Day in Ravenna

This morning we decided to take our time. Grandma and the kids got laundry going and played over in the park next door during the mandatory time of leaving the hostel (11 - 2:30). I took the bus into town to find the lay of the land, so to speak.

The receptionist here kept assuring me yesterday that it was an easy walk into town, 15 - 20 minutes, and that once there things would be obvious. Well, not so for me. Luckily, I decided to take the bus anyway and am very glad I did.

The center of Ravenna is really wonderful. Cars are not allowed on many of the streets and a large percentage ride bicycles. The narrow streets are lined with cute boutiques and shop, peppered with lively squares where people gather to chat, and of course the incredible monuments that people come to see: 5 major churches from around the 5th- 8th centuries housing some of the best Byzantine mosaics in the world.

I made my way to St. Apollinaire and Galla Placidia, which you can look up on the internet and get lots of information for. The interior space of St. Apollinaire is incredible. It is a HUGE church and it has not only the famous mosaics of Sts. Justinian and Theodora, but also incredible designs all over the floor, including the model that Emma and I used to do a mosaic project in our homeschooling. That was pretty incredible to see. Galla Placidia is a tiny little chapel just a short walk across the lawn, very intimate. This is the one with all the lovely doves drinking from bowls, and the Christ the Good Shepherd. When you first walk into the nave and look up at the low ceiling it is covered with brilliant stars on a dark blue background. Just stunning.

Leaving the church, I needed to get back to Grandma and the kids and tried to follow directions to a bus, which I'd gotten at the information center where I was able to borrow a bike and get around a little better. My feet were hurting already from some blisters. I could not find either a place to buy the bus ticket, or the bus stop. So I walked in what I thought was a good direction.

However, I got out of the quaint old town and down a boring, hot residential highway-street with nothing to commend itself. It took me an extra long way around the city center before I got back to the train terminal where both buses and taxis can be gotten. I'd say it was probably a 3 mile walk altogether, which I should be able to take in stride, but I am so far behind in the fitness department with my break a few weeks ago from all walking, that it was quite arduous.


At any rate, I did get back at long last and hired a cab to take me "home". A little later, we all made it back down into town and visited a couple of the churches with mosaics and just enjoyed hanging out in the squares and having some more gelato and the local specialty, padina, which is a kind of folded over sandwich which was very good. Alas, we could not find a restaurant for our last Italian meal. I had been looking forward to ordering saltimbocca, but we were just too tired and ended up with roasted chicken from the grocery store. It hit the spot.

For now, that's it. Signing off in a warm but alright Ravenna at almost 9PM. I am so sticky you wouldn't believe it! As Grandma says: I won't really be clean and dry until I get back to Seattle. Ain't that the truth!