July has been a month of travel. Planned journeys and unexpected journeys.
A Friday evening phone call from work. “Get a plane
ticket book a hotel, you have to be in Berlin for Monday ” ! On Sunday instead
of enjoying a planned walk in the Apennines, I was exploring Berlin.
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| Brandenburg Gate, Berlin |
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| Sony Centre, Berlin |
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| Sony Centre, Berlin |
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| Sony Centre, Berlin |
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| Berlin |
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| Holocaust Memorial, Berlin |
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| Holocaust Memorial, Berlin |
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| Holocaust Memorial, Berlin |
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| Brandenburg Gate, Berlin |
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| Tiergarten, Berlin |
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| Tiergarten, Berlin |
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| Tiergarten, Berlin |
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| Sony Centre, Berlin |
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| Sony Centre, Berlin |
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| Sony Centre, Berlin |
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| National Gallery, Berlin |
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| National Gallery, Berlin |
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| National Gallery, Berlin |
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| National Gallery, Berlin |
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| Brandenburg |
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| Brandenburg |
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| Brandenburg |
I must say I enjoyed Berlin by night more on my first
visit, but it was interesting all the same.
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| Museum area, Berlin |
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| Museum area, Berlin |
I had to take the Family down to Portofino for their fortnights
holiday by the sea. On the way back I stopped off at Luni a Roman port that due
to a receding shoreline and the consequent formation of malarial mashes, all
but disappeared. Not much remains and
not much has been excavated. The Museum is interesting and has some nice artefacts,
but I was lucky to get there in time for the daily opening of the Arena outside
the main archaeological area. It is for me the most impressive part of the site. An enthusiastic member of the staff explained to us the
history of the city and its decline.
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| Arena, Luni, SP |
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| Arena, Luni, SP |
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| Arena, Luni, SP |
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| Luni, SP |
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| Luni, SP |
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| Luni,SP |
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| Luni,SP |
It was time to return to Portofino to collect the family.
These major tourist sites, to be appreciated have to be seen in the early
morning or in the evening , when there are few people about and most
of all the July heat is tolerable.
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
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| Portofino, GE |
To finish the month I had to take Gabry to an isolated village, Pietranera in the Ligurian Apennines to stay with some
friends. We had to climb up Val Trebbia
in the Province of Piacenza to get there.
Pietranera is just a few houses at 900 metres above the vast
forests that cover this part of the Apennines.
Just below the village is a Fascist era “Colonia”, the
tower can be seen sticking out above the
trees in the forest. It was built to give summer holidays for working
class children living in Genoa. Towards the end of the war it became a Communist partisan
base and prison. It is famous or rather infamous because the German or Fascist prisoners who were held here would be taken
out in groups and massacred. It is said that
at least 200 and more probably 600 met their
end here.
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| Pietranera, GE |
What a spectacular road up the side of a steep valley
often with a shear drop on one side.
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| Along the Val Trebbia road, PC |
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| Along the Val Trebbia road, PC |
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| Along the Val Trebbia road, PC |
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| Along the Val Trebbia road, PC |
On the way back I explored one of the minor valleys,
reaching Bertone GE at the end of a
narrow potholed twisty lane. Here I was surprised to find the Celtic dwellings
that I have seen in the Emilian Apennines. What a sense of silence and
isolation this hamlet had.
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| Near Bertone, GE |
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| Near Bertone, GE |
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| Celtic houses Bertone, GE |
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| Bertone, GE |
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| Bertone, GE |
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| Bertone, GE |
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| Bertone, GE |
Midway up the valley lies Bobbio, a medieval town.
Despite the July heat I made my way up to the castle.
I was just in time to visit it, and as I was the only
visitor I got a personal guided tour from the custodian who explained to me the
history of the castle.
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| Ponte Vecchio, Bobbio,PC |
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| Ponte Vecchio, Bobbio,PC |
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| Ponte Vecchio, Bobbio,PC |
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| Bobbio,PC |
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| Bobbio,PC |
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| Castello di Bobbio, Bobbio, PC |
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| Castello di Bobbio, Bobbio, PC |
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| Castello di Bobbio, Bobbio, PC |
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| Castello di Bobbio, Bobbio, PC |
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| Bobbio, PC |
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| Bobbio, PC |
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| Duomo, Bobbio, PC |
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| Duomo, Bobbio, PC |
The most famous monument in Bobbio is the humped backed
bridge, started by the Romans that stretches across the wide river bed. Below
the bridge is where the inhabitants “go to the beach” in the summer.
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| Brugnelli, Val Trebbia PC |
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| Brugnelli, Val Trebbia PC |
Bobbio as with Luni and countless other “minor” Italian
monuments off the classic tourist itineraries, are almost
always practically deserted and for that reason enjoyable to visit, cost little
to enter and are the place to find the true essence of Italy.
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