as free range eggs or the best wool around. The audience walked from one choir to the next, ending up in the square for the grand finale with all the choirs together, about 300 singers in all.
Events like this is why I love Britain and being British. Even though I have only spent a short part of my life here, I belong to this nation. As a child, I spent some time in Lincolnshire during our visits from South Africa, with my paternal grandmother, whom I loved dearly. She could have been any one of the singers in the Market Square. To this day, I remember the feeling of happiness being with her and other family members, even though there was still much deprivation and rationing after the war. Learning to ride a bicycle on the track up to my Aunt's farm, the delicious smell of baking on Fridays and being given special treats. Childhood memories mean so much to each person and establish who you are.
May 24 - Steward for City Encounters, Market Square and for Gobbledegook Theatre "Ear Trumpet" Musical Instrument exhibit and Lecture. This was a hectic and fun afternoon. The City Encounters were just that, various events around the Market Square and other places in the City Centre. Our job was to keep an eye on an event in case anyone needed anything and to answer questions from the visitors. Since everything was pretty well laid out, there weren't too many lost souls.
The "Ear Trumpet" exhibit and lecture was a hoot, literally! It was held in the large garden of the Military Museum in the Cathedral Close. A Team of sonic investigators have managed to track an exceptional auditory occurrence: eons-worth of sound, both ancient and modern, harmonically bound together, trapped inside our ancient rocks. To hear these sounds, they have massed a collection of brass instruments from all centuries. After an introductory lecture on the instruments and how to manage them in order to hear the sounds, visitors select an instrument and choose a marked spot in the garden. Holding the mouthpiece to your ear, you put the bell of the instrument on the chosen spot and listen. It is an unusual experience.
Review May 25 - Eblana String Trio at Trafalgar Park
Violin – Jonathan Martindale,
Viola – Lucy Nolan,
Cello – Peggy Nolan (yes, they are sisters).
Beethoven String Trio in G op.9#1
Dohnanyi Serenade for String Trio op. 10
Mozart Divertimento in Eb, K 563
The members of the trio, formed in 2006, are currently Junior Fellows in Chamber Music at the Birmingham Conservatoire. They might be junior in age, but not in performance. This was a concert that had the confidence, musicality and ensemble techniques many experienced groups would love to have. From the start of the program with the octaves in the Beethoven, I knew this was going to be something special, and it was. The program, a string player’s delight, was a demanding and varied one, but they kept the momentum up until the very end.
Beethoven’s Trio, the first of three, were composed when he was a young musician in Vienna, and dedicated to Count von Browne-Camus, who, only 3 years older than Beethoven, was a generous benefactor. These musicians (maybe around the same age as when Beethoven wrote these trios), did him proud with excellent intonation, beautiful dynamic shading and musical phrasing. Especially obvious was seeing the pleasure the players were having making music together. Without that, however good the technical aspect, the music is dead.
At the end of the Allegro in the first moment, there were a few seconds of awe on the last chord, hearing the harmonic overtones ringing out. It should be noted that the audience was particularly engaged during the whole concert - no snuffling, coughing, or fidgeting. What a joy it was, just to hear the music! In the second movement, the Adagio, it was Beethoven at his sweetest, with an exquisitely played cantabile dialogue between the violin and viola. What/who was he dreaming of when he wrote that? Waking up, the Scherzo provided many opportunities for phrasing, and they were fulfilled on each one. The finale, Presto, actually played Prestissimo, was spot on, due to the lightness of the bowing and the tight ensemble of the group.
The Dohnanyi Serenade is a tricky work rhythmically and technically, but not for this trio. The hurdles of difficult rhythmic patterns in the March and Scherzo movements were easily overcome, their tightness of ensemble keeping everything together. In the Scherzo there was lovely blending and dynamic contrasts between the violin and viola in the cantabile section. In the Romanza, the violist had a chance to shine, and her upper register solo was exquisite. Following was the Theme and Variations movement, which had magic moments of gorgeous blending of the three instruments in the slow section. It’s to die for. All string players should learn it before they finish their training. The Rondo ends with many similarities to the first moment, and dies away before the last two crashing chords.
Two years before he died, Mozart was in dire financial straits. This Divertimento was dedicated to a fellow Freemason, Michael Puchberg, who had given Mozart loans in the past. In 1789 it was premiered with Mozart playing the viola part (his favourite instrument). Although intended as “entertainment” music, Mozart’s genius shines through the different movements, fast to slow, with variations and other structure methods, which make him one of the top composers ever. The trio did him justice, with many musical effects that made the reading such a pleasure to listen to - warm tones and intonation in the first movement from all instruments, on to the glorious cello arpeggios in the Adagio. Pianissimos in the second trio, and sweet sounds in the final Allegro, with its marching motif.
So, kudos to the Eblana String Trio, for an inspiring afternoon, and all best wishes for a long career of making music and sharing it with others. Review for the Salisbury Festival by Jane H. Salemson
May 26 - "R. Rodgers Revisited" Playhouse
In an intimate setting around the piano, Anna Francolini, Edward Seckerson and Jason Carr put together a very entertaining and enlightening evening. The three artists told stories, played and sang some of the the greatest American popular songs, as well as some rarities and gems by Richard Rodgers, who wrote 50 musicals and over 1,000 songs. Touching on a few instances, the 24 year collaboration with Lorenz Hart between 1936 and 1942 were very productive, one of the musicals On Your Toes (1936), for which the distinguished Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine (1904–1983) created the ballet, marked the first time a Broadway musical made dramatic use of classical dance and incorporated jazz into its score. It was adapted into a film in 1939. The story is very New York, and it may have led to another version, Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" in the 60s as the two stories are quite similar.
In "On Your Toes" the male lead, Phil "Junior" Dolan III, while teaching music at Knickerbocker University, tries to persuade Sergei Alexandrovich, the director of the Russian Ballet, to stage the jazz ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue". After becoming involved with the company's prima ballerina, Vera Barnova, Junior is forced to assume the male lead in "Slaughter". Trouble ensues when he becomes the target of two thugs hired by Vera’s lover and dance partner to kill him.
One musical, produced in London in 1925 "No, No Nanette" caught my attention immediately. I remembered that it was one of her favorite musicals, and she must have seen it, perhaps more than once, when she was singing at the Old Vic.
Within a few years after that, life had changed dramatically. Rodgers composed a collection of 12 songs for the documentary television series "Victory at Sea" . It was about warfare in general during World War II, and naval warfare in particular, as well as the use of industry in warfare. One of the songs "Beneath the Southern Cross" was later renamed "No Other Love", a huge hit for singer Perry Como. The series was originally broadcast by NBC in the USA in 1952–1953, and won an Emmy award in 1954 as "best public affairs program". It was condensed into a film in 1954.
May 27- "A Schubertiade" St. Thomas' Church
"Schubertiade" events during his lifetime were generally informal, unadvertised affairs that took place in private homes belonging to Schubert's wealthy supporters. The Lieder songs in this performance sung by mezzo-soprano, Rowan Hellier, and tenor Nicholas Mulroy, two very fine and accomplished Schubert recitalists, were composed between 1814 and 1826. The wonderfully sensitive pianist was Alisdair Hogarth. His superb artistry was particularly noticeable in the opening duo Nurwer die Sehnsucht kennt (Only one who knows longing) from the set of Mignon und der Harfner, (Mignon and the Harper). There's a hint of recitative in the two duos in the first and last songs of the recital, integrating the two vocal lines, making an achingly beautiful blending of the voices.
Some other songs that showed the sensitivity of the singers and pianist together, were "Litany" for the tenor, in which the pianist's dynamics were matching his sensitivity to the words and vocal level. In "Ganymed", a lighter song beautifully sung by Rowan Hellier, with the pianist bringing out the nightingale's birdcall exquisitely. "Son of the Muses" is a huge challenge for the piano, with fast triplets all the way through the song. No problem for Alistair, still the same sensitive accompanying for the tenor's telling of the poem. In "Night and Dreams" the challenge was for the tenor's breath control, and the pianist's gentle touch on the eighth notes, and both musicians certainly accomplished that. It was a sublime few minutes. In "To the lyre" for mezzo-soprano, it needed more love in the tones, sometime the vibrato got in the way. The "You are peace, the mild peace" was as sublime as "Night and dreams" but was shattered by the wails of an ambulance, and the moment was lost. I wish they would have repeated it.
May 29 - "One Little Word" Playhouse
For the little ones, there were quite a few events, one I went to was a play for ages 3+. I wished my younger granddaughter could have been there, she would have loved it.
"One Little Word" is a beautiful and gentle story of friendship, power struggles and the rich world of creative play between two children, a girl and a boy. It captivates children's imaginations with a moving story told with original music and just ONE spoken word. The two characters meet and not saying a word, start to play together, exploring a new space, new objects, dressing up and taking turns - but struggles arise when one of them wants to be the ONLY captain of the ship. Props included a large half of a wooden circle which started off as a bench and eventually became the ship. Other props could be used for various ideas - an umbrella for the sailboat, a telescope, sheets for dance movements. A happy, fun time. More ideas, more creativity, then struggles.The audience was mesmerised, including me, how would it end? And then the one word - "sorry".
In the evening was a concert by the Sacconi String Quartet at St. Martin's Church.
Formed in 2001, the quartet (Benjamin Hancox, Hannah Dawson - violins, Robin Ashwell - viola, Pierre Doumenge -cello) has a wide varied repertoire, from the classical string quartet literature to modern commissions, and as the solo quartet on Paul MaCartney's 2009 song Come Home for just a few examples. Other artists join with them for particular events. They have hosted the Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone, Kent for 7 years and continues to be an established event in the cultural calendar, expanding year on year with challenging programming and exciting collaborations.
The program was Mozart's String Quartet in Eb Major, K428, Jonathan Dove's "Out of Time" a serenade for string quartet commissioned by a widow to commemorate her husband's life, and Beethoven's Quartet in C# minor, op.131.
Rather than get into a dissertation, I'll just write what I heard. Mozart - the entrance of the first 3 measures were perfectly in tune, vitally important, as we all know, Mozart has to be played perfectly, and he would have been happy with that beginning. I could relax and enjoy the rest of the concert. The blending of the instruments made for a sweet warm sound, not blurry, all very clear. Obviously dynamics are a mainstay in their ensemble playing, their pianissimos were out of this world. When it was the violist's turn to shine (Mozart loved the viola) Robin showed off his superb playing, producing ethereal sounds on all the strings. In the final movement, the ensemble was so together, that the movement flowed on, as only Mozart can write. All of these observations pertain to the Beethoven as well, it was a very fine performance of two major pieces in the string quartet repertoire. A real joy to hear.
The commissioned piece "Out of Time" reflected the personality of the husband. It's hard to write about it on hearing it only once, notes I made of the 6 short movements mentioned a duet between the first violin and the viola in pulsating rhythms, a melodic duet for violin and cello, a lovely melody for the viola with a melodic pizzicato by the cello. The 3rd movement was a rhythmic dance, "Stomping" and the last 3 movements run together - a Courante-type dance with the viola playing a chant over the running passage, a very hurried rhythmical section (to escape) then the music becomes quiet and fades away.
May 30 - Shakespeare's "King John" by the Globe Theatre. Cathedral
I had been looking forward to this. In fact, in January, before I knew this play was going to be part of the festival, London Louise told me the play, King John was going to be at the Globe. She is a member and gets early bird tickets. I have been to several plays and "Gabriel" at the Globe, so I gladly said yes. It turned out a few months later that I would be in the US for Kate's graduation so would not be able go to it at the Globe, but in the meantime it was coming to the festival, so I could see it in Salisbury. So I went, although I knew I would not review it. I'm not in that league. The Cathedral was packed, and I could only find a seat on the side of the nave. Visibility from my seat was only to one end of the runway which was built above the seats in the nave. I only lasted until the interval. Firstly, I could not hear the actors when they were at the far end of the runway where most of the action was going on, and secondly, it was freezing cold. I don't recall it being so cold in the cathedral and it was the end of May! In spite of heating and probably a thousand or more people in there, those slate floors and high ceilings keep the interior cool. It was too cool for me, and for quite a lot of other people, who also left at the interval. It was probably great for the actors, as they were running all over the place in their heavy woolen garments and boots. I had a good hot chocolate when I got home.
May 31 - Joanna Wallfisch with Dan Tepfer and the Sacconi String Quartet Salisbury Arts Centre
British singer and composer, Joanna Wallfisch moved to New York in 2012 and with her pianist Dan Tepfer have had great reviews on their CD "The Origin of adjustable things". Individually, they have great talents, Dan is a fine pianist and accompanist, and Joanna, obviously an excellent musician with a good voice. Some of these songs were presented on their performance with the Sacconi Quartet at the Festival, but after having heard the Sacconi only 2 days before, I felt they were not able to shine in this event, with the quartet seemingly somewhat superfluous, which is shocking, considering their excellence. Before the one song they played with her, to show the audience how to learn convoluted rhythms, she got them to do a clapping sequence. It was quite complicated, and would be a good idea for any ensemble learning tricky rhythms. I
The presentation of her program was at times awkward, especially as there were tech problems. It's fun to have fancy gadgets that do great things, but a let-down when it fails in a performance. Obviously this type of show is something relatively new to her, and it will become slicker with more experience. I wasn't enamoured by the songs, and didn't think the quartet fitted in very well. Again this may be a new venture, writing for string quartet, that she is not familiar with yet. For this type of show, I prefer music from the 20s.
June 1 - "Walk Ashore" Thimble Theatre, Playhouse-Salberg
June 3 - " A Masque of Numbers" Wilton Church
The combination of the parish church of Wilton and the music of the 16th and 17th centuries made for an extraordinarily beautiful evening of music making by a group of musicians performing in the style of that period. Firstly the venue, the Italianate parish church of Wilton, is an astonishing building. In an historic Wiltshire town like Wilton, home of one of England's great stately homes, Wilton House, and traditional centre for English carpet manufacture, you don't expect to see an ornate slice of Italy. Yet that is precisely what it is, I thought I was back in Rome, and in 1845, as the old medieval church of Wilton was in a dreadful state of disrepair, a new church was built by the combined efforts of the Hon Sidney Herbert who loved Italian architecture, and convinced his formidable mother, the Russian Dowager Countess of Pembroke to help build a new church in the Italian style, an undertaking that would cost them £20,000, a staggering sum for the time. They called in young TH Wyatt, then only 34, the diocesan architect for Salisbury, for what would be his first really major commission. Wyatt and his partner Brandon created a stunning church, oriented on a southwest axis to front onto West Street. The chosen site had been home to the medieval church of St Nicholas, which was in ruins by the 15th century. There is a totally separate bell tower, or campanile, following Italian tradition. The church itself is on the Roman basilica plan. Immediately to the left on entering is the Capocci Shrine, notable for its twisted black marble columns, which were originally part of a 13th century shrine at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. In 1768 the shrine was taken apart, and some of it was brought to England by Sir William Hamilton (husband of Admiral Nelson's paramour Emma Hamilton), who gave it to Horace Walpole for the latter's house of Strawberry Hill. Sidney Herbert purchased the shrine when the contents of Strawberry Hill were put up for sale, and so it made its way to Wilton.
The Wilton Mosaics
This 'east' wall is made up of an amazing mosaic pattern interspersing Biblical images with geometric patterns. This astonishing gilded creation positively glows with rich colour. It was the work of Gertrude Martin, who was also responsible for the mosaics at Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral in London. On either side of the high altar are effigies of the Hon Sidney Herbert and the Dowager Countess of Pembroke.
Masked balls were a favorite of Henry VII and continued during the reign of Elizabeth Ist where she held them at her own court and also in stately homes and palaces across England. Under James I, masques had semi-permanent homes in splendid venues like the Banqueting
House and the Inns of Court in London. Architectural and visual arts gave inspirational backdrops to literary evenings by writers such as Ben Jonson and dancing followed into the night. Jonson's partnership with the Italian composer Alfonso Ferrabosco, produced a new and exotic Italian musical style for these balls. Salisbury had a special significance in this. Two of its choristers, Henry and William Lawes became leading figures of masques in the 1630s with each masque having a story based on a current topic. Tonight's performance as a concert, is somewhat different from the usual night long "rave" in the 17th century. Today's more dignified performance starts with an opening dance and songs celebrating a society that comes together in dancing and music. An anti-masque (similar to a protest rally) Although images of war are present, and there are dancing bears and drunken louts outside pubs, money issues by travelers and seedy dealers, the music moves away from the Jacobean era to a pastoral gentleness proving music and harmony really are linking earth and heaven. Mercury sends everyone home "Like a perfuming gale o'er flowers, now glide again to your own bowers".
The ensemble "Theatre of the Ayre" is directed by Elizabeth Kenny who also plays the lute and theorbo. Other instruments were the cittern, harp and Irish harp,violin, viola, bass viol and violone which were played as a Prelude in the opening, in a Masque Dance (composer unknown) in a duet, Galliarde Faraboscho for bass viol and violin, Cuperee by Coperario, a Symphony by William Lawes.
The singers were a soprano, counter-tenor, tenor, bass, choristers and Lay Gentlemen of Salisbury Cathedral. Both the singing and instrumental playing were superb and the acoustics were excellent. The acting out of the songs in the anti-masque, especially the Bears' Dance, were well done and contrasted mightily to the more conservative and genteel dances and song in the masque.
June 4 - The London Philharmonic - Cathedral
It was good to hear a fabulous orchestra playing some of my favorite grand works, and the LPO did them proud. The program was Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture, Dvorak's Cello Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sheherazade".I know these are war horses, but they stay alive for a reason, really good music. The only disappointment was in the Cello Concerto. In the cavernous interior of the Cathedral, the solo cello in the range of the lower strings, simply cannot be heard however hard the soloist tries. I was sitting about 8 rows from the podium, and could barely hear him. I know he is a fabulous cellist, (I had met him earlier in the afternoon) and was devastated not to be able to hear him play this pinnacle of cello concertos. I'm not a fan of miking, but in these days of amazing technology, there must be some way of making lower instruments be heard. After all, in most concerti, they are competing against a 50-70 piece orchestra. The LPO, conducted by Jaime Martin, did a wonderful job of accompanying the cello, with great dynamic levels, but to no avail. When it came to for the violin solo in Scherazade, it was a different matter, as the pitch is so much higher, but even then, it would have been good to have it miked a bit louder.
June 6 - Trio Joubran concert with Youssef Hbeisch – percussion, at the Salisbury Playhouse, the final day of the 2015 Salisbury Festival. Review for the Vic-Wells Broadsheet.
The trio of three brothers, Samir Joubran,Wissam Joubram and Adnan Joubran, all oud (Arabian lute) players, are fourth generation descendants of players and makers of ouds from Palestine. Based now in Paris, they concertize all over the world, and it was a tremendous delight to hear them in Salisbury.
The beginning of the concert was dramatic and mesmerizing. The stage was dark with spots of different colors focusing on each player when soloing, then on them all when playing together. Wisps of vapor gently moved around the stage like puffs of clouds, giving an ethereal feel to the ambience.
Not knowing much about the oud, I was interested to read that Wissam had apprenticed and graduated from the Stradivarius Conservatory in Cremona. I recently visited the Violin Museum in Cremona, a fabulous experience which all string players should have sometime in their lives. The ability to see an instrument and watch a video of a master playing it, is a great thrill. Although primarily featuring the violin family, there were many other instruments, such as the oud, which are being made in Cremona.
The outstanding part of this performance was the brothers' technical ability on the instrument. Talk about dueling banjos. This was way beyond that! They would challenge each other with riffs, seeing who could play them the fastest and with the most notes. It was breathtaking at times, amazing how dexterous left-hand fingers can be.
The programme was taken from their recording in 2011, “As Far”. Although there were many very fast pieces played, there were some exquisitely played love songs, their favorite being Safar. Another was Marriage of Doves. Two of the players gently provided a drone whilst Samir or Wissam played a love melody. In one piece Samir sang the vocals, and I thought it would be lovely to have more numbers with a singer accompanied by the ouds.
The instruments are a joy to look at. All built by Wissam, they are works of arts.
The percussionist is a recent addition to the group and he was also outstanding. Using only his hands, Youssef played a bank of instruments - bongo-type drums, cymbals, a bohdrun-type of drum, similar to the Irish drum.
A thrilling end to an exciting festival.
Here is an article about the 2015 Festival from the Telegraph by the diarist Matthew Stadlen.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/11646463/Salisbury-International-Arts-Festival-2015-daily-diary.html
chapter 10 - june
June 7. A special trip to the USA - Heathrow to Atlanta to Raleigh.
My 5th grade granddaughter Kate was graduating from her elementary school in North Carolina and wanted me to be there for the ceremonies. The flights were my birthday present from them and nothing could have been better. It meant so much to me to be there, as I had been part of her and her brother's lives since they were born, regularly driving them on the school run from kindergarten on, in my trusty Rav4 that has carried them safely all these years, from baby to toddler car seats, booster seats and finally sitting up front with seatbelts, taking them to special events and just being able to help out when needed. Leaving them to go to England was the hardest thing for me, knowing that I would be missing out on their daily lives, which is why this trip was extra special. Amazingly though, it didn't seem that it had been almost 9 months since I left, thanks to emails and skyping, and we picked up where we left, although I had no clue as to James' new gadgets he adores but I can't pronounce. Of course they had grown several inches, and Kate was nearly as tall as me. James is not far behind.
June 11 The big day!
As Raskhis is an elementary school, the 5th grade was the top class, and being large, was divided up into several smaller groups. Each group gave a short presentation before the ceremony when they received their certificates and honors. Kate's group gave a presentation of songs which was well done and very enjoyable, even though they were bursting with excitement at being the top class. All the 5th grade students were going on to different middle schools that are spread out in the town, so there were tears too, as they knew this would be the last time they would be together, some had been there since starting kindergarten, 6 years in all.
The last few days were spent with shopping, enjoying the opportunity to swim in the pool and bask in the sun (not for long though, I didn't want to get burnt) and dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant. Monday was the first day of Kate's baking camp at her new school, and after making sure she was in the right place, I was taken by a staff member on a tour of the buildings and their classrooms. We had a Chinese dinner, and then a good night's sleep.
June 16 came all too soon and time to get on to flights #10 and 11, back the way I came - Raleigh, Atlanta, Heathrow. It was a straightforward journey, easy with so little luggage, no cello.
It was a wonderful 10 days which flew by. The visit was filled with the last of the school runs, catching up with friends, and even playing viols with my Monday group, just can't let the music go!
My 5th grade granddaughter Kate was graduating from her elementary school in North Carolina and wanted me to be there for the ceremonies. The flights were my birthday present from them and nothing could have been better. It meant so much to me to be there, as I had been part of her and her brother's lives since they were born, regularly driving them on the school run from kindergarten on, in my trusty Rav4 that has carried them safely all these years, from baby to toddler car seats, booster seats and finally sitting up front with seatbelts, taking them to special events and just being able to help out when needed. Leaving them to go to England was the hardest thing for me, knowing that I would be missing out on their daily lives, which is why this trip was extra special. Amazingly though, it didn't seem that it had been almost 9 months since I left, thanks to emails and skyping, and we picked up where we left, although I had no clue as to James' new gadgets he adores but I can't pronounce. Of course they had grown several inches, and Kate was nearly as tall as me. James is not far behind.
June 11 The big day!
As Raskhis is an elementary school, the 5th grade was the top class, and being large, was divided up into several smaller groups. Each group gave a short presentation before the ceremony when they received their certificates and honors. Kate's group gave a presentation of songs which was well done and very enjoyable, even though they were bursting with excitement at being the top class. All the 5th grade students were going on to different middle schools that are spread out in the town, so there were tears too, as they knew this would be the last time they would be together, some had been there since starting kindergarten, 6 years in all.
The last few days were spent with shopping, enjoying the opportunity to swim in the pool and bask in the sun (not for long though, I didn't want to get burnt) and dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant. Monday was the first day of Kate's baking camp at her new school, and after making sure she was in the right place, I was taken by a staff member on a tour of the buildings and their classrooms. We had a Chinese dinner, and then a good night's sleep.
June 16 came all too soon and time to get on to flights #10 and 11, back the way I came - Raleigh, Atlanta, Heathrow. It was a straightforward journey, easy with so little luggage, no cello.
It was a wonderful 10 days which flew by. The visit was filled with the last of the school runs, catching up with friends, and even playing viols with my Monday group, just can't let the music go!
June 17 An early arrival at Heathrow, catching the bus to Woking where I took the train to Salisbury. Not being a good sleeper on overnight flights, I was glad to get to my bed for a long nap!
June 18 String trios near Salisbury.
Fun playing string trios with new friends. It's always interesting to meet new people, sometimes unexpectedly, who bring an added bonus to my day. Quite often there are some amazing coincidences, over the years I have had so many of these incidents I could write a book about them. Here is one that connected the UK, USA and Nairobi, Kenya.
Pauline, the violist in the trio, had lived in Nairobi for some time and played in the Nairobi Symphony where she met a young American girl, Gillian, who happened to have been a member of my youth orchestra in Chapel Hill! Gillian was a good violinist even then, and continued studying violin when her family moved to Australia for a few years. When they returned to the US, after high school she went to college, got a doctorate in music and a job starting a String Program in a private school north of Nairobi. On a Christmas visit to my family in Nairobi, while in a mall and hearing string music, I saw a string quartet playing. During a break, I went up and introduced myself, they were delighted I knew Gillian, as they had all played in the orchestra with her. The cellist was insistent I play a few Christmas pieces with them, giving me his cello. It was a great introduction to the Nairobi music scene, and during the several visits I made there to Nairobi, I worked with members of the University Conservatory Orchestra who were going on tour and wanted some extra help. Then an opportunity came up to participate in the week-long orchestra course working with the cellists of the Kenya Youth Orchestra. At the end of the course were two concerts, one at the British Commissioner's residence, the other at Strathmore University. It was a unique experience, a highlight in my teaching career, and I only wish I could have spent more time with them.
June 19 Templecombe viols.
More viol playing, this time out in the country about half an hour from Salisbury. Louise and I took the train to Templecombe, Somerset, where Frances lives. Their station had been one of the ones axed in 1966, but reinstated in 1983 by the efforts of the local people. Somerset is another beautiful county, famous for its cider apples, sometimes called scrumpi. Woe to anyone who stops in a Somerset pub for a glass of cider thinking it is a pleasant quick drink. A couple of glasses will put you under the table pretty quickly, it's so potent.
We had a very enjoyable playing session, with Louise and I on treble viols and Frances on bass viol. A very competent player, she had had a lot of experience playing in the UK and Amsterdam, so it was a stimulating afternoon.
June 20 Cerne Abbas
Violist Pauline, because of back problems, could not go on a coach trip with her village garden club, and offered me her ticket to an Open Garden event in Cernes Abbas, which I was thrilled to have.
Here are two more coincidences. One, in 2011, I and my oldest granddaughter flew to England and met up at Heathrow with my son, daughter-in-law and youngest granddaughter. We had rented a cottage for a week in Sydling St. Nicholas which is next to the village of Cerne Abbas! We had driven around that area, but not gone into the village.
The Open Garden event was a fund-raiser and about 25 owners opened their gardens to the public. It was a fascinating day, lunch was in the garden of a village tea room. I had a delicious slice of goat's cheese quiche with salad and a slice of homemade cake. The gardens ranged from small to large, some formal, some natural and dotted around the village. At one of them, a smallish garden, I was admiring the way a path went down to the creek by the side of the garden. It was obviously a favorite spot to sit in and enjoy the garden and peacefulness of the water gently flowing under the overhang of the trees. The owner was greeting visitors and we got to chatting and had a very interesting conversation on lots of subjects. She seemed vaguely familiar and I mentioned that to her. She smiled and she told me she was a reporter. I didn't want to pry, since this event was about gardens, and went off to look around her garden. It then dawned on me she was Kate Adie, one of the earliest women BBC news correspondents covering wars and incidents all over the world! For years I have listened to her reports, mostly on the radio while I was in the US, sometimes on TV in England. I had always admired her reporting style, which was even and factual, even though she was often in the thick of battle.
On the coach going back, someone mentioned to me that the Cardiff Singers of the World was on TV that night. I watched it on IPlayer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some really fine singers. Also shown, was a conversation between Kiri Te Kanawa, who is now the presenter for the Cardiff singers of the World and Kate Adie! It must have been pre-recorded as Kate was happily ensconced in her garden at that time! I wish I had known about her conversation with Kiri, as she must at some time net my cousin Stuart (Meryl's dad) who started that competition years ago in Cardiff and sang often with Kiri. Such a small world!
June 22 Music and friends
Another opportunity to play chamber music, the Mozart String trio in Eb, K563. What a masterpiece and a challenge.
June 18 String trios near Salisbury.
Fun playing string trios with new friends. It's always interesting to meet new people, sometimes unexpectedly, who bring an added bonus to my day. Quite often there are some amazing coincidences, over the years I have had so many of these incidents I could write a book about them. Here is one that connected the UK, USA and Nairobi, Kenya.
Pauline, the violist in the trio, had lived in Nairobi for some time and played in the Nairobi Symphony where she met a young American girl, Gillian, who happened to have been a member of my youth orchestra in Chapel Hill! Gillian was a good violinist even then, and continued studying violin when her family moved to Australia for a few years. When they returned to the US, after high school she went to college, got a doctorate in music and a job starting a String Program in a private school north of Nairobi. On a Christmas visit to my family in Nairobi, while in a mall and hearing string music, I saw a string quartet playing. During a break, I went up and introduced myself, they were delighted I knew Gillian, as they had all played in the orchestra with her. The cellist was insistent I play a few Christmas pieces with them, giving me his cello. It was a great introduction to the Nairobi music scene, and during the several visits I made there to Nairobi, I worked with members of the University Conservatory Orchestra who were going on tour and wanted some extra help. Then an opportunity came up to participate in the week-long orchestra course working with the cellists of the Kenya Youth Orchestra. At the end of the course were two concerts, one at the British Commissioner's residence, the other at Strathmore University. It was a unique experience, a highlight in my teaching career, and I only wish I could have spent more time with them.
June 19 Templecombe viols.
More viol playing, this time out in the country about half an hour from Salisbury. Louise and I took the train to Templecombe, Somerset, where Frances lives. Their station had been one of the ones axed in 1966, but reinstated in 1983 by the efforts of the local people. Somerset is another beautiful county, famous for its cider apples, sometimes called scrumpi. Woe to anyone who stops in a Somerset pub for a glass of cider thinking it is a pleasant quick drink. A couple of glasses will put you under the table pretty quickly, it's so potent.
We had a very enjoyable playing session, with Louise and I on treble viols and Frances on bass viol. A very competent player, she had had a lot of experience playing in the UK and Amsterdam, so it was a stimulating afternoon.
June 20 Cerne Abbas
Violist Pauline, because of back problems, could not go on a coach trip with her village garden club, and offered me her ticket to an Open Garden event in Cernes Abbas, which I was thrilled to have.
Here are two more coincidences. One, in 2011, I and my oldest granddaughter flew to England and met up at Heathrow with my son, daughter-in-law and youngest granddaughter. We had rented a cottage for a week in Sydling St. Nicholas which is next to the village of Cerne Abbas! We had driven around that area, but not gone into the village.
The Open Garden event was a fund-raiser and about 25 owners opened their gardens to the public. It was a fascinating day, lunch was in the garden of a village tea room. I had a delicious slice of goat's cheese quiche with salad and a slice of homemade cake. The gardens ranged from small to large, some formal, some natural and dotted around the village. At one of them, a smallish garden, I was admiring the way a path went down to the creek by the side of the garden. It was obviously a favorite spot to sit in and enjoy the garden and peacefulness of the water gently flowing under the overhang of the trees. The owner was greeting visitors and we got to chatting and had a very interesting conversation on lots of subjects. She seemed vaguely familiar and I mentioned that to her. She smiled and she told me she was a reporter. I didn't want to pry, since this event was about gardens, and went off to look around her garden. It then dawned on me she was Kate Adie, one of the earliest women BBC news correspondents covering wars and incidents all over the world! For years I have listened to her reports, mostly on the radio while I was in the US, sometimes on TV in England. I had always admired her reporting style, which was even and factual, even though she was often in the thick of battle.
On the coach going back, someone mentioned to me that the Cardiff Singers of the World was on TV that night. I watched it on IPlayer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some really fine singers. Also shown, was a conversation between Kiri Te Kanawa, who is now the presenter for the Cardiff singers of the World and Kate Adie! It must have been pre-recorded as Kate was happily ensconced in her garden at that time! I wish I had known about her conversation with Kiri, as she must at some time net my cousin Stuart (Meryl's dad) who started that competition years ago in Cardiff and sang often with Kiri. Such a small world!
June 22 Music and friends
Another opportunity to play chamber music, the Mozart String trio in Eb, K563. What a masterpiece and a challenge.
June 23 - To Rome
One of the bonuses Britain provides is excellent public transportation in spite of the grumblings by the locals. That is not to say there are problems, especially for commuters. The route to London from Salisbury has frequent trains networking with other stations, so it is quite easy to get anywhere in Britain. Some trains are fast, some local, stopping at all stations. In the 1960's there was a huge culling of train stations by the then Transport minster, Beeching, which caused a lot of difficulties for passengers throughout the country. It wouldn't surprise me if some of those stations will be reopened, especially ones in the countryside, as the population has grown so much, the car situation is dire, petrol is very expensive, and parking is a nightmare. Several organizations have been able to raise funds, such as Templecombe, to open some of the closed stations, and hopefully more and more will be as well. Today's journey was a fast train to Clapham Junction, the largest junction in the country changing for Gatwick for a BA flight to Rome. BA allows one free bag in the hold plus a carry-on, so life was good. Easy flight, going from 45 degrees in the UK to around 80 in Rome. Zoe has grown since May and no clothes fit. So it's clothes shopping for her birthday!
June 24. Walkabouts
Dan and I tried another visit to the scary church, Santa Maria della Concezione, and found it was open. A fine group of musicians, singers and instrumentalists, were rehearsing for an early music concert that evening. We listened to them for some time, another church with great acoustics, and the music was ethereal. We would have liked to have gone down to the Crypt, but did not want to disturb the rehearsal looking for someone to take us. I looked up the church's information it and discovered the scary part. Below the church is a small crypt which holds the bones and skulls of some 4,000 Capuchin monks. The skulls and bones are arranged in odd decorative designs and a sign proclaims " What you are, we once were. What we are, you someday will be". Perhaps by not going we avoided having nightmares.
June 25 - Another unexpected event in Rome
During my visit in May, I went to the poet Keats apartment, next to the Spanish Steps, one of my favorite places to hang out. In the museum there was a notice of the cemetery where he was buried. It is called the Non-Catholic, sometimes the Protestant Cemetery, however, all faiths are represented there, and has been the burial ground since around 1716, for all non-Catholics who have died in Rome. This interested me, so I decided to visit it.
I had my trusty card of the Cemetery from the Rome box of walks, but had forgotten to bring the street map to tell me where I was in relation to the cemetery. A lady was getting off the bus at the same time, so I asked her in which direction was the cemetery. She walked with me along a street and pointed out the cemetery further down. There was no sign for the Non-Catholic cemetery, instead I found myself at the British Commission of War Graves and the Commonwealth Cemetery in Rome. A beautifully kept, peaceful place for families to come and remember their loved ones who lost their lives in the 1939-45 World War. I was grateful to stay awhile thinking about the young men, some 18 years old, whose lives ended so early, and how fortunate my father was to have survived the North Africa campaign. If my guide from the bus had not taken me on a roundabout route, I would not have come across it.
As I was leaving, one of the gardeners pointed to very high wall across the street which was the back of the Non-Catholic cemetery! The walls surround the property and I had to walk around almost the whole block to find the entrance.
The Non-Catholic Cemetery, considered the prettiest in Rome, is not large and has two adjoining sections, the Old Part (Parti Antica) and the Modern part. The Parti Antica doesn't have a lot of graves, but with its lawns, trees and garden seats, it's a peaceful place to sit in the shade on a hot Roman day. It is surprisingly quiet considering it's in the middle of several very noisy thoroughfares. There are many British buried throughout the cemetery, probably due to the fact that the British penchant for centuries of traveling took them all over the world. So many came through Italy, and to Rome especially, some to work and make it their home, and died there, young bloods on the Grand Tour, who may have come to grief for various reasons, like Shelley by a boating accident at the age of 29, and of course, there was always sickness. There are people buried there from many other countries, one I found interesting, a grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Keats is buried in the Old Part, he did not want his name on on his gravestone, instead is written “Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.” Next to Keats' tombstone is the grave of his close friend Joseph Severn who died 50 years later and had Keats' name added on his own gravestone. Also in that plot is a third small gravestone where Severn's young son is buried. On a wall nearby, there is a memorial plaque to Keats, again no name, but quietly added are 5 lines of text, each line beginning with a letter of his name. Shelley is also buried in the Old Part.
June 27 - Zoe's 7th Birthday.
Onto a happier day, Zoe's is 7! She opted for a quieter birthday, no raucous partying, as it was going to be a long day. After opening presents and cards we had a pancake breakfast, then collected Zoe's camper friend who lives not far from the flat. We took a taxi to the humongous shopping center east of Rome, as otherwise it would have taken 2 buses and the metro to get there on a busy, hot Saturday. Another friend arrived with her mother, and we all had a pizza lunch together. The girls went off to enjoy the dinosaur exhibition and kids' playground until it was time for their workshop, making a dinosaur tooth! They enjoyed the process very much, and were very pleased with the results.
Back to the apartment for the birthday cake, actually a strawberry tart with a cream base, given to us by the neighbor's daughter who is a professional pastry chef. She has been providing delicious goodies to the family since they arrived.
The grand finale of the birthday girl's special day was attending a performance by the Rome Opera ballet with music from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It was magical in the Caracalla Baths where last year we saw the Tokyo Ballet. The moon was out and Zoe said she could see the dark side of it!The first piece was a classical pas de deux with Mahler's Das Lied von de Erde. It was exquisite. The two soloists had great rapport in the flowing lines of the movements.The mood then changed with all the Pink Floyd selections which I enjoyed very much, except for the one with the the laser beams rotating very fast. Hard on the eyes. The energy, stamina and flexibility of the troupe was outstanding, as were their coordination routines.
June 28 - Sunday, a day of rest
June 29 - A good day of exploring new venues. After a breakfast of cappuccino and pastry, Dan and I went off to the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele 11, Mussolini's extravaganza (aka "the Wedding Cake"). Although it was already very hot, we took the elevator to the top, to see the view of Rome from the roof, and it was breath taking! The whole of Rome lies below and I immediately got a better sense of the layout of the city. If anyone asks you what to look at in Rome tell them this should be the first place to go to get the view from the top of that building.
From there we went to get some sandwiches and sat in the park nearby shaded by the pines of Rome. In spite of lots of tourists and traffic, it was a peaceful place for a lunch break. After lunch we went to the Museum Capitaline, the city's largest Roman museum. That's saying something when there's a museum on practically every corner. Dan had been wanting to go there and the chance came up this week. I wish I had had a pedometer for the number of steps I climbed that day, but thankful I was fit enough to do so! No way can I describe or tell about the thousands of objects, so here is the website. www.m.Capitoline.org. You won't believe the size of the horse and soldier statues!
One of the bonuses Britain provides is excellent public transportation in spite of the grumblings by the locals. That is not to say there are problems, especially for commuters. The route to London from Salisbury has frequent trains networking with other stations, so it is quite easy to get anywhere in Britain. Some trains are fast, some local, stopping at all stations. In the 1960's there was a huge culling of train stations by the then Transport minster, Beeching, which caused a lot of difficulties for passengers throughout the country. It wouldn't surprise me if some of those stations will be reopened, especially ones in the countryside, as the population has grown so much, the car situation is dire, petrol is very expensive, and parking is a nightmare. Several organizations have been able to raise funds, such as Templecombe, to open some of the closed stations, and hopefully more and more will be as well. Today's journey was a fast train to Clapham Junction, the largest junction in the country changing for Gatwick for a BA flight to Rome. BA allows one free bag in the hold plus a carry-on, so life was good. Easy flight, going from 45 degrees in the UK to around 80 in Rome. Zoe has grown since May and no clothes fit. So it's clothes shopping for her birthday!
June 24. Walkabouts
Dan and I tried another visit to the scary church, Santa Maria della Concezione, and found it was open. A fine group of musicians, singers and instrumentalists, were rehearsing for an early music concert that evening. We listened to them for some time, another church with great acoustics, and the music was ethereal. We would have liked to have gone down to the Crypt, but did not want to disturb the rehearsal looking for someone to take us. I looked up the church's information it and discovered the scary part. Below the church is a small crypt which holds the bones and skulls of some 4,000 Capuchin monks. The skulls and bones are arranged in odd decorative designs and a sign proclaims " What you are, we once were. What we are, you someday will be". Perhaps by not going we avoided having nightmares.
June 25 - Another unexpected event in Rome
During my visit in May, I went to the poet Keats apartment, next to the Spanish Steps, one of my favorite places to hang out. In the museum there was a notice of the cemetery where he was buried. It is called the Non-Catholic, sometimes the Protestant Cemetery, however, all faiths are represented there, and has been the burial ground since around 1716, for all non-Catholics who have died in Rome. This interested me, so I decided to visit it.
I had my trusty card of the Cemetery from the Rome box of walks, but had forgotten to bring the street map to tell me where I was in relation to the cemetery. A lady was getting off the bus at the same time, so I asked her in which direction was the cemetery. She walked with me along a street and pointed out the cemetery further down. There was no sign for the Non-Catholic cemetery, instead I found myself at the British Commission of War Graves and the Commonwealth Cemetery in Rome. A beautifully kept, peaceful place for families to come and remember their loved ones who lost their lives in the 1939-45 World War. I was grateful to stay awhile thinking about the young men, some 18 years old, whose lives ended so early, and how fortunate my father was to have survived the North Africa campaign. If my guide from the bus had not taken me on a roundabout route, I would not have come across it.
As I was leaving, one of the gardeners pointed to very high wall across the street which was the back of the Non-Catholic cemetery! The walls surround the property and I had to walk around almost the whole block to find the entrance.
The Non-Catholic Cemetery, considered the prettiest in Rome, is not large and has two adjoining sections, the Old Part (Parti Antica) and the Modern part. The Parti Antica doesn't have a lot of graves, but with its lawns, trees and garden seats, it's a peaceful place to sit in the shade on a hot Roman day. It is surprisingly quiet considering it's in the middle of several very noisy thoroughfares. There are many British buried throughout the cemetery, probably due to the fact that the British penchant for centuries of traveling took them all over the world. So many came through Italy, and to Rome especially, some to work and make it their home, and died there, young bloods on the Grand Tour, who may have come to grief for various reasons, like Shelley by a boating accident at the age of 29, and of course, there was always sickness. There are people buried there from many other countries, one I found interesting, a grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Keats is buried in the Old Part, he did not want his name on on his gravestone, instead is written “Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.” Next to Keats' tombstone is the grave of his close friend Joseph Severn who died 50 years later and had Keats' name added on his own gravestone. Also in that plot is a third small gravestone where Severn's young son is buried. On a wall nearby, there is a memorial plaque to Keats, again no name, but quietly added are 5 lines of text, each line beginning with a letter of his name. Shelley is also buried in the Old Part.
June 27 - Zoe's 7th Birthday.
Onto a happier day, Zoe's is 7! She opted for a quieter birthday, no raucous partying, as it was going to be a long day. After opening presents and cards we had a pancake breakfast, then collected Zoe's camper friend who lives not far from the flat. We took a taxi to the humongous shopping center east of Rome, as otherwise it would have taken 2 buses and the metro to get there on a busy, hot Saturday. Another friend arrived with her mother, and we all had a pizza lunch together. The girls went off to enjoy the dinosaur exhibition and kids' playground until it was time for their workshop, making a dinosaur tooth! They enjoyed the process very much, and were very pleased with the results.
Back to the apartment for the birthday cake, actually a strawberry tart with a cream base, given to us by the neighbor's daughter who is a professional pastry chef. She has been providing delicious goodies to the family since they arrived.
The grand finale of the birthday girl's special day was attending a performance by the Rome Opera ballet with music from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It was magical in the Caracalla Baths where last year we saw the Tokyo Ballet. The moon was out and Zoe said she could see the dark side of it!The first piece was a classical pas de deux with Mahler's Das Lied von de Erde. It was exquisite. The two soloists had great rapport in the flowing lines of the movements.The mood then changed with all the Pink Floyd selections which I enjoyed very much, except for the one with the the laser beams rotating very fast. Hard on the eyes. The energy, stamina and flexibility of the troupe was outstanding, as were their coordination routines.
June 28 - Sunday, a day of rest
June 29 - A good day of exploring new venues. After a breakfast of cappuccino and pastry, Dan and I went off to the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele 11, Mussolini's extravaganza (aka "the Wedding Cake"). Although it was already very hot, we took the elevator to the top, to see the view of Rome from the roof, and it was breath taking! The whole of Rome lies below and I immediately got a better sense of the layout of the city. If anyone asks you what to look at in Rome tell them this should be the first place to go to get the view from the top of that building.
From there we went to get some sandwiches and sat in the park nearby shaded by the pines of Rome. In spite of lots of tourists and traffic, it was a peaceful place for a lunch break. After lunch we went to the Museum Capitaline, the city's largest Roman museum. That's saying something when there's a museum on practically every corner. Dan had been wanting to go there and the chance came up this week. I wish I had had a pedometer for the number of steps I climbed that day, but thankful I was fit enough to do so! No way can I describe or tell about the thousands of objects, so here is the website. www.m.Capitoline.org. You won't believe the size of the horse and soldier statues!
June 30 - Off on a short trip to Milan and Venice.
Dan, Zoe and I took the bullet train from Rome to Milan, at 285km/hour. Fields and fields of yellow sunflowers, the terrain getting flatter away from the mountains. It was so much easier than taking a car. Milan Centrale is considered to be one of the most beautiful train stations in Europe. Building started in 1906, finishing in 1931. It has a magnificent edifice, the Piazza in front of it was where the old 1864 station was. Our hotel was a short walk away on a side street. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe and went on an emergency shopping spree for new shoes for Zoe, as her old ones fell apart with all the walking she does. As we were in the main shopping street anyway, there anyway, she also got a dress, some shorts and a top. Thankfully she wasn't a teenager, she would have spent the whole trip admiring the incredible dress shops and bankrupting her parents.
On to La Scala. So tempting to buy a tout ticket to that evening's performance of Tosca, but just not feasible time wise. Goose pimples going through the museum seeing memorabilia of all the greats in the golden years of Italian opera. It was an awe-inspiring moment standing in one of the boxes overlooking the stage knowing that Cousin Stuart had sung there.
From La Scala, we crossed the piazza and walked in to the Galleria, one of the world's oldest shopping malls. It connects two of Milan's most famous landmarks, the Duomo and the Teatro Alla Scala, but the Galleria is a landmark in its own right. Housed within a four-story double arcade in central Milan, the is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.
The structure consists of two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala and the central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome. When finished it was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades and malls.
On the ground of the central octagonal, there are four mosaics portraying the coat of arms of the capitals of the Kingdom of Italy - Turin, Florence, Rome, and Milan. Tradition says that if a person spins around three times with a heel on the testicles of the bull on the mosaic of the Turin coat of arms, this will bring good luck. This practice has caused damage to the mosaic, and a hole has developed in the place of the bull's genitals. In 2013 the Galleria went really upmarket. They got rid of McDonalds and instead put in a second Prada store.
The Galleria, nicknamed "il salotto di Milano" (Milan's drawing room), the place to watch and be watched, is famous for being home to some of the oldest shops and restaurants in Milan, such as the Biffi Caffè (founded in 1867 by Paolo Biffi, pastry chef to the monarch) where we kept up the glamour in our best touristy outfits with a cappuccino and cookies. At least Zoe had some Milano sandals.
Dan, Zoe and I took the bullet train from Rome to Milan, at 285km/hour. Fields and fields of yellow sunflowers, the terrain getting flatter away from the mountains. It was so much easier than taking a car. Milan Centrale is considered to be one of the most beautiful train stations in Europe. Building started in 1906, finishing in 1931. It has a magnificent edifice, the Piazza in front of it was where the old 1864 station was. Our hotel was a short walk away on a side street. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe and went on an emergency shopping spree for new shoes for Zoe, as her old ones fell apart with all the walking she does. As we were in the main shopping street anyway, there anyway, she also got a dress, some shorts and a top. Thankfully she wasn't a teenager, she would have spent the whole trip admiring the incredible dress shops and bankrupting her parents.
On to La Scala. So tempting to buy a tout ticket to that evening's performance of Tosca, but just not feasible time wise. Goose pimples going through the museum seeing memorabilia of all the greats in the golden years of Italian opera. It was an awe-inspiring moment standing in one of the boxes overlooking the stage knowing that Cousin Stuart had sung there.
From La Scala, we crossed the piazza and walked in to the Galleria, one of the world's oldest shopping malls. It connects two of Milan's most famous landmarks, the Duomo and the Teatro Alla Scala, but the Galleria is a landmark in its own right. Housed within a four-story double arcade in central Milan, the is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.
The structure consists of two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala and the central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome. When finished it was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades and malls.
On the ground of the central octagonal, there are four mosaics portraying the coat of arms of the capitals of the Kingdom of Italy - Turin, Florence, Rome, and Milan. Tradition says that if a person spins around three times with a heel on the testicles of the bull on the mosaic of the Turin coat of arms, this will bring good luck. This practice has caused damage to the mosaic, and a hole has developed in the place of the bull's genitals. In 2013 the Galleria went really upmarket. They got rid of McDonalds and instead put in a second Prada store.
The Galleria, nicknamed "il salotto di Milano" (Milan's drawing room), the place to watch and be watched, is famous for being home to some of the oldest shops and restaurants in Milan, such as the Biffi Caffè (founded in 1867 by Paolo Biffi, pastry chef to the monarch) where we kept up the glamour in our best touristy outfits with a cappuccino and cookies. At least Zoe had some Milano sandals.
chapter 11 - july
July 1- Milan train to Venice
Not a bullet train for this section, but a good local one giving us a pleasant journey towards the sea with the mountains behind us. We arrived in the afternoon and it was a beautiful sight seeing the expanse of water in front of us as the train traveled towards Venice. On exiting the station the view of the curved bridge over Grand Canal was quite impressive. To get to our hotel, the Carlton Capri which was nearby, we walked over the bridge and alongside the canal, looking for the short narrow alleyway, which in turn opened on to a quiet piazza in front of the hotel. After settling in we took a vaporetto (water bus) along the Grand Canal to the Piazza San Marco. I loved being on the boat, and could have spent a whole day on them, going up and down the canals. From my first visit at the age of 9, I remembered the church and the square with the tables and chairs outside the shops, but not the bell tower or the Doges Palace looking over onto the water where the vaporettos gather. I do however remember vignettes of Venice, especially a little shop where the glass was blown. There were so many dazzling pieces of glass ornaments and objects. That's probably the moment when I recognised beauty and it's been with me all my life. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go into the church of San Marco, but I was mostly sorry not to have seen the clock striking which I had remembered from my first visit. In 1493, the Venetian Republic commissioned Giovan Paolo Rainieri to make a clock movement. He had already constructed clocks in his home town of Reggio Emilia in 1481. Construction of the tower started in 1496, and by December 1497 the great bell had been completed by Simone Camponato and installed on the top, with the two bronze figures of shepherds, each 2.5m high, who hit the bell with hammers. These figures are referred to as Moors because of the dark colour of the bronze patina. Paolo died in 1498 and his son Gian Carlo completed the work.
The clock was inaugurated on February 1, 1497. Driven by weights, the clock controlled both the bell-ringing shepherds on the tower, who would have rung the bell between 1 and 24 times to sound the Italian hours, and a carousel which showed the procession of the Magi, preceded by an angel blowing a trumpet.
The dial was a concentric-ring astronomical clock similar to the Padua clock of 1434, rather than the astrolabe type with offset zodiac dial, as found at Prague. The 24 hours of the day were marked, in Roman numerals, around the edge, with I at the right-hand side, and marked Italian hours. The relative positions of five planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury) were shown, as were the moon's phases and the position of the Sun in the zodiac. The four circular windows around the dial may have contained astrolabe-type devices or orreries (apparatus for representing the positions,motions and phases of the planets in the solar system).
The Venetian Government paid Raineri and his family to live in the Clock Tower and maintain the clock in good order. He was the first clock-keeper or 'temperatore', and this post continued to be filled, often by different generations of the same family, until 1998. Repairs and restorations have been frequent. In 1550 there were accusations that some of the gears had been stolen and sold.
I was pleased to hear various groups of musicians playing outside the restaurants surrounding the square. I don't know if they had groups on my first visit, but perhaps if they did, they also left a mark on my unconscious self. We explored the little streets surrounding the square, but there was not much time before going to the show "Venezia" at the Teatro San Gallo, not far off the Piazza San Marco. I recommend this for anyone who does not know much about Venice's history and doesn't have a lot of time to brush up on it. In English, this one and a half hour show packed 1500 years of its history, all you wanted to know about Venice. It is a comedy style theatre show with typical dry British humour. Think historical pantomime.The documentary prior to the show, as told by the narrator, gave the basic story of the history, traditions and a few scandals of Venice. Certain incidents were acted out, some scary, as in the lightening and stormy scene and the plague episode, others making fun of the annual carnival and dressing up. There is some crowd interaction and being a small theatre you feel very much involved. Zoe had her moments of laughing hilariously and then scuttling to sit on her Dad's lap in the scary bits. An excellent way to start off a visit in Venice.
July 2 – Synagogue, Murano Island, Gondola Ride, train to Rome.
After a varied and plentiful breakfast at the hotel, on our way to Piazza San Marco to catch the water bus to Murano Island, we walked around the Cannaregio district where the Jewish quarter is located. There are several small synagogues within a museum. It's a not a large area, with few shops. To get to San Marco, we walked over the arched bridges of the canals, and passing the Doges Palazzo, caught the vaporetto to Murano. It was an exciting ride being on the sea with the wind blowing, cooling down the heat, looking at all the boats around us in the shipping lanes and stopping at various stations before Murano. I did not have a memory of arriving in Venice from the ship we had come on from Africa. We may have arrived in Trieste then taken a train to Venice.
We had decided to have a picnic lunch and bought our sandwiches from a little supermarket, planning to eat in the shade, but no luck. There were notices all around the streets, saying no picnicking. I guess they wanted people to eat in the restaurants. Fair enough, but sometimes for time or economy, tourists want to picnic and enjoy the ambience around them. Instead, we decided to go to the Glass Museum housed in a former palazzo, off the main waterway. It's not large, but several exhibition rooms were filled with examples of glass from the 1500s to the present day. In one room there was an exquisite table setting of a garden, with all the walls, doors and furniture in clear glass, set on a huge dining table, the way it would have been for a very elaborate dinner party. The table would have had to be at least twice the size of the one it was on now, to accommodate the place settings as well. All the items were so delicately made, it's incredible that the arrangement could have lasted this long. The museum is one where one wants to return again and again to savor the beauty of the objects. Eventually we had our lunch when we slipped into the gardens and sat on a slate wall under a tree. It was probably not allowed, but we did see one other person eating her lunch, probably a staff person, and no-one accosted us. We had to watch the time, as before getting back on the vaporetto, I had to pick up the little glass paperweights which I had seen in a shop. I wanted rather a lot of them and the owner didn't have that many in the shop, but told me she would have them within an hour. On leaving the museum, we returned to the shop, the paperweights were there, and the shop owner lovingly packaged them up for me so they would be safe for the long journey home. It was a memorable outing never to be forgotten.
Before catching the train back to Rome, Dan wanted to treat us to a gondola ride, which was something I have always wanted to do. When I was with Mum, we used the water buses, and never got to ride in one. After packing up our luggage, we found a gondola station near our hotel, quite a fancy one I could see, and we took a half hour tour of the canals.
There was great feeling of relaxation and slow pace going through the little canals (no, we didn't have a singing gondolier) and then the excitement of going along the Grand Canal which is so busy. Much worse than Manhattan traffic, all different types of boats jostling for space. I'm not sure if canals have rules of the road, if so, not much attention is given to them. Quite Italian and a thrilling experience. Thank you, Dan.
Immediately after that, we had to pick up our bags from the hotel and get to the station for the bullet train to Rome. It took longer than expected as there was a delay along the line, so we didn't get back to the apartment until quite late. A whirlwind trip, but so exhilarating!
Not a bullet train for this section, but a good local one giving us a pleasant journey towards the sea with the mountains behind us. We arrived in the afternoon and it was a beautiful sight seeing the expanse of water in front of us as the train traveled towards Venice. On exiting the station the view of the curved bridge over Grand Canal was quite impressive. To get to our hotel, the Carlton Capri which was nearby, we walked over the bridge and alongside the canal, looking for the short narrow alleyway, which in turn opened on to a quiet piazza in front of the hotel. After settling in we took a vaporetto (water bus) along the Grand Canal to the Piazza San Marco. I loved being on the boat, and could have spent a whole day on them, going up and down the canals. From my first visit at the age of 9, I remembered the church and the square with the tables and chairs outside the shops, but not the bell tower or the Doges Palace looking over onto the water where the vaporettos gather. I do however remember vignettes of Venice, especially a little shop where the glass was blown. There were so many dazzling pieces of glass ornaments and objects. That's probably the moment when I recognised beauty and it's been with me all my life. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go into the church of San Marco, but I was mostly sorry not to have seen the clock striking which I had remembered from my first visit. In 1493, the Venetian Republic commissioned Giovan Paolo Rainieri to make a clock movement. He had already constructed clocks in his home town of Reggio Emilia in 1481. Construction of the tower started in 1496, and by December 1497 the great bell had been completed by Simone Camponato and installed on the top, with the two bronze figures of shepherds, each 2.5m high, who hit the bell with hammers. These figures are referred to as Moors because of the dark colour of the bronze patina. Paolo died in 1498 and his son Gian Carlo completed the work.
The clock was inaugurated on February 1, 1497. Driven by weights, the clock controlled both the bell-ringing shepherds on the tower, who would have rung the bell between 1 and 24 times to sound the Italian hours, and a carousel which showed the procession of the Magi, preceded by an angel blowing a trumpet.
The dial was a concentric-ring astronomical clock similar to the Padua clock of 1434, rather than the astrolabe type with offset zodiac dial, as found at Prague. The 24 hours of the day were marked, in Roman numerals, around the edge, with I at the right-hand side, and marked Italian hours. The relative positions of five planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury) were shown, as were the moon's phases and the position of the Sun in the zodiac. The four circular windows around the dial may have contained astrolabe-type devices or orreries (apparatus for representing the positions,motions and phases of the planets in the solar system).
The Venetian Government paid Raineri and his family to live in the Clock Tower and maintain the clock in good order. He was the first clock-keeper or 'temperatore', and this post continued to be filled, often by different generations of the same family, until 1998. Repairs and restorations have been frequent. In 1550 there were accusations that some of the gears had been stolen and sold.
I was pleased to hear various groups of musicians playing outside the restaurants surrounding the square. I don't know if they had groups on my first visit, but perhaps if they did, they also left a mark on my unconscious self. We explored the little streets surrounding the square, but there was not much time before going to the show "Venezia" at the Teatro San Gallo, not far off the Piazza San Marco. I recommend this for anyone who does not know much about Venice's history and doesn't have a lot of time to brush up on it. In English, this one and a half hour show packed 1500 years of its history, all you wanted to know about Venice. It is a comedy style theatre show with typical dry British humour. Think historical pantomime.The documentary prior to the show, as told by the narrator, gave the basic story of the history, traditions and a few scandals of Venice. Certain incidents were acted out, some scary, as in the lightening and stormy scene and the plague episode, others making fun of the annual carnival and dressing up. There is some crowd interaction and being a small theatre you feel very much involved. Zoe had her moments of laughing hilariously and then scuttling to sit on her Dad's lap in the scary bits. An excellent way to start off a visit in Venice.
July 2 – Synagogue, Murano Island, Gondola Ride, train to Rome.
After a varied and plentiful breakfast at the hotel, on our way to Piazza San Marco to catch the water bus to Murano Island, we walked around the Cannaregio district where the Jewish quarter is located. There are several small synagogues within a museum. It's a not a large area, with few shops. To get to San Marco, we walked over the arched bridges of the canals, and passing the Doges Palazzo, caught the vaporetto to Murano. It was an exciting ride being on the sea with the wind blowing, cooling down the heat, looking at all the boats around us in the shipping lanes and stopping at various stations before Murano. I did not have a memory of arriving in Venice from the ship we had come on from Africa. We may have arrived in Trieste then taken a train to Venice.
We had decided to have a picnic lunch and bought our sandwiches from a little supermarket, planning to eat in the shade, but no luck. There were notices all around the streets, saying no picnicking. I guess they wanted people to eat in the restaurants. Fair enough, but sometimes for time or economy, tourists want to picnic and enjoy the ambience around them. Instead, we decided to go to the Glass Museum housed in a former palazzo, off the main waterway. It's not large, but several exhibition rooms were filled with examples of glass from the 1500s to the present day. In one room there was an exquisite table setting of a garden, with all the walls, doors and furniture in clear glass, set on a huge dining table, the way it would have been for a very elaborate dinner party. The table would have had to be at least twice the size of the one it was on now, to accommodate the place settings as well. All the items were so delicately made, it's incredible that the arrangement could have lasted this long. The museum is one where one wants to return again and again to savor the beauty of the objects. Eventually we had our lunch when we slipped into the gardens and sat on a slate wall under a tree. It was probably not allowed, but we did see one other person eating her lunch, probably a staff person, and no-one accosted us. We had to watch the time, as before getting back on the vaporetto, I had to pick up the little glass paperweights which I had seen in a shop. I wanted rather a lot of them and the owner didn't have that many in the shop, but told me she would have them within an hour. On leaving the museum, we returned to the shop, the paperweights were there, and the shop owner lovingly packaged them up for me so they would be safe for the long journey home. It was a memorable outing never to be forgotten.
Before catching the train back to Rome, Dan wanted to treat us to a gondola ride, which was something I have always wanted to do. When I was with Mum, we used the water buses, and never got to ride in one. After packing up our luggage, we found a gondola station near our hotel, quite a fancy one I could see, and we took a half hour tour of the canals.
There was great feeling of relaxation and slow pace going through the little canals (no, we didn't have a singing gondolier) and then the excitement of going along the Grand Canal which is so busy. Much worse than Manhattan traffic, all different types of boats jostling for space. I'm not sure if canals have rules of the road, if so, not much attention is given to them. Quite Italian and a thrilling experience. Thank you, Dan.
Immediately after that, we had to pick up our bags from the hotel and get to the station for the bullet train to Rome. It took longer than expected as there was a delay along the line, so we didn't get back to the apartment until quite late. A whirlwind trip, but so exhilarating!
July 3- Will this be my last dinner ever in Rome?
I was actually scheduled to leave on this date, but my flight to Budapest was cancelled, and I could only get another one on the next day, July 4th. This gave me one more day in Rome to wonder if I ever would get back there again now the family is moving back to the US. Apart from packing, I walked around favorite spots, taking pictures on the IPhone and in my head to remember the feel and life of Rome. A sad day, I feel quite at home there now, I just need to work on my vocabulary.
In the evening we were invited to dinner by the grandmother of one of Zoe's friends. Karol hails from Key West,USA but spends her summers in her tiny flat in Rome, owing to her love affair with the city since she was a teenager. She's a marvelous cook, having run a seafood restaurant in Key West for years and loves to cook for friends. Her dinners have many courses, a mixture of Italian and American cuisine. The dining room table top is a pure slab of decorated marble and is breathtakingly beautiful. I will miss the combination of exquisite baroque and modern innovative ideas that Italy lives with. Never a dull moment.
It was a perfect way to end my last stay in Rome with the family. Very, very sad. It's been such a wonderful few years traveling around with them in much loved places.- Nairobi, South Africa, Israel, Italy and England. My travel bug has gorged itself.
July 4- Flight from Rome to Budapest
A sorrowful awakening this morning. Dan and I had a last lunch and cappuccino together at our favorite cafe before I got on the bus to Fumicino. No problems with this flight on Wizz, which is I think, a UK budget carrier. My cancelled flight was on Iberia. It was a sad departure, but during the one and a half hour flight, I began to look forward to the four days with my niece in Budapest. Since I was already in Rome, it was just a skip and hop to join Maggie in Budapest, and I jumped at the opportunity. This was a very special trip for us all, as her younger son was in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra which was on tour to Vienna and Budapest. Maggie had done her homework and found a small flat in an apartment building convenient to the Castle. The owner conveniently acted as a taxi driver, taking us back and forth to the airport, making that part easy. On arrival, Maggie and Tamas met me at the airport, and after getting settled in the flat, we walked over to the hotel where the orchestra was staying. They had just arrived from Vienna, but we were able to see her son for a few minutes. Our flat owner had recommended a restaurant with outdoor seating for dinner, since it was a lovely evening. I thought it would be cooler than Rome, but in actual fact, the four days we were there, were quite a bit hotter. The restaurant was busy and we didn't have a reservation, but the hostess told us we could sit on the bar stools and when a table came free we could have it. We ordered drinks and were chatting away, when I noticed Maggie's eyes widening, and she whispered "Tom Hanks has just walked in with his wife and another couple". I had my back to him and didn't want to be rude and turn around, everyone was very quiet and calm. In any case, when I did, I did not recognize him with his hat and sunglasses on. Soon afterwards we were given a table right across from him and his party, so we were able to see every morsel they ate! They were enjoying their dinner and apart from the young waitress who got a selfie, nobody bothered them. The whole episode was quite low key. It was only when they left that one realizes what a well-oiled plan they have in place with their minders. When finished, the party got up and were immediately ushered to a black Range Rover parked a few feet away on the street, and were off in a matter of a few minutes. No hanging around, no screaming fans, no autographs as far as I could see. Just recently, I read an article about a movie "Inferno" coming out soon with Tom Hanks, and gathered he was in Budapest filming it.
July 5- Buda Castle Hill, Hospital in the Rock. MYSO Concert
We were up early the next morning, wanting to get as much sightseeing done before the sun got too hot. I missed Rome's water fountains everywhere, although we did find a few here and there to refill the bottles. From the apartment it was just a few minutes walk up a very steep set of steps to the Castle grounds. The view is quite wondrous from the square overlooking the Danube which goes north to south, and the two cities, Pest on the East and Buda on the West of the river, which snakes between the two cities and can be blue or silver, depending on the time of day. People living in Buda keep fit with all the walking and climbing. It is a hilly area and very difficult for cars and public transportation to negotiate the winding narrow streets wending their way up into the hills. There is a funicular on the Danube side, the world's second. Until 1928, it was the only way to access the Palace in the Castle area which occupies a huge tract of land on top of the hill. There are three sections, the Palace, the Square and the historical residential quarter. We were only able to walk around small part of it, it would take days to visit all the museums and church, and certainly not in that heat. We had lunch under the trees in a little park next to some of the stalls selling sandwiches, drinks and ice cream. It was a break before we made our way down the steps to the road where the Hospital in the Rock is situated. We were urged to visit it, and I'm glad we did. I knew nothing about Hungary or Budapest and even in the few days we were there, I learnt many snippets of its history. The Hospital in the Rock was created in the caverns underneath the Buda Castle in the 1930s in preparation for the Second World War. People born after 1945 in Europe and Britain have no idea of what it was like to live in that wartime, and how much suffering and difficulties in daily life people had to endure. Visiting the Hospital showed just how good people can make miracles under unbelievable circumstances. Centuries before a tunnel system was created and from the Hospital tunnels, manual workers linked them to the main tunnel system. The most challenging period for the hospital was the 1944-45 siege of Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, when the city was encircled for 50 days by the Soviet Red Army and the Romanian Army. Around 40,000 people died and 62,000 captured (including wounded). During that time, the wounded were brought in to the hospital and treated, the dead were taken out at night and buried in bomb craters. As the siege wore on, the hospital which was designed to treat 60-70 people, was treating up to 600 wounded soldiers. Supplies were being recycled from the dead and sterilized before reuse. Food was scarce and eventually horses were brought in and killed for the facility. The city surrendered on Feb. 13, 1945. It was a strategic victory for the Allies in their push towards Berlin.
The Hospital is now a museum with lifelike waxwork recreations of hospital treatments and day-to-day scenarios during the siege. Another section tells the story of the fear of Soviet nuclear bombing, and shows the nuclear bunker dedicated in response to the uprising against the Soviet rule, and to keeping 200 doctors and nurses safe and available to treat the wounded. Fortunately no-one ever had to live in the bunker except for a caretaker and his wife. As we know now, it wouldn't have been much use.
We somberly walked back down to the flat to get changed for the big concert at the Palace of Arts. Being a Sunday we allowed plenty of time to get to the venue, as we wanted to have supper in the restaurant inside the auditorium before the concert. The Palace of Arts is on the Buda side of town, public transport was not easy to manage, but we did. The stop for the Auditorium was at the rear of the building and we were not sure if it was the right place. However, someone from the building showed us where the main entrance to the Bela Bartok Auditorium was. It is a splendid edifice with a fountain in front. The restaurant looked inviting, but found that it was closed to the public, as the orchestra had reserved it all for their dinner! There was a snack bar inside the auditorium, but by the time we got there, they were pretty much out of sandwiches, so it was a pathetic meal. It didn't matter, it was of no importance when so many other exciting things were happening. There was time to walk around outside, and we saw an intriguingly yellow brick-shaped building which I called the Beehive. It had an outdoor circular walkway that circled the building until it reached the top. The flat roof gave a good view over to the Palace of the Arts with the fountain and Auditorium. On a plaque at the beginning of the walkway was this description " Ziggurat is a Sumerian word meaning Highness. It is the meeting place of gods of heaven and earth. The Ziggurat is a kind of architecture (flower church, mountain church) that symbolises the earth".
Inside, the auditorium which has great acoustics is modern and very impressive. Our seats were excellent, high enough to look down on the orchestra and were near other American parents who either were chaperons, or had flown over for the event. There was quite a buzz of excitement in that section of seats. The audience began arriving and soon the place was well-filled. The concert was in two sections, the first played by the Milwaukee Youth Orchestra, the second by St. Stephen's Orchestra, Budapest's top Youth orchestra. The level of playing by both orchestras was phenomenal. The young people have so much drive and energy which was channeled by both orchestras into excellent musicianship. MYSO's program included the Dvorak "Carnival" Overture, Saint-Saen's "Havanaise" in E major, with violin soloist Frank Almond, Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony, who was mugged in the parking lot of the symphony building after a concert and had his Stradivarius stolen. Fortunately it was recovered and returned to him, but he now travels around with bodyguards. He played beautifully and the glorious Stradivarius sound was exquisite. Hopefully any damage was minimal. The first half ended with Lizst's "Les Preludes". For the second half of their performance they played the thrilling "Candide" Overture by L. Bernstein, with excitingly crisp rhythms, Aaron Copland's Suite from "The Tender Lands", ending with a Danzon by Arturo Marquez. It was quite an evening's workout, there were many outstanding solos by individuals, as well as the ensemble playing together.
July 6- Hop On-hop off tour bus.
It was a slow start to the day after the excitement of last night, so we decided get a 2-day ticket on the HopOn-HopOff bus to see as much of the city as we could. The ticket included two boat trips, day and evening, on the Danube. It worked out pretty well the first day. One tour guide was not customer friendly and we seemed to get her every time we got on a bus. We started on the Buda side with a winding bus ride up to the top of Gellert Hill where in 1854 the Hapsburgs built a fortress with the Statue of Liberty and Citadel. We got off to look at the extraordinary view from the top of the hill looking down to the Danube and across the city, then continued on the bus to cross over to the Pest side for the boat ride up the river to the Parliament. It is impressive to see the magnificent building from the river for the first time, and I'm glad we did that, as we didn't have time to visit the building itself. On the return trip, the other magnificent building on the top of the hill on the opposite side was the Castle. On the bus again, we rode around the city, until we got off at the New York Cafe. This is definitely a highlight for any visitor. The Cafe and four-story New York Palace were built by the New York Life Insurance Company in 1894 as a local head office. The Cafe was a longtime center for Hungarian literature and poetry from 1894 to 2001. The statues and other ornaments on the front side of the building, as well as the Cafe's 16 imposing devilish fauns, each one beside the cafe's sixteen windows, are the works of Károly Senyey. During the communist era the building was nationalized but after the collapse of socialism, it was bought by Italian Boscolo Hotels in 2001. The palace was then reconstructed into a luxury hotel, and renamed the Boscolo Budapest Hotel at its opening on May 5, 2006. It is now a very enjoyable place to spend an afternoon. There is music, a pianist rather than a string quartet, and it has a great atmosphere, in spite of us tourists who are woefully under-dressed for such opulent surroundings. That does not mean we do not appreciate the surroundings. Perhaps for dinner people dress up more. The food is beautifully presented with good china and proper napkins, the cakes were luscious, which Hungarian pastries are famous for being. How I would love to have been able to listen in on the writer's and poet's discussions. I feel I have really missed out on so much in life.
Onward to a walk to see the Dohany or Great Synagogue. It is among the top ten sights of Budapest, and is the second largest synagogue of the world, the first is the Temple Emanu-El in New York. It had to be constructed on an asymmetric lot in order to place the Ark looking East. Frigyes Feszl and Ludwig Förster created their masterpiece in the middle of a metropolis using the Oriental-Byzantine (Moorish) style influenced by Moslem architecture. The consecration of the synagogue was a major event on September 6, 1859. It can hold 3000 seated and approximately 2000 standing people. There is a small grassy area in front of the entrance, a good place to see the Moorish designs on the cream and brown curved openings. From there we went to the memorial site of the "The Shoes", a composition by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay unveiled in 2005, featuring 60 pairs of Bronze shoes commemorating a group of Jews who, during WW2, were forced to take their shoes off before being shot and pushed into the Danube. Shoes were in great demand at that time and the German and Hungarian Nazis were not going to let them rot in the river.
There is also a plaque in the area "To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by the Arrow Cross Militiamen in 1944-45." A sad ending to a most interesting day. It really puts things into perspective.
Crossing the bridge to the Buda side, we came to the Funicular and took it up to the castle. We walked through to square and then down the steps to the apartment.
July 7 – Our last full day. HOHO tour bus, St. Margaret’s Island
We popped up to the Castle square for a last look around and had lunch there. Such views! We got on the HoHo bus to go to St. Margaret's Island. It was a hot day and we were glad not to have to walk a lot. No such luck, the same tour guide from yesterday was on the bus, and although she was supposed to call out the places where the stops were, did not for St. Margaret's Island where we wanted to visit. We wondered where the stop was as we were going over the bridge with the island on our left, but no announcements were made, and then we saw we were getting further and further away from the island which was now behind us. I went up to the tour guide to ask her about getting off at the island, and she berated me for not telling her earlier. The the bus was supposed to stop automatically at each stop with the tour guide giving a description of the area and it took us a while to realize she was not doing her job. It was a very long hot walk to the island.
Originally named the Island of Rabbits, it had been a religious center, and from the 12th century the Knights of St. John settled on the island dominated by nunneries, churches and cloisters, until the 16th century. During the Ottoman wars the monks and nuns fled and the buildings were destroyed. In the 18th century it was chosen to be the resort of palatines (high-level officials attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times) and in 1908 was declared a public garden. Among the present historical monuments of the island are the 13th century ruins of a Franciscan church, a Dominican church and convent, as well as a Premonstratensian church, (a Roman Catholic religious order with canons following a strict form of canonical life, formed in the12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, there were some 1300 monasteries for men and 400 for women throughout western Europe). Members of the Augustinian order also lived on the island.
The Mongols had invaded and devastated his country, and in 1253 the king made a vow that if he could rebuild the country, he would send his daughter, the Princess Margaret, to a convent on the island. The Mongols left and King Béla was able to reorganize and rebuild the country. Faithful to his vow Béla sent the 11-year old Margaret to the Domenican convent he founded on the island. She is buried there and became a saint, and the island was named after her.
Today the island is a haven for city dwellers. Even nowadays, the island offers peace and tranquility once you get off the bridge. There are plenty of walkways, a running track, swimming pool, and colorful gardens to saunter through. We rented a golf cart to see the ruins of the convent, on the way there were lawns with masses of border flowers. Definitely a place to wander around and explore, but unfortunately time was running out for us.
Back to the bridge and going back to the Pest side, we caught the bus (a different tour guide, thank goodness) to the Central Market. We had been told that it was the best place for souvenirs. The building was designed and built by around 1897, During the World Wars it was completely damaged and then closed for some years. Throughout the 1990s restoration works brought back the market to its ancient splendour using colorful Zsolnay tiling from Pecs. The building was awarded with FIABCI Prix d’Excellence in 1999. It's a packed warehouse on three floors, on the ground floor the stalls offer produce, meats, pastries, candies, spices, and spirits. The second floor has mainly eateries and souvenirs.The basement contains butcher shops, fish market, and pickles. Since we were there for the souvenirs, we stayed on the second floor. We were told to look for the Hungarian-made items that are more authentic. Russian souvenirs tend to be "more Russian", but we wanted Hungarian which tend to be authentic. Looking for a good lunch place, one cafe caught our eyes and ears. To our delight there was a trio of musicians - violin, cimbalon and keyboard, in a corner serenading the diners. They were Hungarian musicians playing Czardas, quite phenomenal. I bought a CD and will try to put a link on the blog. I think the lunch was very good, some sort of sausage dish, but it could have been cardboard, as I was totally focused on the music. Actually, I do remember some sort of lemon ice tea which was delicious. Thank goodness we had done most of our shopping before lunch, otherwise there would not have been any gifts to take home, the music was too engrossing.
We had to leave, as we had signed up for a 2 hour free walk around the Jewish ghetto area. We had a very interesting guide who had a lot of information to impart, and telling the stories obviously meant much to him.
At the time of the outbreak of the war, there were about 200,000 Jews in Budapest. Until the German occupation in March, 1944, the Jewish community lived in relative comfort and security. After the German occupation, provincial Jews were systematically concentrated and deported. Under the Horthy regime, deportations of Jews were stopped, but in October, 1944, this regime fell and was replaced by a Nazi backed regime under the infamous Arrow Cross Party. Beginning in November, 1944, over 70,000 Jews were deported.
The ghetto was created on November 29,1944 by a decree of the Royal Hungarian Government. It was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded so that contraband could not be sneaked in, and people could not get out. It lasted until the liberation of Budapest on January 17, 1945 by the Soviet Army during the Battle of Budapest. During that three-month period, all of Budapest too was under siege, but as with other ghettos that had been set up in other parts of Nazi-occupied Europe, the area was completely cut off from the outside world: no food was allowed in, rubbish and waste were not collected, the dead lay on the streets and piled up in the bombed-out store fronts and the buildings were overcrowded, leading to the spread of diseases such as typhoid.
More than half of those that were forced into the ghetto in 1944 were sent to concentration camps, starting almost immediately from the establishment of the ghetto. From occupation to liberation the Jewish population of Budapest was reduced from 200,000 to 70,000 in the ghetto. There were about 20,000 housed in specially marked houses outside the ghetto, having been granted diplomatic protection by neutral politicians, including Raoul Wallenberg, who issued Protective Passports on behalf of the Swedish Legation, and Carl Lutz, who did the same via the Swiss Government. Of those that were deported (most of them to a concentration camp on the Austrian border), the vast majority were liberated by the advancing Red Army. In the second week of January 1945, Raoul Wallenberg found out that Adolf Eichmann planned a massacre of the largest Jewish ghetto in Budapest. The only one who could stop it was the man given the responsibility to carry the massacre out, the commander of the German troops in Hungary, General Gerhard Schmidhuber. Wallenberg sent him a note promising that he, Raoul Wallenberg, would make sure the general was held personally responsible for the massacre and that he would be hanged as a war criminal when the war was over. The general knew that the Germans were losing and the war would be over soon. The massacre was stopped at the last minute thanks to the courage and daring action of Wallenberg.
We ended up in a building that is pretty much the way it must have been left after the war. It was an apartment building of 2 stories overlooking an interior courtyard. Before the war, I could imagine it being a good place to live, especially for children being able to play safely, where parents could keep an eye on them, yet they had a good size playground to give them some freedom. Times have changed in these apartment blocks, but really not that much. Nowadays, even though a number of these apartments are inhabitable, the courtyards are still there for playing in, not by children, but by the yobbos who come in from all over Europe and the UK, for their stag parties. Another example of boys behaving badly. Although we were only there for a short time to finish up the tour and thank the guide, I was glad to get out of there, it gave me the willies. In spite of all this art, is very prominent in Budapest, an example we saw coming out of the apartment building, a dramatic 3D Rubik's cube painted on the side of a building. That would look good in the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.
We saw a restaurant nearby, the Hummus Bar of Budapest and went in for a light supper. I had a Hummus/falafel plate and their fresh homemade lemonade, a great thirst breaker after all that walking in the heat. A good ending to a difficult afternoon.
To end the day, we boarded the boat for an early evening cruise up the Danube. It was the same route as the daytime one, but the sun was setting, and it was so relaxing to sit and watch the sun go down and the lights beginning to twinkle on both sides of the river.
I was actually scheduled to leave on this date, but my flight to Budapest was cancelled, and I could only get another one on the next day, July 4th. This gave me one more day in Rome to wonder if I ever would get back there again now the family is moving back to the US. Apart from packing, I walked around favorite spots, taking pictures on the IPhone and in my head to remember the feel and life of Rome. A sad day, I feel quite at home there now, I just need to work on my vocabulary.
In the evening we were invited to dinner by the grandmother of one of Zoe's friends. Karol hails from Key West,USA but spends her summers in her tiny flat in Rome, owing to her love affair with the city since she was a teenager. She's a marvelous cook, having run a seafood restaurant in Key West for years and loves to cook for friends. Her dinners have many courses, a mixture of Italian and American cuisine. The dining room table top is a pure slab of decorated marble and is breathtakingly beautiful. I will miss the combination of exquisite baroque and modern innovative ideas that Italy lives with. Never a dull moment.
It was a perfect way to end my last stay in Rome with the family. Very, very sad. It's been such a wonderful few years traveling around with them in much loved places.- Nairobi, South Africa, Israel, Italy and England. My travel bug has gorged itself.
July 4- Flight from Rome to Budapest
A sorrowful awakening this morning. Dan and I had a last lunch and cappuccino together at our favorite cafe before I got on the bus to Fumicino. No problems with this flight on Wizz, which is I think, a UK budget carrier. My cancelled flight was on Iberia. It was a sad departure, but during the one and a half hour flight, I began to look forward to the four days with my niece in Budapest. Since I was already in Rome, it was just a skip and hop to join Maggie in Budapest, and I jumped at the opportunity. This was a very special trip for us all, as her younger son was in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra which was on tour to Vienna and Budapest. Maggie had done her homework and found a small flat in an apartment building convenient to the Castle. The owner conveniently acted as a taxi driver, taking us back and forth to the airport, making that part easy. On arrival, Maggie and Tamas met me at the airport, and after getting settled in the flat, we walked over to the hotel where the orchestra was staying. They had just arrived from Vienna, but we were able to see her son for a few minutes. Our flat owner had recommended a restaurant with outdoor seating for dinner, since it was a lovely evening. I thought it would be cooler than Rome, but in actual fact, the four days we were there, were quite a bit hotter. The restaurant was busy and we didn't have a reservation, but the hostess told us we could sit on the bar stools and when a table came free we could have it. We ordered drinks and were chatting away, when I noticed Maggie's eyes widening, and she whispered "Tom Hanks has just walked in with his wife and another couple". I had my back to him and didn't want to be rude and turn around, everyone was very quiet and calm. In any case, when I did, I did not recognize him with his hat and sunglasses on. Soon afterwards we were given a table right across from him and his party, so we were able to see every morsel they ate! They were enjoying their dinner and apart from the young waitress who got a selfie, nobody bothered them. The whole episode was quite low key. It was only when they left that one realizes what a well-oiled plan they have in place with their minders. When finished, the party got up and were immediately ushered to a black Range Rover parked a few feet away on the street, and were off in a matter of a few minutes. No hanging around, no screaming fans, no autographs as far as I could see. Just recently, I read an article about a movie "Inferno" coming out soon with Tom Hanks, and gathered he was in Budapest filming it.
July 5- Buda Castle Hill, Hospital in the Rock. MYSO Concert
We were up early the next morning, wanting to get as much sightseeing done before the sun got too hot. I missed Rome's water fountains everywhere, although we did find a few here and there to refill the bottles. From the apartment it was just a few minutes walk up a very steep set of steps to the Castle grounds. The view is quite wondrous from the square overlooking the Danube which goes north to south, and the two cities, Pest on the East and Buda on the West of the river, which snakes between the two cities and can be blue or silver, depending on the time of day. People living in Buda keep fit with all the walking and climbing. It is a hilly area and very difficult for cars and public transportation to negotiate the winding narrow streets wending their way up into the hills. There is a funicular on the Danube side, the world's second. Until 1928, it was the only way to access the Palace in the Castle area which occupies a huge tract of land on top of the hill. There are three sections, the Palace, the Square and the historical residential quarter. We were only able to walk around small part of it, it would take days to visit all the museums and church, and certainly not in that heat. We had lunch under the trees in a little park next to some of the stalls selling sandwiches, drinks and ice cream. It was a break before we made our way down the steps to the road where the Hospital in the Rock is situated. We were urged to visit it, and I'm glad we did. I knew nothing about Hungary or Budapest and even in the few days we were there, I learnt many snippets of its history. The Hospital in the Rock was created in the caverns underneath the Buda Castle in the 1930s in preparation for the Second World War. People born after 1945 in Europe and Britain have no idea of what it was like to live in that wartime, and how much suffering and difficulties in daily life people had to endure. Visiting the Hospital showed just how good people can make miracles under unbelievable circumstances. Centuries before a tunnel system was created and from the Hospital tunnels, manual workers linked them to the main tunnel system. The most challenging period for the hospital was the 1944-45 siege of Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, when the city was encircled for 50 days by the Soviet Red Army and the Romanian Army. Around 40,000 people died and 62,000 captured (including wounded). During that time, the wounded were brought in to the hospital and treated, the dead were taken out at night and buried in bomb craters. As the siege wore on, the hospital which was designed to treat 60-70 people, was treating up to 600 wounded soldiers. Supplies were being recycled from the dead and sterilized before reuse. Food was scarce and eventually horses were brought in and killed for the facility. The city surrendered on Feb. 13, 1945. It was a strategic victory for the Allies in their push towards Berlin.
The Hospital is now a museum with lifelike waxwork recreations of hospital treatments and day-to-day scenarios during the siege. Another section tells the story of the fear of Soviet nuclear bombing, and shows the nuclear bunker dedicated in response to the uprising against the Soviet rule, and to keeping 200 doctors and nurses safe and available to treat the wounded. Fortunately no-one ever had to live in the bunker except for a caretaker and his wife. As we know now, it wouldn't have been much use.
We somberly walked back down to the flat to get changed for the big concert at the Palace of Arts. Being a Sunday we allowed plenty of time to get to the venue, as we wanted to have supper in the restaurant inside the auditorium before the concert. The Palace of Arts is on the Buda side of town, public transport was not easy to manage, but we did. The stop for the Auditorium was at the rear of the building and we were not sure if it was the right place. However, someone from the building showed us where the main entrance to the Bela Bartok Auditorium was. It is a splendid edifice with a fountain in front. The restaurant looked inviting, but found that it was closed to the public, as the orchestra had reserved it all for their dinner! There was a snack bar inside the auditorium, but by the time we got there, they were pretty much out of sandwiches, so it was a pathetic meal. It didn't matter, it was of no importance when so many other exciting things were happening. There was time to walk around outside, and we saw an intriguingly yellow brick-shaped building which I called the Beehive. It had an outdoor circular walkway that circled the building until it reached the top. The flat roof gave a good view over to the Palace of the Arts with the fountain and Auditorium. On a plaque at the beginning of the walkway was this description " Ziggurat is a Sumerian word meaning Highness. It is the meeting place of gods of heaven and earth. The Ziggurat is a kind of architecture (flower church, mountain church) that symbolises the earth".
Inside, the auditorium which has great acoustics is modern and very impressive. Our seats were excellent, high enough to look down on the orchestra and were near other American parents who either were chaperons, or had flown over for the event. There was quite a buzz of excitement in that section of seats. The audience began arriving and soon the place was well-filled. The concert was in two sections, the first played by the Milwaukee Youth Orchestra, the second by St. Stephen's Orchestra, Budapest's top Youth orchestra. The level of playing by both orchestras was phenomenal. The young people have so much drive and energy which was channeled by both orchestras into excellent musicianship. MYSO's program included the Dvorak "Carnival" Overture, Saint-Saen's "Havanaise" in E major, with violin soloist Frank Almond, Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony, who was mugged in the parking lot of the symphony building after a concert and had his Stradivarius stolen. Fortunately it was recovered and returned to him, but he now travels around with bodyguards. He played beautifully and the glorious Stradivarius sound was exquisite. Hopefully any damage was minimal. The first half ended with Lizst's "Les Preludes". For the second half of their performance they played the thrilling "Candide" Overture by L. Bernstein, with excitingly crisp rhythms, Aaron Copland's Suite from "The Tender Lands", ending with a Danzon by Arturo Marquez. It was quite an evening's workout, there were many outstanding solos by individuals, as well as the ensemble playing together.
July 6- Hop On-hop off tour bus.
It was a slow start to the day after the excitement of last night, so we decided get a 2-day ticket on the HopOn-HopOff bus to see as much of the city as we could. The ticket included two boat trips, day and evening, on the Danube. It worked out pretty well the first day. One tour guide was not customer friendly and we seemed to get her every time we got on a bus. We started on the Buda side with a winding bus ride up to the top of Gellert Hill where in 1854 the Hapsburgs built a fortress with the Statue of Liberty and Citadel. We got off to look at the extraordinary view from the top of the hill looking down to the Danube and across the city, then continued on the bus to cross over to the Pest side for the boat ride up the river to the Parliament. It is impressive to see the magnificent building from the river for the first time, and I'm glad we did that, as we didn't have time to visit the building itself. On the return trip, the other magnificent building on the top of the hill on the opposite side was the Castle. On the bus again, we rode around the city, until we got off at the New York Cafe. This is definitely a highlight for any visitor. The Cafe and four-story New York Palace were built by the New York Life Insurance Company in 1894 as a local head office. The Cafe was a longtime center for Hungarian literature and poetry from 1894 to 2001. The statues and other ornaments on the front side of the building, as well as the Cafe's 16 imposing devilish fauns, each one beside the cafe's sixteen windows, are the works of Károly Senyey. During the communist era the building was nationalized but after the collapse of socialism, it was bought by Italian Boscolo Hotels in 2001. The palace was then reconstructed into a luxury hotel, and renamed the Boscolo Budapest Hotel at its opening on May 5, 2006. It is now a very enjoyable place to spend an afternoon. There is music, a pianist rather than a string quartet, and it has a great atmosphere, in spite of us tourists who are woefully under-dressed for such opulent surroundings. That does not mean we do not appreciate the surroundings. Perhaps for dinner people dress up more. The food is beautifully presented with good china and proper napkins, the cakes were luscious, which Hungarian pastries are famous for being. How I would love to have been able to listen in on the writer's and poet's discussions. I feel I have really missed out on so much in life.
Onward to a walk to see the Dohany or Great Synagogue. It is among the top ten sights of Budapest, and is the second largest synagogue of the world, the first is the Temple Emanu-El in New York. It had to be constructed on an asymmetric lot in order to place the Ark looking East. Frigyes Feszl and Ludwig Förster created their masterpiece in the middle of a metropolis using the Oriental-Byzantine (Moorish) style influenced by Moslem architecture. The consecration of the synagogue was a major event on September 6, 1859. It can hold 3000 seated and approximately 2000 standing people. There is a small grassy area in front of the entrance, a good place to see the Moorish designs on the cream and brown curved openings. From there we went to the memorial site of the "The Shoes", a composition by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay unveiled in 2005, featuring 60 pairs of Bronze shoes commemorating a group of Jews who, during WW2, were forced to take their shoes off before being shot and pushed into the Danube. Shoes were in great demand at that time and the German and Hungarian Nazis were not going to let them rot in the river.
There is also a plaque in the area "To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by the Arrow Cross Militiamen in 1944-45." A sad ending to a most interesting day. It really puts things into perspective.
Crossing the bridge to the Buda side, we came to the Funicular and took it up to the castle. We walked through to square and then down the steps to the apartment.
July 7 – Our last full day. HOHO tour bus, St. Margaret’s Island
We popped up to the Castle square for a last look around and had lunch there. Such views! We got on the HoHo bus to go to St. Margaret's Island. It was a hot day and we were glad not to have to walk a lot. No such luck, the same tour guide from yesterday was on the bus, and although she was supposed to call out the places where the stops were, did not for St. Margaret's Island where we wanted to visit. We wondered where the stop was as we were going over the bridge with the island on our left, but no announcements were made, and then we saw we were getting further and further away from the island which was now behind us. I went up to the tour guide to ask her about getting off at the island, and she berated me for not telling her earlier. The the bus was supposed to stop automatically at each stop with the tour guide giving a description of the area and it took us a while to realize she was not doing her job. It was a very long hot walk to the island.
Originally named the Island of Rabbits, it had been a religious center, and from the 12th century the Knights of St. John settled on the island dominated by nunneries, churches and cloisters, until the 16th century. During the Ottoman wars the monks and nuns fled and the buildings were destroyed. In the 18th century it was chosen to be the resort of palatines (high-level officials attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times) and in 1908 was declared a public garden. Among the present historical monuments of the island are the 13th century ruins of a Franciscan church, a Dominican church and convent, as well as a Premonstratensian church, (a Roman Catholic religious order with canons following a strict form of canonical life, formed in the12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, there were some 1300 monasteries for men and 400 for women throughout western Europe). Members of the Augustinian order also lived on the island.
The Mongols had invaded and devastated his country, and in 1253 the king made a vow that if he could rebuild the country, he would send his daughter, the Princess Margaret, to a convent on the island. The Mongols left and King Béla was able to reorganize and rebuild the country. Faithful to his vow Béla sent the 11-year old Margaret to the Domenican convent he founded on the island. She is buried there and became a saint, and the island was named after her.
Today the island is a haven for city dwellers. Even nowadays, the island offers peace and tranquility once you get off the bridge. There are plenty of walkways, a running track, swimming pool, and colorful gardens to saunter through. We rented a golf cart to see the ruins of the convent, on the way there were lawns with masses of border flowers. Definitely a place to wander around and explore, but unfortunately time was running out for us.
Back to the bridge and going back to the Pest side, we caught the bus (a different tour guide, thank goodness) to the Central Market. We had been told that it was the best place for souvenirs. The building was designed and built by around 1897, During the World Wars it was completely damaged and then closed for some years. Throughout the 1990s restoration works brought back the market to its ancient splendour using colorful Zsolnay tiling from Pecs. The building was awarded with FIABCI Prix d’Excellence in 1999. It's a packed warehouse on three floors, on the ground floor the stalls offer produce, meats, pastries, candies, spices, and spirits. The second floor has mainly eateries and souvenirs.The basement contains butcher shops, fish market, and pickles. Since we were there for the souvenirs, we stayed on the second floor. We were told to look for the Hungarian-made items that are more authentic. Russian souvenirs tend to be "more Russian", but we wanted Hungarian which tend to be authentic. Looking for a good lunch place, one cafe caught our eyes and ears. To our delight there was a trio of musicians - violin, cimbalon and keyboard, in a corner serenading the diners. They were Hungarian musicians playing Czardas, quite phenomenal. I bought a CD and will try to put a link on the blog. I think the lunch was very good, some sort of sausage dish, but it could have been cardboard, as I was totally focused on the music. Actually, I do remember some sort of lemon ice tea which was delicious. Thank goodness we had done most of our shopping before lunch, otherwise there would not have been any gifts to take home, the music was too engrossing.
We had to leave, as we had signed up for a 2 hour free walk around the Jewish ghetto area. We had a very interesting guide who had a lot of information to impart, and telling the stories obviously meant much to him.
At the time of the outbreak of the war, there were about 200,000 Jews in Budapest. Until the German occupation in March, 1944, the Jewish community lived in relative comfort and security. After the German occupation, provincial Jews were systematically concentrated and deported. Under the Horthy regime, deportations of Jews were stopped, but in October, 1944, this regime fell and was replaced by a Nazi backed regime under the infamous Arrow Cross Party. Beginning in November, 1944, over 70,000 Jews were deported.
The ghetto was created on November 29,1944 by a decree of the Royal Hungarian Government. It was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded so that contraband could not be sneaked in, and people could not get out. It lasted until the liberation of Budapest on January 17, 1945 by the Soviet Army during the Battle of Budapest. During that three-month period, all of Budapest too was under siege, but as with other ghettos that had been set up in other parts of Nazi-occupied Europe, the area was completely cut off from the outside world: no food was allowed in, rubbish and waste were not collected, the dead lay on the streets and piled up in the bombed-out store fronts and the buildings were overcrowded, leading to the spread of diseases such as typhoid.
More than half of those that were forced into the ghetto in 1944 were sent to concentration camps, starting almost immediately from the establishment of the ghetto. From occupation to liberation the Jewish population of Budapest was reduced from 200,000 to 70,000 in the ghetto. There were about 20,000 housed in specially marked houses outside the ghetto, having been granted diplomatic protection by neutral politicians, including Raoul Wallenberg, who issued Protective Passports on behalf of the Swedish Legation, and Carl Lutz, who did the same via the Swiss Government. Of those that were deported (most of them to a concentration camp on the Austrian border), the vast majority were liberated by the advancing Red Army. In the second week of January 1945, Raoul Wallenberg found out that Adolf Eichmann planned a massacre of the largest Jewish ghetto in Budapest. The only one who could stop it was the man given the responsibility to carry the massacre out, the commander of the German troops in Hungary, General Gerhard Schmidhuber. Wallenberg sent him a note promising that he, Raoul Wallenberg, would make sure the general was held personally responsible for the massacre and that he would be hanged as a war criminal when the war was over. The general knew that the Germans were losing and the war would be over soon. The massacre was stopped at the last minute thanks to the courage and daring action of Wallenberg.
We ended up in a building that is pretty much the way it must have been left after the war. It was an apartment building of 2 stories overlooking an interior courtyard. Before the war, I could imagine it being a good place to live, especially for children being able to play safely, where parents could keep an eye on them, yet they had a good size playground to give them some freedom. Times have changed in these apartment blocks, but really not that much. Nowadays, even though a number of these apartments are inhabitable, the courtyards are still there for playing in, not by children, but by the yobbos who come in from all over Europe and the UK, for their stag parties. Another example of boys behaving badly. Although we were only there for a short time to finish up the tour and thank the guide, I was glad to get out of there, it gave me the willies. In spite of all this art, is very prominent in Budapest, an example we saw coming out of the apartment building, a dramatic 3D Rubik's cube painted on the side of a building. That would look good in the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.
We saw a restaurant nearby, the Hummus Bar of Budapest and went in for a light supper. I had a Hummus/falafel plate and their fresh homemade lemonade, a great thirst breaker after all that walking in the heat. A good ending to a difficult afternoon.
To end the day, we boarded the boat for an early evening cruise up the Danube. It was the same route as the daytime one, but the sun was setting, and it was so relaxing to sit and watch the sun go down and the lights beginning to twinkle on both sides of the river.
July 8 – Flight from Budapest to London
A very early start as we were being picked up at 6:00am by our landlord,Tamas, who was taking us to the airport. The apartment had been ideal for us, and Tamas had been very helpful. It was earlier than needed for our flight, but Maggie had to meet with the orchestra chaperones for them to hand her son over to her. The rest of the orchestra was flying directly back to the US. It all went very smoothly and we had time for breakfast before the flight. I don't remember much about the flight at that time of the day, except we arrived safely at Luton airport. I said goodbye to Maggie and Aaron, only for a few days, as they were coming down to Salisbury to visit me after a two days in London. I took the bus to Victoria and the train tp Salisbury and slept.
July 9 – Rehearsal for Saturday's performance with the Millstream Orchestra.
We had been asked to play for a fundraiser in a church not far from Alderholt, sharing with the choir of the church, so it wasn't an arduous program for which I was glad after all that travelling.
Earlier in the day, it hit me that I was leaving for the US in four days, and Maggie and Aaron were coming to Salisbury in 2 days, so I had better start packing. I was simply avoiding the fact that my adventure was nearing its end.
July 10 – Baroque trios with friends.
A lovely evening of playing, so grateful for the gift of music.
July 11- Maggie and Aaron arrive in Salisbury.
I picked them up from the bus station and drove to Wilton, where we were meeting Meryl, our cousin. They had never met and I was excited to see Meryl and Maggie together, as they are very alike. Wilton is a pretty town, over 2000 years old and the namesake of Wiltshire. I described the Italianate church in the Salisbury Festival chapter when I went to the Masque concert. It is also the home of the famous Wilton carpets and Wilton House, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke. We all met at the Wilton Shopping Village, an easy place to find and park, and a good cafeteria-type restaurant, suitable for a hungry teenager. I was sorry Meryl's two children were not able to be with us, that's teenage lives for you, but we had great get together, which I hope will be the first of many.
Maggie had expressed an interest in seeing the Fovant Badges, a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill. It's a unique site coming upon it when driving, seeing them on the hillside not far from the road. The badges were from the regiments who were based in the Fovant area during WW1 and 2. Returning from the war they came to remember those who had not, and as a mark of respect, built them into the hillside. As I had to get to the concert, Meryl took Maggie and Aaron to the Badges, and then brought them to the church where I was playing. The concert wasn't very long, and there was a slap up tea afterwards, why do homemade items taste so good? Not being a cook for most of the time, I really appreciate home cooking.
I took them back to the YHA in Salisbury where they were staying. The house is a large 1920s or so, close to town and suitable for their two night stay. They had booked supper, so I left to go back to the flat to work on my packing.
July 12- Driving around to sites, raining.
I picked Maggie and Aaron up from the YHA house, not the quietest of nights I understood, they didn't get much sleep, Saturday nights can be noisy, and I was sorry too that the weather had turned out to be grey and drizzly. We had been having such glorious weather. Not Rome or Budapest heat, but good for England. They really wanted to see Stonehenge, but not in the rain, so all we could do was to drive up to the edge of a parking lot and look down on the site. I hadn't been up there since the trip in 2011 when Kate and I had come from the US and met Dan, Elisa and Zoe for a week in Dorset. Dan had driven us straight from Heathrow to Stonehenge, and we came in on the old road and parked in the field. Now there is a big roundabout up the hill and a turn to a parking area with a new shed for ticketing etc. We went back to Salisbury, the weather kept on improving, so we went to Old Sarum. We ate our sandwiches in the car, as all Brits do when in Britain, then walked around the ramparts.
By the time we had to be at a tea party to at the Bishop's House in Salisbury, it had stopped raining and although cool, we could have it in the garden. No, it was not a private invitation, it was a fundraiser for Christian Aid. But what a charming way to see the back of the Bishop's house and enjoy sitting in his garden having a cream tea next to the gurgling River Avon!
After tea we walked over to the Cathedral for Evensong. I was pleased they were able to hear it, the choir is so good, and it's a beautiful service. Afterwards, we walked around Salisbury and had dinner near the Mill, and that was the end of our day.
A very early start as we were being picked up at 6:00am by our landlord,Tamas, who was taking us to the airport. The apartment had been ideal for us, and Tamas had been very helpful. It was earlier than needed for our flight, but Maggie had to meet with the orchestra chaperones for them to hand her son over to her. The rest of the orchestra was flying directly back to the US. It all went very smoothly and we had time for breakfast before the flight. I don't remember much about the flight at that time of the day, except we arrived safely at Luton airport. I said goodbye to Maggie and Aaron, only for a few days, as they were coming down to Salisbury to visit me after a two days in London. I took the bus to Victoria and the train tp Salisbury and slept.
July 9 – Rehearsal for Saturday's performance with the Millstream Orchestra.
We had been asked to play for a fundraiser in a church not far from Alderholt, sharing with the choir of the church, so it wasn't an arduous program for which I was glad after all that travelling.
Earlier in the day, it hit me that I was leaving for the US in four days, and Maggie and Aaron were coming to Salisbury in 2 days, so I had better start packing. I was simply avoiding the fact that my adventure was nearing its end.
July 10 – Baroque trios with friends.
A lovely evening of playing, so grateful for the gift of music.
July 11- Maggie and Aaron arrive in Salisbury.
I picked them up from the bus station and drove to Wilton, where we were meeting Meryl, our cousin. They had never met and I was excited to see Meryl and Maggie together, as they are very alike. Wilton is a pretty town, over 2000 years old and the namesake of Wiltshire. I described the Italianate church in the Salisbury Festival chapter when I went to the Masque concert. It is also the home of the famous Wilton carpets and Wilton House, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke. We all met at the Wilton Shopping Village, an easy place to find and park, and a good cafeteria-type restaurant, suitable for a hungry teenager. I was sorry Meryl's two children were not able to be with us, that's teenage lives for you, but we had great get together, which I hope will be the first of many.
Maggie had expressed an interest in seeing the Fovant Badges, a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill. It's a unique site coming upon it when driving, seeing them on the hillside not far from the road. The badges were from the regiments who were based in the Fovant area during WW1 and 2. Returning from the war they came to remember those who had not, and as a mark of respect, built them into the hillside. As I had to get to the concert, Meryl took Maggie and Aaron to the Badges, and then brought them to the church where I was playing. The concert wasn't very long, and there was a slap up tea afterwards, why do homemade items taste so good? Not being a cook for most of the time, I really appreciate home cooking.
I took them back to the YHA in Salisbury where they were staying. The house is a large 1920s or so, close to town and suitable for their two night stay. They had booked supper, so I left to go back to the flat to work on my packing.
July 12- Driving around to sites, raining.
I picked Maggie and Aaron up from the YHA house, not the quietest of nights I understood, they didn't get much sleep, Saturday nights can be noisy, and I was sorry too that the weather had turned out to be grey and drizzly. We had been having such glorious weather. Not Rome or Budapest heat, but good for England. They really wanted to see Stonehenge, but not in the rain, so all we could do was to drive up to the edge of a parking lot and look down on the site. I hadn't been up there since the trip in 2011 when Kate and I had come from the US and met Dan, Elisa and Zoe for a week in Dorset. Dan had driven us straight from Heathrow to Stonehenge, and we came in on the old road and parked in the field. Now there is a big roundabout up the hill and a turn to a parking area with a new shed for ticketing etc. We went back to Salisbury, the weather kept on improving, so we went to Old Sarum. We ate our sandwiches in the car, as all Brits do when in Britain, then walked around the ramparts.
By the time we had to be at a tea party to at the Bishop's House in Salisbury, it had stopped raining and although cool, we could have it in the garden. No, it was not a private invitation, it was a fundraiser for Christian Aid. But what a charming way to see the back of the Bishop's house and enjoy sitting in his garden having a cream tea next to the gurgling River Avon!
After tea we walked over to the Cathedral for Evensong. I was pleased they were able to hear it, the choir is so good, and it's a beautiful service. Afterwards, we walked around Salisbury and had dinner near the Mill, and that was the end of our day.
July 13 – Maggie and Aaron return to Budapest from London
I picked them from the YHA, a better night's sleep I think than the first night, and dropped them off at the Coach station for the coach to London. What a whirlwind few days, I wish it could have been longer.
I am desolate at the thought of this my last day in England.
July 14- I return to the US.
5:30am taxi to Heathrow. Annoyingly AA changed their flight time to RDU, it's always been an 11am flight, and I've been able to get the 6:40am coach to catch it, at a cost of eleven pounds. Now it is a 10:30 am flight, so I can't make it by coach, and have to get a taxi instead for ninety five pounds. I am not at all a happy person today. It's a good thing I have 7 hours to get over it, but not my sadness at leaving. The end of my adventure.
I picked them from the YHA, a better night's sleep I think than the first night, and dropped them off at the Coach station for the coach to London. What a whirlwind few days, I wish it could have been longer.
I am desolate at the thought of this my last day in England.
July 14- I return to the US.
5:30am taxi to Heathrow. Annoyingly AA changed their flight time to RDU, it's always been an 11am flight, and I've been able to get the 6:40am coach to catch it, at a cost of eleven pounds. Now it is a 10:30 am flight, so I can't make it by coach, and have to get a taxi instead for ninety five pounds. I am not at all a happy person today. It's a good thing I have 7 hours to get over it, but not my sadness at leaving. The end of my adventure.
Copyright 2015 Jane H. Salemson