Saturnia...Italy

Yes sounds like an unusual name for an Italian city and surrounds. In fact it is one of the few cities in Italy which remains with a purely Roman name. Saturnia, makes one think of Saturn, the star, yet it is the site of the most famous thermal springs in the world.
The warm thermal sulphureous outflow along the Roman road Clodia and existing from the 2nd century BC is regarded as beneficial to one's health. Entry is free to these hot springs in the district of Maremma, Tuscany and the site is popular at any hour to be visited by locals and tourists alike.
Hotels offer dressing-gown-like covers for potential bathers and to see these odd religious types in their sect outfits (most are white towelling) makes for quite some entertaining viewing.

 For some attracted by the waterfalls available or for others just to sit in the tranquility of fairly calm soothing waters knowing that a few minutes of this pleasure is sure to make one's body feel like new, the experience is more than worthwhile...worries and concerns being washed downstream without much effort required.

 We had to try it. And after sitting there for a few minutes and staring at the beautiful surrounding countryside my attention was broken into when I spied a tiny multi-limbed insect climbing down my leg. One flick and the poor insect became air-borne. I relaxed and restored my gaze out and beyond.



However this tranquility was not to last. This time small red worms came to the water surface...so they weren't big...good swimmers...I encouraged them to keep going...past my body...when they insisted on staying I only had one option...to leave and to never return!


But don't let my little experience put you off trying these warm waters...in my experience the waters were one of the cleanest and most natural I have ever encountered.....You can enlarge the photos with one click (I didn't include a shot of a worm) Ha!

 

On a whim!

Yes giving Siena a break we drove north to an archaealogical park we hadn't seen. And how stirring was it to be amongst the ancient pathways, signage and history.

Of course we allowed ourselves to be open to everything including two to three hours of walking, climbing and or stomping in waterways and squeezing ourselves along ancient pathways etc.just to experience the history of the place. I woke wanting a walk and I sure got it. But to end up in open fields with knee-high thorn bushes tearing at our pants and squelching moisture in our shoes? Well, these walks were home to the ancients so what were we complaining about. If I wait long enough I think his obsession with antiquities may lessen then again......click on the photos to enlarge!

Forget Mother's Day...well maybe...but this I find too beautiful to forget.

I wanna go to SIENA!!
I've always wanted to go to SIENA!
Alright...so we'll go!! I know I'll have to do some climbing. So what! We are used to that from Petra and from last year in Florence. Let's go!

Can you believe that we bought some tickets...after finding our hotel that is and driving through the city of Siena and being stopped by the local police. The choices of the tickets were 1. climb to the top of supposed 'new' Cathedral, the one never finished and the one which was supposed to replace the original Cathedral. Or, we could go underground to the basement of the main Cathedral and spend an hour or two admiring all or we could come back the next day and climb into the roof of the cathedral to take photos and/or come back and admire another church and climb again or go across the road and discover some neolithic earth works and a huge, what was once the biggest hospital in Europe but is now a museum. I wanna see it all!! And we did!

And in between the churches looked a bit fussy from the outside but....then there were the floor tiles reminiscent of the inquisition period in history or the many figurines, the carvings not only in wood or ceramic, the lights, the...oh...the...and the...if only google would let me place these photos where I want them!!!Don't forget to click on them to enlarge the pictures.

From the pre- BC to the medieval ... in Italy!

Yes we needed a break... as anyone would! Thanks to Egypt and their re-organisation of flights,in their language... a cancellation of our flight from Cairo to Rome direct...we hadtofind another carrier.So why not stop at Athens, Greece, to meet up with a long-time friend. You realise I didn't use the term 'OLD'. At our age (he is six months older than me) old is not a description one uses easily.
And so it was quite a relief to be standing in the never ending queue of customs to make our way through to the other side. We knew he'd be waiting... and we werent disappointed. But how easy was this? We were all exclaiming our pleasure at the smooth run as we kissed each cheek...but after a few minutes...after our admiration for the airport developments we hadn't seen before...the economic situation of Greece became obvious.
Our friend, an ex-resident of Australia, couldn't believe that we were journeying to Europe in these "depressed" economic times. He had heard of:Superannuation:or his ex-wife had anyway and that was our explanation... not the ex. but the word,savings. Time to change the topic we thought.Those two (or three) words were not acceptable in modern Greece. After a couple of hours we were ready to face the flight from hell!! A delay at first then to our horror we found ourselves amongst 200 fellow angry and frustrated travellers of the ALITALIA line. So when I say Mediavel you instantly understand my meaning.
So we wound our wayto the HIRE car and full of confidence drove out listening to our hired TomTom. But why was the women's voice tell us to turn left when there was no room to turn left, only a right turn possible? This went on all the way until after midnight when we gave in and rang the pre-booked BB and cancelled. Surprise, surprise we found another hotel room over-looking the ocean. So being a tourist is not all beer and skittles!!
Next day we headed towards Siena.

 And this is where the real medieval era faced us. On every hill we could recognise a conglomeration of buildings, sometimes walled sometimes not but nevertheless accessible by car and open for the inspection by tourists.

 And I thought I lived close to my neighbours

on our 300square metres property. But this what travel does to you...it opens your eyes! Each little hole not necessarily letting in light appeared occupied by some keen resident willing to exploit
 the medieval memories,including us. Of course we were willing each time to understand the motivation of each resident...all we could remember was the Australian habit of desiring a quarter acre of land with a nice house, and maybe somewhere to put the car...in the garage? Click on the photos to enlarge!

Fear of the unknown!

There was some, certainly, especially since Isis had threatened terrorist activity in Amman in the weeks previously. However the bus with a load of British Tourists in the main, some colonialists and one or two Americans, drove without incident to the south of Jordan.
All on board welcomed the sight of over 1200 tents indicating the home of refugees, all it appeared well looked after and all, as the local guide had told us, all now Jordanians with the right to work. Only problem is that the  new workers were under-cutting the locals efforts in the workplace. So a quality of life for the  locals might be seen to be threatened by the newcomers.

Then again we Australians have been fed on a sense of fear since it made it much easier for the government  and previous right wing governments to ignore human rights and change laws to suit their intentions rather than the rights of the individual. But....politics is.....

So when I read what Anne Micheals' character, Jakob Beer, said about the sense of fear in the book, Fugitive Pieces, it occurred to me that a better quotation I probably wouldn't find to emphasise my point. This book was Anne's first attempt at novel writing and I must say it is some of the best writing I have ever read anywhere and at any time.

"I learned to tolerate images rising in me like bruises. But in my continuous expectation of the burst door, the taste of blood that filled my mouth suddenly, many times a day, I couldn't conceive of any feeling stronger than fear. What is stronger than fear? Who is stronger than fear?"page 19.

So fear of the unknown would not be what I would wonder about. I decided to look it straight in the eye and act by buying two books at Petra 1. Living with Arabs by Joan Ward and 2. Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. Both people I discovered wanted to experience some excitement in their lives. Joan Ward, a teacher close to retirement from England, discovered and fell in love with the mountains of Petra whereas the nineteen-year-old, a back-packer from Nelson, New Zealand, fell in love with a local Bedouin. Although Joan Ward was not expected to live in a cave, she taught English at Amman and explored life in Petra at weekends. Marguerite, married and had three children, became a Muslim and lived in the culture, inside her husband's cave at the most, and moved to the local village at the behest of the government some years later. Her husband died soon after.

Both books give a good insight into the Muslim culture.

 Seeing I have mentioned Fugitive Pieces by Anne Micheals, I need to write about In The Half Light by Anthony Lawrence. This, also by a first time novel writer, I must say is very impressive and a talent to which many of us can aspire. I have read both books since returning from holidays and feel proud to say that both are books worth re-reading many times. And I keep reminding myself also that both books were bought for $3.00 each at the Save the Children's Book Fund at Belmont W.A. When I can face the recycling of them in the future I will take them back and hope to find two more with writing just as good.

Toss Up! Book review or our visit to Petra!

Looks like Petra won. The book review must be next even if I do love the books I have recently read...two I bought in Petra at our hotel and two I bought at the Save The Children's second -hand book store at Belmont for $3.00 each before we left. But more of that in the next Blog.

Some Archaeologists have ranked ancient Petra as the eighth wonder of the ancient world...too true! Here the Historian, Anthropologist, Archaeologist, Geologist, Architect and Naturalist, not to mention the tourist, can find  something to satisfy their cravings for the ancient world. Once inside questions about how, why, and where and by whom will fly to mind never to be left unanswered.
Multicoloured sandstone mountains on a secluded site will challenge the fit and unfit tourist with the rocky slopes, craggy mountain tops, high cliffs, celebrated tombs, theatres and carved stairways. All make up and leave or create a mythical aura filling the visitor with wonderment.
So who created this amazing city with its capitol named Petra?

The Nabateans, one of the most talented people in history.They were an ancient tribe from the Arabian Peninsula. A materialistic peoples they settled 2,200 years ago in southern Jordan and utilised the existing trade routes to become very successful traders. When the trade routes were displaced by the warring Romans the Nabateans had to give in and be over-ruled. So the city which had been throbbing with life had to be disbanded. Thanks to a Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt it was re-discovered in 1812.

But how could any warring people reach Petra? Its isolation heavily disguised as anyone who visits will find out.
The ancient main entrance to Petra, As-Siq, an impressive 1200 metres long, deep and narrow, is hemmed in by cliffs soaring up to 80 metres high.Bizarre looking geological features, colourful rock formations, water channels cut into cliffs and niches cut into the rock keep the visitor enthralled.
The 1200 metres disappear in minutes, well almost, and the reward awaits the traveller. The treasury, Al-Khazneh, the most beautiful and astonishing monument in all of Petra, faces you as you emerge from the Siq. Suddenly this enormous sandstone carving dwarfs you and you turn to find, camels, donkeys, horses and their drivers surrounding you and offering 'air-conditioned' rides for the exhausted tourist. Yes, you could have been driven to see this marvel but never mind the offers will follow you as you struggle your way through Petra, sometimes hot sand, sometimes slippery steps hued into the walls of rock and sometimes dirt tracks. A flight of 800 stairs cut into the rock takes you up the mountain of Ad-Deir, the second most attractive carving, the monastry, with its surrounding views.






Salesmanship starts early in young lives. In this case the patterned rocks chipped out of rock somewhere in the area attract tourists but then so do young eager little girls....leaving the tourist wondering...many stopping just to smile in sympathy with the little sales lady.







Through the city centre a beautiful collonaded street remains, flanked by temples, public building remains and shops. A nymphaeum once adorned the street, the marble pavement still visible  and useable today.

 The largest of the Royal Tombs, believed to have been carved around 70 AD, was altered in the 15thC as it was consecrated as a Byzantine church. The main chamber was 17x18.9metres.

We scrambled over heights and rocky paths to find at the end of the day a ride home to the gate using a horse driven chariot would not only help the local economy but rush us to a nice cold drink at the hotel bar. Yes this hotel did have a liquor licence.

The colour of rocks changes as the day is long reflecting the sun's rays. Sometimes a rock carving is discovered, perhaps reflecting someone of importance, however our archaeologist thought it was worth photographing.

Still at St. Stephens Church AD785 in Jordan

Yes hard to believe that this church is still with us and is known and has left a multitude of mosaic flooring to stun the visitor. Of course I have had a bit of trouble getting the year right but then a look at some of the mosaics will make up for that. The mosaics displayed the many activities that the villagers participated in, such as fishing, vegetable growing etc..Over the years different God-loving religions took control and their habit was to simply destroy the faces portrayed if they didn't suit the belief. These images I didn't include seeing I am such a perfectionist! Ha!Not really! But if you enlarge the photos you will see how minute the individual mosaic tiles were.


And so on to the various bath houses which offered
accommodation for the weary traveller not to mention opportunities to relax and spend time in a chapel. Of course some have been restored to some degree yet in general the mind boggled to see the many rooms and chapels presented. Not to mention the descriptive wall sketches.

Important information shows above, if the photo is enlarged, how one of the domes depicts the first ever understanding of Astrology and a depiction of the star signs ie; Leo, Sagittarius, Libra etc.