Rennes

M went to Rennes Wednesday through Sunday, ostensibly for a meeting of all the math teachers.

Remember Rennes...




... Saturday morning trips to the market...



All the math books out... I'm sure for the picture:



Si mangia bene in Rennes...





Visiting with friends:







Meanwhile, I had to stay back and review 5 levels of math, from algebra to calculus with a bunch of rowdy kids (some of them nice, others rude) on Wednesday, then administer tests and grade all 60 of them! Please remind me not to ever get close to a school...

Ostia Antica

Meanwhile... A Friday school trip to Ostia. A big town of ruins on a cold day:



Had everything, even a synagogue or two...



The students were supposed to do a treasure hunt for famous buildings with a map, but mostly fooled around:

... and Civita di Bagnoreggio

A lonely Sunday trip with the group called Archeotuscia of Viterbo to Civita di Bagnoreggio. It's, sort of, Viterbo's Grand Canyon:





Not bad if you haven't seen the real thing.



We didn't stop at the village, just took the trail up to the canyon and back.

The group was about 30 people. The place is about 30 km from Viterbo; someone gave me a ride. On the way back, we stopped at a muddy field, which had some buried remnants of walls. Looked to me like an abandoned foundation of a 19th century building. But they said "Roman." The "archeologists" then happily dived into the mud and emerged with a few suspiciously modern-looking clay roof tile fragments. Took me a while to wash my shoes at home. Next Sunday to Sorano...

Palatino and Colosseo

Friday Jan 16: an all-day school trip to see the forums, the Palatino, and the Colosseo.



Nice sunny day...



Somehow, I never took the Coliseum very seriously. In particular, I didn't know that it was built on the spoils from the Judean war:



I didn't know either that it is called Colosseo not because it's huge but because it had a huge statue at the entrance.

Inside, an interesting exhibit about protecting art as national heritage, including this cute 19-th century statue "Young Michelangelo carving a faun's head."

Sicily trip: Dec 22, 2008 - Jan 4, 2009

We left Viterbo on Monday, quite ready for the break. A train to Rome (2 hours), another train in Rome, a third train to Naples (2 hours), a walk to the port (we had very little stuff with us), an overnight boat to Palermo.



Off the ship in Palermo around 7 am, breakfast in a bar, walked to the Hertz office in town, left our bags there and went for a quick stroll around the center. This is Politeama, one of the two grand theaters in the center:



Then an early lunch -- couldn't resist sandwiches from a street vendor at the market -- then back to pick up our car, and off we go!

Sicily trip: Dec 23, Tenuta Stocatella

The first thing that strikes you in the countryside after Palermo is how neat and clean everything is. (Palermo is pretty dirty: you need to always keep an eye on the ground and dodge dog shit.) It was a very pleasant drive to the south, and the day was gorgeous:



Our agriturismo, Tenuta Stocatella, is located up on a hill, about 3 km from the sea. You could see the sea from there:



It is a big farm, with vineyards, olive groves, etc. Also a little orchard:



We spent 6 days there. Would I recommend it? Possibly, but for a shorter stay. It is off the beaten track, with pretty countryside around, close to the sea, next to a huge forest reserve for long walks, convenient to major attractions on the west coast -- Segesta, Selinunte, Trapani, also not far from Agrigento.

There was little "agri" though, mostly "turismo." The place seems to be run by two friends and their wives; one of the men is the chef. They didn't want or had no time to deal with us much. No chance to learn anything about their farm, no animals (except dogs), no real hospitality. We expected a warmer reception.

There were no other guests, except one couple with a kid -- they stayed for a couple of days. But they had two big banquets, about 80 people each -- people came for pranzo, stayed for a few hours and left. Is that their main business? I'm not sure. That was Christmas time.

The room was comfortable; no Internet. The food was reasonably good but not spectacular. A carafe of freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning made my day. There are good restaurants in Sciacca, about 20 km away.

We arrived around 2:30 and went for a walk, accompanied by a friendly dog:



"Smelled the roses," so to speak.



And made plans for the next day:

Sicily trip: Dec 24, Selinunte

Selinunte is a Greek settlement site located in a picturesque spot on the coast, only a few kilometers from our agriturismo. The colony was founded in 628 BC. The location is spectacular and the ruins of the temples are quite impressive.



Here you can walk on them all you want.



One of the temples is in "good" shape...



... only pieces remain from the others:



The colony was sacked in 409 BC by Segesta (see Dec 28) aligned with Carthage (the guidebook says: "In one of the most terrible massacres of the ancient world").



M saw this magpie...



("сорока" in Russian, gazza in Italian) and got nostalgic -- haven't seen one in years. She asked to add it to the blog. Why not?

We stopped at a bar in Selinunte for a Marsala tasting. It turns out Marsala, a local sweet wine, was "discovered" in 1773 by a Brit, John Woodhouse, and he made it popular.

From Selinunte, up to the hills to Castelvetrano. A picnic lunch near Chiesa della Santissima Trinita di Delia, named after the river Delia below. This is a cute 12th century church in Arab-Norman style...


-- now a private chapel for the family that owns the surrounding land.

From there up to Gibbelina Nuova. The old town was completely destroyed by the Bèlice earthquake in 1968. In a kind of social experiment, it was decided to abandon it and build nearby a new town from scratch. The result is Gibellina Nuova, built in a planned manner (or one might say, contrived, depending on one's taste). It has a "system" of piazzas, reminiscent of an ancient Greek or Roman town, a big theater, lots of outdoor statues commissioned to famous artists. It is conceived as a sort of monument and outdoor museum. In other words, "the whole production," a little incongruous. This is the "entrance" on the main highway:



I wouldn't want to live there!

Sicily trip: Dec 25, Mazara del Vallo

On Christmas day a short ride to Mazara del Vallo and up to the hills. Mazara is a small town (pop. 51,000) on the sea. In the morning lots of people in the street, closed to traffic; first only men, later joined by women and children. Some people looking pompous, women wearing long fur coats, despite rather warm weather.



After a picnic lunch by the sea we went to town to browse with the rest of the people. The town is rather pleasant. We thought everything would be closed, but Museo del Satiro was open. The bronze statue of a dancing satir was fished out by the crew of a fishing boat by accident in 1998. (A year earlier, one of the satir's legs was found near the same spot.) The museum offers a 30-minute film describing the history of the find and the details of the restoration. See also a one-minute video on YouTube.

Back home early in the afternoon to rest and do some work before dinner at our agriturismo.

Sicily trip: Dec 26, Agrigento

The famous Greek temples and ruins of Agrigento are interesting, but I think Paestum and Segesta (see Dec 28) are more impressive. We went to the museum first, because it was open only until 1 pm. The centerpiece is an original giant telamon (about 8 meters) in a big hall that describes the temple of Zeus.



A Greek vase (5th cent BC) with "a sacrifice to Apollo."



One of these was sold for over one million dollars -- and that was over 30 years ago.

Terracotta reliefs with molds, a rare find:



A cute statuette of a god:



Etc.

The temple is on the hill...



... overlooking pretty countryside.



I think these temples are not very photogenic: in pictures they look as if they are built from a toy construction set. In reality they are magnificent.

Some almond trees began to blossom -- the peak is in February. M picked some last-year almonds and brought a bag of them to Viterbo! They were edible!



After the ruins we stopped at the house where Pirandello was born and at his tomb.



In his will he asked to entomb the urn with his ashes in a simple rock somewhere in the countryside. They did that, near his house, under a lovely pine tree. We saw it in a picture, but apparently the tree had to be taken down -- they left a couple of pieces and planted a new tree:




Inside there was a little exhibit on Pirandello and the war, that is, WWI. It turned out he was swept by the patriotic surge, despite his generally ironic demeanor. Happens.

On the way back we stopped in Sciacca (about 20 km from our agriturismo) to check e-mail and find a place for dinner. We found an Internet point near the port, in a game hall packed with teenagers. Slot machines were ringing, music was blasting, and cigarette smoke went right up into our noses -- not a perfect place for computer work. But we managed to check e-mail and send a couple of messages.

As far as dinner is concerned, most places were closed, but one, by the port, was open and it was OK.