Halloween in Ravenna

While we are sorry to miss the Hip Hop Halloween in Chioggia, Ravenna has been great.  Not many activities for adults but there are some things for i bambini, which is quite a change from 10 or even 5 years ago.

If you look carefully you can seem some of the bubbles that were drifting all around the street from a bubble machine in an apartment above the store.

We spent the day seeing the sites we missed in the last two days and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather (about 60 F).  We were in lightweight short sleeve shirts, but the Italians obviously think it is a lot colder than we think it is--most people were wearing sweaters or jackets or sweaters and jackets.  There was a rally in the Piazza del Popolo near our B&B which was quite interesting, although there seemed to be more police, army and navy than protesters.  As far as we could tell, it was a protest about excessive bank charges and interest rates and a call for a strike against banks.

Navy guys waiting for the protest to start

We visited the tomb of Dante Alighieri today.  Dante was a Tuscan, but he was convicted of fraud and baratry in Florence and had to flee the city, leaving wife and kids behind.  He ended up in Ravenna where he was praised and honored, and, ultimately, buried.  However, a century or so later, Florence wanted him back and the Pope sided with Florence.  The wily monks hid Dante's bones in the church of San Francesco where they remained for about 3 centuries, until they were rediscovered and placed in a sarcophagus in front of the church--oddly, they are not in the fancy mausoleum erected nearby in his honor.

 Nancy inside the Dante Mausoleum, and Tom in front of the Mausoleum

Above is a painting of Dante.  After the mausoleum and the church, we visited the Dante museum (mostly in search of a bathroom, but it was a nice stop).  In addition to a LOT of information about Dante, there was an adjacent exhibit about modern mosaics, some pictures of which are left and below.  I don't think the 5th century artists have to worry about being outshined by the current mosaics.
 

              Courtyard at the Dante museum--I think the statues are supposed to be the young Beatrice and young Dante.   Dante supposedly met Beatrice when he was only 9 years old.

While wandering around town and searching for more sites, we saw the leaning tower of  Ravenna (named by us).

                          We stopped to have our first gelato of this trip to Italy--hard to believe we held out this long!  Delicious.

 Lampone and pistachio gelato

We also visited the Domus di Tappeti di Pietra, which has  the only non-religious mosaics in Ravenna.  When they excavated the site, they found levels going back to 200 A.D.  The mosaics from the 6th century floor  are on display.

                                                               mosaic hopscotch!

Tom explores his feminine side at the Domus dei Tappeti

                                 Exterior of San Apollinaire

 Flooded floor of San Francesco--the current water level is about 3 feet above where it was when the church was built.  Goldfish swim around there now.

We ended up the tourist day with a visit to the Basilica di San Appolinaire Nuovo, which has some of the best preserved mosaics.  My camera battery expired, so you are spared pictures of them. . We made our weary way back to the B&B with a stop at the Coop supermarket for necessary supplies for a quiet night in.  Tomorrow, on to Bologna..