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Renault Roaming

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Make up - not made up.

    April 13, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    The hands are about a foot high and I thought they were for holding chains on miladies dressing table. Can you guess what they really are?
    Hint: there is a hinge between the fingers.
    According to the label they are Roman nutcrackers!
    I suppose the shell was for powder and the round object is the back of a polished bronze mirror.
    Amongst all the many bottles for lotions and perfumes, this little, 2 inch foot stood out. It held an ungeunt for use on feet.
    This is a lady who might have used these items.
    Took me a while to see what this 2ft high blob of marble actually was: a dolphin.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Moldy old dough

    April 13, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Rather naively I never considered how so many similar statues and carvings were made. These are molds for mass production, some of which have been used by the museum to produce modern replicas.

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Going a bit potty

    April 13, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Can't have an antiquities museum without pots. There are a large variety on show and the most common are the black and gold ones. This was because they were made specially for funerals and buried with the people. They have scenes from mythology on the whole, but I found some funny pictures like the comedian and the lady chasing a goose.Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Vit room

    April 13, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Unexpectedly some Roman glassware survived. The colourful mosaic pot was not shattered and re-assembled like so many of the vases: it was created in this thoroughly modern style.

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Francavilla Fontana

    April 19, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Prince Filippo d'Angiò had a vision of the Virgin Mary in a fountain and declared this town a tax-free haven, (according to local legend.) Hence the name: "Franca" (tax-free), and "villa" (town), and "Fontana" (fountain).
    We have come to see the Easter penitentiary parade, which every town in the area seems to have.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Men in lace gowns

    April 19, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    It was notable for the silence. On-lookers who spoke too loud were shshed vehemently.
    One unique feature of this parade was the long rattle carried by many participants and shaken at random intervals.Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Struggling

    April 19, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Some of the crosses were pretty heavy and I watched this fellow in red staggering around the course under the weight. Once or twice he almost dropped his load but fortunately there were paramedics not too far behind him.Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Toast

    April 20, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    This large harbour is in the shape of a deers head, "brentesion" in Greek, which the Romans pronounce "Brundesium" and the Italians "Brindisi. Legend has it that the port was founded by the epic hero Diomedes; records show that it has been settled since Roman and Greek times. The poet Virgil died here, though not on stage.
    Occupying a strategic position at the heel of Italy, the place has been overrun by all the usual empires and kingdoms including the Ostrogoths, Lombards and Kings of Sicily. During WW2, it was briefly the capital of Italy.
    Even the censor of Rome in 312 BCE, Appius Claudius Caecus, could not have seen the longevity of his 560 km Via Appia, which connects the Eternal City to the port of Brindisi. Before air transportation became so common, it was the gateway to the east for many. The silk trade had its route through Brindisi. Silk would be loaded from trains onto the English ships that continued the journey from London to Bombay. The Crusaders used this port to sail to the Holy Land.
    The locals proudly advertise the two columns marking the end of the road. Unfortunately, one crumbled in 1582 and the bits given to the town of Lecce to hold the statue of Saint Oronzo, who was the town's patron Saint and was thought to have cured the plague in Brindisi. Still, one is enough for bragging rights.
    Crusaders leaving Europe would drop into the local taverns, as soldiers do, to drink a toast to their eventual return - shortened to 'a Brindisi' and then just 'Brindisi'. To this day Italians still call a toast a Brindisi.
    =================================================
    This 53m high structure is a memorial for the rudderless in life, although it is called the monument to Italian Sailors.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Crusader lodging

    April 20, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    The church of San Giovanni al Sepolcro was built by the Knight Order of the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulcher, (an artillery regiment?) before 1128 according to ancient documents.After the Knight Order was dismissed their goods and possesions were inherited by the Order of St John of jerusalem, (Order of Malta,) and then by the local archbishop.
    It was conceived as a reproduction of the Rotonda of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem - the "umbilicus mundi" or navel of the world.
    It was built in the round with pillars "repurposed" from a variety of other buildings - no two are alike.
    The main door is framed by two lions upholding columns. The sculptors were more familiar with sea-lions I think.
    The side fdoor is flanked by marble panels depicting humans, animals and mythological figures with a symbolic meaning beyond even the imaginations of modern archaeologists to explain.
    Recently, the crypt area, in which pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem would lodge, has revealed mosaics belonging to a 1st or 2nd C Roman domus (house).
    For a complete set of images visit:
    http://www.brundarte.it/2013/08/13/chiesa-di-sa…    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    New town

    April 27, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Neanderthal hunters during the palaeolithic period (50.000-40.000 years ago made their homes in the grottoes in the area. Eventually a town was built on this hill but the Greeks completely rebuilt it as a new city "Astu-neon", now known as Ostuni.
    Strangely reminiscent of the Pueblos Blancos in Andalusia -infact Isabella D'Aragona is credited with bringing culture and art to the town - Ostuni is a major tourist destination though I can't imagine why.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Street view

    April 27, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    The mask with long horns, open mouth and sticking his tongue out is apotropian, (from the Greek word meaning a lucky charm against evil.) Such a horrible expression is sure to repel evil spirits.
    The image of "nasocchio" recalls the elf of Nordic legends, transformed by the Pugliese and renamed "Augurellu", Monachellu, Nasu-e-occhiu. He is the capricious spirit who amuses himself by creating small domestic disturbances such as tossing small pebbles around the house or messing up your clothes. He doesn't tolerate a challenge or allow himself to be seen. Although audacious, indiscrete and teasing, he can also be loving towards the poor and those of good heart. With proper respect he brings wealth, and good fortune to the household.
    According to ancient lore he prefers places with 7 hearths and 7 families to please. This addition to the Norse myth can be traced to the Romans, who believed that 7 hearths and 7 families pleased Lare (the hearth god,) who then protected the household from evil and brought good fortune.
    If you want to buy one, or if you want to buy a fridge magnet or perhaps a straw boater there are many opportunities along the main street leading up the hill. Other than that there is not a lot - even the cathedral is a bit ho-hum; they did not even put glass in what might have been a well-executed Rose window.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Remembering Delia

    April 27, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    I visited Ostuni for the chance to meet Delia; turned out to be quite a moving experience.
    She was a girl of about 20 who died in an advance state of pregnancy about 28000 years ago according to the consensus of various scientific disciplines. She was buried on her side in a carefully excavated stone trench in a grotto in the valley below.
    She had been adorned with bracelets on her wrists, (made from shells of sea snails, whelks, cowrie, and the canine of a deer,) and an intricate skullcap of over 600 shells sewn together and painted with red ochre, (similar to the one carved onto the slightly older Venus of Willendorf.) At her head and feet small statues representing female goddesses were placed as well as offerings of Aurochs and horses.
    She was laid down on her side with with one hand under her head and the other on her tummy and there she rested until late last century when the cave was excavated and her remains exhumed. Her bones and those of her unborn infant are laid out in the convent / museum together with a plaster cast showing how she was found.
    The staff have presented a great deal of background information about those cold times between two ice ages which gives the visitor an appreciation of the life Delia must have led and which makes it all very poignant. It could have been yesterday.
    ========================
    One of the nun's cells has been left as it would have been when inhabited, albeit without furniture.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Mistaken identity

    April 29, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    As a good Aussie I shrugged off the warnings of impending terrorist attack and went to pay my respects at Gallipoli.
    Imagine my surprise when I found the place almost empty of visitors and with no security presence!
    Then, after 10 minutes wandering around the ubiquitous old-town I discovered the secret of WW1 which has been kept for a century.
    Winnie was deceived!
    The Russians wanted Constantinople taken for their own nefarious ends, mainly controlling their fleet's access to the sea, and Winnie wanted a toe-hold in Italy, controlling the Agean and access to the heart of continental Europe through Trieste.
    Acting as intermediaries between the British and Russian governments, the third member of the entente, the old enemy of the UK, France, cunningly sold Winston the plan to attack Gallipoli, allowing him to think it was Italy rather than Turkey. When he discovered the deliberate ambiguity it was too late to do anything about it - but he made deGaulle suffer in the second round.
    As the wiley politician later said:
    "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.|    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Galatina

    April 29, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Most of Puglia is built on sandstone covering clay. The interstitial traps water, thus allowing people with access to a bore, (nearly everybody,) the ability to survive in a land with only one small river. Galatina, one of the most important towns in the Salento region, was situated in the middle of nowhere because there was a natural spring that fed water to the surface.
    Now another cleaned up old town, it is famous above all for a dance.
    People used to have two cures for the bite of the Tarantula. The first was to pray at the Chapel of St Paul, who miraculously cured himself of snakebite in Malta and was therefore believed to be able to cure any bite; and if that didn't work, to dance in a frenzy, which must have been more effective because it became the Tarantella and is danced to this day.
    I came to see the 14th C Basilica di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria with outstanding frescoes. Unfortunately, it was closed for lunch - until 4pm.
    Not to be deterred I went to Gallipoli first and then returned in time for the wedding.
    In 1385 Raimondello Balzini Orsini del Balzo married Maria D'Enghen Countess of Lecce.
    At the same time the Franciscans arrived to take possession of the church that Raimondello had built for them, specifically to replace the current Greek rites with Latin Orthodoxy.
    The church was dedicated to Santa Caterina who had been broken on the wheel and decapitated for her faith, then transported miraculously to her burial site on Mount Sinai.
    Apparently Raimondello , either as a pilgrim or as a warrior, ascended Mount Sinai and knelt at the site and attempted to kiss the Saint who was not quite buried. In the act of so doing he bit off her finger which he then stuck behind his ear under his hair to carry back to Italy.
    Devotion or looting? Nobody knows.
    On his return he encased the digit in a silver and commissioned a church to be built.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Marco & Anna-Maria get hitched

    April 29, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    In the middle of milling German tourists a marriage service was held. This must be a rare occasion these days as the priest got the order of service all mixed up and apologised to the audience for his lack of practice. A pretty Italian service on the whole with the bride and groom chattering to each other, the organists scanning her smartphone and the people looking around at what else was going on. Nice car though.
    Unlike other painted churches this one was not overwhelming as the pictures were arranged in neat boxes like in DC Comics, which after all was exactly what they were supposed to be: a comic book version of the Catholic Bible for the illiterate to follow.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler
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    Inside the cathedral

    April 29, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Here is a taste of the interior of the Cathedral.
    The carved wooden alter was tucked away in a side nave though it was one of the more magnificent items.
    I noticed some original sketches, doodles really, that had been uncovered during restoration. One can easily imagine an apprentice practicing his work during a lunch break.Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler
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    House of ill-repute

    April 29, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    If you knew of a house:
    * where the owners keep the severed breast of a teenage girl and various other body parts on a shelf in the old dining room;
    * where the builder claims to have bitten off the finger of a women and kept it as a talisman
    * where the walls have been decorated with pictures of people being sliced up, dismembered and set on fire;
    * where women are pictured in bondage;
    * where photos of all the above are shared on the internet;
    * and where close associates of the owners have been convicted for crimes against children;
    then you would almost certainly call the Serious Crime unit of your local police.
    Well I have been to one
    The house is called the Basilica di Santa Caterina d' Alessandria in Galatina, or at least the monastery beside it.
    So its Catholic
    So that's all right!!    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Nice tree

    May 5, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌫 17 °C

    In 1644, the King of Naples sent tax collectors intermittently to the Puglia region, near the town of Alberobello; from the medieval Latin name of the region “siva arboris belli” (The wood of the tree of war).
    Count Acquaviva came up with a plan to avoid settlement taxes: he forced local people into houses that could be taken apart easily . These were the famous trullo houses that had been around (sic) since ancient times and since they were morterless - dry stone walls - they could be built or destroyed very quickly.
    When eventually it was out for the Count, the town was granted the staus of a royal town by the King of Naples. For 200 years they have kept the style of their houses though, adorned with pagan Christian and alchemical signs .
    The centro storico is now a Disney park and busloads of tourists from cruise ships docked at Bari come up to wander around.
    Another UNESCO World Heritage site    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Trullo

    May 6, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    These buildings are unique to the region of Puglia (Apulia) in southeastern Italy and probably originated in the local Stone Age culture. Their use was widespread owing to the shortage of wood and the plentiful supply of stone cleared from the land in order to cultivate it.
    The gray stone is stacked into a circular wall and then piled into an arch n top of it. Thats it.
    Actually, they were mainly used for storage or temporary shelters for shepherds. Nobody really wanted to live in a small, cramped, lightless hut with no damp proof course full time.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Whitewashing history

    May 6, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    That is until the northern Europeans came looking for authentic, quaint, holiday houses to do up. "So, iconic. One has to help preserve the cultural heritage after all - in law they re classed as National Monuments - and when the locals just let them tumble down ... ... ... ..."
    Many were bought and tarted up during the housing boom years, which has resulted in huge price rises. Unfortunately the foreigners no longer have the cash to buy them, and many who might are put off both by the draconian "rebuild it as it was originally" planning regulations and by the canny peasant's out-of-date perception of the value of rubble. Still, they will be around for a while as modern building regs require them to be earthquake proof, unlike the originals.    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    Masseria Giulio

    May 7, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    My hosts Ian and Lucy, together with Milli (13) and Freya (10) run this Masseria or guesthouse in Puglia where I have been workawaying for the past month. Lucy rushes back and forth between here and Brindisi in order to supplement the income during the off-season by teaching English.
    Wine, women and 5 star accommodation - with room service- create the gold standard for a workaway experience. And I got to spend all day in the pool!
    Mind you, it would have been more relaxing if the pool was full of water and we did not have to clean, wire brush, make good small holes and paint it in quick time for the summer bookings.
    The only other jobs I had time to do were to demolish and rebuild a small wall around the pool pumps, (so contractors could position their machinery to remove 130m of artesian bore piping that had a small hole in the bottom section,) and assemble a dozen pieces of flatpack garden furniture.
    The 15 year old bottle of Laphroig, for my personal consumption since nobody else drinks it, was the finishing touch to the best workaway experience to date.
    To see more photos:
    http://masseriagiulio.com/the-apartments.html    Read more

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingTraveler

    MasseriaGiulio

    May 7, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Joe Masseria was the New York boss of the Genovese gang, who famously retired from the family firm at the unspoken behest of Lucky Luciano; (the report at least echoed round the world.)
    The Masseria I have been in is just an old country farmhouse in Puglia with no hint of a racket going on - its as quiet as Joe's grave.
    The property was falling down when Ian & Lucy found it and put it back together 7 years ago. Registered as an Historic Property, which triggers a whole set of difficult planning laws,I had imagined shady deals worthy of Mafia boss being done to satisfy or circumvent them. In fact by chance, the place lies in two different planning jurisdictions: as only one had it listed on its Historic Register, permission to rebuild the uninhabitable house was sought and obtained from the other one.
    after the event, the bypassed official was invited to inspect the work, and he proved sympathetic and content to see that which was fading away renovated.    Read more

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