Florence Part 1 - Into Tuscany

After the bustle, and stifling heat of Rome, we were both looking forward to moving north to Florence. In particular I was excited about the train journey though the heart of Italy. I was particularly pleased to see that we were travelling on this high speed train, which is similar to that which goes through the Channel Tunnel and reaches speeds of 200mph on the French side. 90 minutes later, and after seeing some beautiful Tuscan countryside fly by in a green blur, we arrived at Florence and one of the ugliest railway stations I've ever seen (no surprise then that it's soon to be replaced by one designed by Norman Foster).

On our first night, co-incidentally my 40th birthday, we had a chance for a look round and then dined magnificently overlooking the Ponte Vecchio. I had one of the greatest meals of my life, which consisted of a veal and porcini mushroom dish so astonishing I'm sure I can still taste it now. My wife had chicken in a truffle sauce which was equally wonderful. In fact, every meal we ate in Florence was superb. In following nights we tried spaghetti with seafood, pasta with wild boar ragu and a wonderful mushroom risotto. If I'm honest we didn't eat that well in Rome, perhaps due to an unfamiliarity with how best to choose a restaurant there, but we more than made up for it in Tuscany.

The pace and temperature were lower in Florence. While there are still great art museums there, the whole relaxed atmosphere of the city and its relatively small size make it a great place for a stroll. The Ponte Vecchio (below) is particularly pretty, and is lined with high quality jewellers.

The famous cathedral is 'Il Duomo', and we had a view of it from our bedroom window (second photo from top). Inside, there are various gardens and apartments, and an unexpected but very interesting leather goods factory.

But best of all, Florence is a relaxed, cool and appallingly pretty place. The antique streets are stuffed with great clothes shops and wonderful places to eat. The night life is bright and arty. And you can see Michelangelo's 'David' and a host of Boticelli and Da Vinci masterpieces in the museums. But there was more to come, as I shall tell you in the next post.

Rome Part 3 - Veni Vidi Vici

I thought I would end my little series of Roman posts with a selection of the best of the other shots I took, and a brief explanation of each. First up, I saw this almost indecently attractive Maserati in a side street as we were scurrying from one church to another. I'm not sure what model it is, but I can tell you that it encapsulates everything I love about modern Italian design and style. Italy isn't just about the past, because the present is just so damn cool. Their cars are horny, there's no other way of putting it. On our trip I saw a couple of these Maseratis, a number of Ferraris, bucket loads of Alfas and most of all, an army of Fiat 500's both old and new. Not only that but I found the standards of dress employed by the average Italian to be rather posher than mine. In particular I came back with a determination to dramatically improve my underwear collection. Not sure quite why but there it is.

A daytime shot of the Trevi fountains, one of the most popular places in Rome. Night and day, this little square is always packed, and whilst there's no sign of Anita Ekberg bouncing around in the shallows, there's enough glamour here to please just about anyone. It's true that we forgot to throw in coins and make a wish, but given the prices in Rome for even a simple coffee, that was probably just as well.

One view of the Piazza de Popolo, which was much bigger and impressive than this shot suggests. But what I like about this picture is that it gives a little slice of what the landscape must have looked like in the time of the Caesars, and that's why it's included here.

One of the multitude of spectacular churches. If you have any interest at all in this sort of thing, then Rome is the place you need to be going for your next holiday.

The Pantheon, and the best preserved relic of the old Empire. Inside are tombs of the great and good, including Raphael who died at the age of just 37.

Our old friend the Coliseum, which I captured from distance on maximum zoom.

One of the great hallways in the Vatican museum.

Raphael's masterpiece fresco, 'The School of Athens', also at the Vatican museum.

And finally the river Tiber (above) and the last resting place of Maximus (below). And that is all I have to say about Rome. We didn't see it all by a long chalk, but that just gives us an excuse to go again. The amount of walking I did was immense however, and at the end of day three I was hobbling along. But it was all worth it, and this is a holiday I'll never forget. Next post, Florence !

Is It Wrong To Dance To The Screentest Music When It Comes On My iPod ?

Is it bad to jive, boogie and hip swing to the theme from this 70's children's programme ?

Am I bad for fixing an image of Michael Rodd's bulletproof hairdo in my mind as I dance ?

And should I even have told you all about any of this ?

Answers on a postcard to :

Michael Rodd c/o Screentest,

BBC TV Centre,

Wood Lane,

W12 8QT,

1978.

BBC Coast

Just a quick post today to tell you about a wonderful BBC show that I've been watching. Now in its fourth series, this programme essentially consists of an aerial tour of Britain's coastline interspersed with features of genuine interest about particular towns and people. Hosted by the enormously likeable Scotsman Neil Oliver and various other enthusiasts, it's a fascinating and unmissable show.

Perhaps the best feature is the astonishing aerial photography but the stories and history uncovered by the programme are equal to it, and the whole thing melds together to form a unique and thoroughly enjoyable TV show. Buy it, watch it and feel as if the very sea air is rippling your hair.

Rome Part 2 - Michelangelo vs Bernini

My appreciation of art has only recently been properly developed. For years I felt that Monet was the beginning and the end of fine art, and that anything more challenging wasn't of interest to me. Then a few years back I watched a series called 'The Power of Art' presented by Simon Schama, and I would recommend everybody reading this to do the same. What Schama achieves with his programmes is to bring these dusty paintings and sculptures alive, give them a story, a life and a context. This changes everything, because what I've found is that the more you know about a piece of art, how it came to be created and what the artist was going through at the time, the more you enjoy it. For instance when you look at Caravaggio's painting of Bacchus, with the Schama explanation in mind, you don't just see a cherubic evocation of the god of wine, but instead you see a jaundiced, worn out party animal who has thoroughly burnt both ends of his candle. But the episode on Bernini was the one that really struck me, where Schama argues that the famous sculpture 'The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa' shows the nun enjoying a sexual orgasm (see above, and the church it's situated in below).

When you realise that masterpieces of art can come (quite literally) alive it makes a trip round art museums a great deal more exciting, and it gives you a renewed respect for the artists who suddenly burst out of the history books and become three dimensional human beings rather than obscure names in a dusty catalogue. Of course I won't pretend to anything more than an enthusiastic amateur but I've surprised myself with how much enjoyment I get from this stuff these days. It must be my age. Anyway, Rome and Florence between them have probably the greatest collection of art anywhere in the world. Both cities are living monuments to the Renaissance and if anything that is the period that dominates their current landscapes, rather than the times of the Roman Empire.

One artist in particular dominates Rome, although he came from Florence. On an average Monday morning on the 13th September 1501 a young sculptor wandered up to a huge piece of marble which was sat in Florence, the stone scarred from a previous attempt to make it into something useful. Two and a half years later that artist finished his sculpture, and then decided to place it in the Square of the Nobles. The sculpture was of David, and it's creator was called Michelangelo Buonarroti. The piece is now in The Academy in Florence and is a monstrous and overpowering work of genius, as I realised when I walked around it in awe a week or so ago. It made Michelangelo's name but he didn't stop there, in fact his output over a long and industrious life is nothing short of amazing.

Moving to Rome, as all the cool kids did, he was soon taken up by the current Pope, and was a made man. His greatest achievement is the stunning ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which took 4 years, and which he only inherited after Raphael backed out of the job. At the end, Pope Julius told him to get down off the scaffolding or he'd have him thrown off. But the results, which had been top secret until the last are there for everyone to see. 10,000 square feet of genius, documenting the creation. Later on he knocked up the immense dome of the Basilica of St. Peter's (above, and which by the way I walked up every one of the 320 sodding steps of), various other sculptures, piazzas and churches, and then he finally returned to the Sistine Chapel as an old man to spend 7 more years painting the 'Fall of Man', a brooding and powerful warning for all us sinners. If baroque Rome is the vision of any one man, it's Michelangelo.

But then came Bernini, the impish, brilliant and monstrously egotistical heir apparent, whose St. Peter's Square (above) is one of the most recognisable pieces of architecture anywhere on the planet. He followed that with the immense canopy (or baldacchino, pictured directly below) that covers the altar of the cathedral, and which is directly above the supposed resting place of the remains of St. Peter himself. Then if you go to the Villa Borghese, you can see three stunning statues of his, including another David, this one of earthly dimensions and with a look of human fury on his face. There are also fountains in the Piazza Navone (once a chariot racing stadium, and now a colossal tourist trap) and an number of other buildings and churches. But my favourite Bernini creation is that of the Santa Maria Della Vittoria, a small church in a small neighbourhood of Rome (second picture down from here). Bernini was invited to perform the commission having fallen out of favour following a sexual scandal and a spot of mutilation. And he did the whole church, from top to toe, including the aforementioned statue that suggests spiritual orgasm. The entire building is spectacular, and is an audacious bit of showing off from the great man.

So in a way, Rome can come across as a battle between these two men, trying to outdo each other through the ages, although in reality they lived at different times. Of course it's unfair to narrow it down to these two, but they are the artists that have left the greatest impression on me, and on the landscape of the city. I've said before on these pages that I do not follow any religion, but that doesn't detract from the astonishment I felt at the Vatican. As an institution it may have dubious origins and a history laced with unsavoury goings on, but as a piece of art it is peerless. The Vatican Museum, which includes the Sistine Chapel and frescoes by Raphael is remarkable enough. The catacombs where you can see the remains of St. Peter are atmospheric and impressive, as is the crypt that contains all the former Popes in their tombs. But nothing can prepare you for the grandeur of the Basilica and square. Not only is it immense, but it's also stunningly beautiful. The square is gigantic and shaped as two large arms embracing the flock. And the church is so big inside you wonder whether it could even have its own weather system.

As I said to a friend, it's a phenomenal piece of propaganda, although commissioned by Popes who often didn't know their frescoes from their oils on canvas. The artists who created it have done their best to replicate God's HQ on earth, and it certainly made me feel small and powerless, which was I imagine, the desired effect. But more than that I felt overawed by the human achievement, that men of the 16th Century could create something so powerful and enduring. And so as I said to someone the other day, I may not believe in God, but I do believe in Michelangelo and Bernini.

Rome Part 1 - Maximus Decimus Meridius

In 2000, I unwittingly sat down in front of the new Ridley Scott movie 'Gladiator' hoping to enjoy this new film, but without any high hopes for it. Two hours later I came out of the cinema with one of those rare glows, that can only be achieved by witnessing cinematic perfection. Old Ridley has made some complete crap over the years no doubt, but every now and then the movie Gods align and allow him to make an 'Alien', a 'Blade Runner' or a 'Gladiator'. On a good day, he is able (and please forgive the movie critic babble) to create believable worlds on that screen. With 'Gladiator' he brought a dead civilisation back to life, made the Roman Empire breathe once more, and created one of the best popular films of the last 30 years. Suffice to say, I was quite taken with his work. Then a little later I devoured both series of HBO's brilliant 'Rome' series, which is out on blu-ray very soon by the way. After that it was time to get serious, and I invested in all eight volumes of Gibbons' complete 'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. As a boy I'd been fascinated by Rome, but as an adult I was entering into full nerd status.

When you look into the history books a little, you see that Imperial Rome set the template for the modern world. Our language, culture, law, architecture, food and weapons can all be directly traced back to that time. We owe our entire civilisation (a stolen Greek word but never mind) to them, for better or for worse. But it all went wrong, and the Western Empire fell 1500 years ago. The Forum became neglected and overgrown, and the Coliseum was used for building supplies. But then came the Renaissance, inspired by books discovered in the Eastern Empire, Roman learning once thought lost forever was re-discovered. And so on and so forth. You can read the rest for yourselves if you want to. Point is, when my wife and I discussed my 40th birthday and where I wanted go for it, I had only one place in mind. I wanted to tread the streets that the Caesars had trod.

So, on the 5th of September 2009, bright and early, we reached the Forum. For those that don't know, this is the part of Ancient Rome upon which stood the Senate, the houses of the rich and the tokens of victory. It's where Julius Caesar was murdered, where Nero built his house covered in solid gold, where Caligula copulated with livestock and where the modern world began. Having seen photos of it, I was expecting little more than a ruin, and in a way that's what remains. But what a ruin. Standing in several acres, and covering various periods of the 1000 years that Rome ruled supreme, the Forum is an astonishing piece of history. Amazingly until recently it was little cared for, and even now you feel it could be better preserved. True, some of the buildings are little more than single columns, like teeth left behind where once a giant stood. But other parts are better preserved such as the extensive remains of the home of Emperor Augustus (the first and most revered of all the Emperors). Then there is the 'Via Sacre' the main street of the forum, where one can still walk under the remarkably well preserved victory arches dedicted to Titus and Trajan. Parts of the old senate building also remain, where Caesar was assassinated, although these structures are nearly gone.

But the overwhelming feeling one gets from this place is that of a ghost Empire, once all powerful and now left like the rotting hulk of a shipwreck. I think it would be something to walk amongst these ruins in the dead of night, just to see if one might run into a ghostly centurion or a vaporous senator. The lasting impression I took from all this was that of the cautionary tale. That no matter how big, how powerful and how rich your empire may be, it can so easily end up like this. A group of ruins, open to tourists and historians of the future to walk round and surmise what went wrong. It would do many current politicians good to have a long hard look around the place. Personally I was bowled over by it, and despite the nearly unbearable heat I spent as much time as I could looking round and trying to soak it up. It's something I'll never forget.

At the other end of the Via Sacre and past a final victory arch (yes Paris, this is where Napolean got the idea for the Arc De Triomphe) lies the best preserved and most iconic part of Imperial Rome, The Coliseum. Built by the Emperor Vespasian long after the likes of Caesar, Augustus, Nero and Caligula were dead, even now it is spectacular and intimidating. Even in a world where we are used to large sports stadia (yes, a Latin word) the thought that the Coliseum was packing in 80,000 spectators nearly 2000 years before Wembley Stadium had even been thought of is an impressive one. As you approach the place the first thing that strikes you is how big it is, even by modern standards. Quite honestly I'd expected it to be small and pokey, but no. It was bloody enormous and I'm a modern man. What it must have meant to Romans in A.D. 79 I can only guess at. Of course there's nothing very attractive about what went on there. Thousands met their deaths for the entertainment of the plebs, criminals were publicly executed, wild animals were slaughtered (ever wondered why there are no tigers left in Africa, ask the Romans about that), Christians were allegedly fed to lions, and women were even raped by wild animals.

But there's a power about the place, even in its dilapidated state. Maybe it's because of the bloodshed that took place, but there's an unmistakeable atmosphere. It's now possible to see down to the catacombs that were situated directly under the main arena. The cells where the Gladiators and condemned criminals alike were kept. Trap doors that released a lion into the arena in the middle of the show. And floors where blood sometimes ran like rainwater. A cross now stands at the side of the arena, installed by a relatively recent Pope in order to preserve the Coliseum and to commerate those that died there. As a result the Coliseum is now consecrated ground and a fascinating relic of the ancient world. It's easy to be bloodthirsty about it 1500 years later, but a lot of men, women and animals died there. And like it or not it's the bloody birthplace of our society.

Of course I couldn't resist doing my best Russell Crowe impression for my embarrassed wife while we were there, and I tried to imagine the scene with a full house, a team of Gladiators and buckets of blood. And if I'm brutally honest can I say that I wouldn't have have loved it ? And could you ? After all, we're all plebians really aren't we.

Is Jimmy Carter Right ?

Despite having been on hols, I've been keeping a close eye on the continuing row over health care in the USA. Last week there was a march on Washington, and someone heckled Obama during his speech to Congress. I've seen interviews with people who quite calmly claim that Obama is the anti-christ, and that his purpose is to destroy America. And it all worries me a good deal. Any impartial observer can see that Obama is the best thing to happen to American politics in decades, and the entire rest of the world are grateful for him. He's intelligent, charismatic, understands the global picture and seems to have his heart in the right place. And yet there seem to be a lot of Americans that hate him.

These Americans are also perpetuating a great number of fairly outrageous and baseless lies about him. Exactly where is the evidence that he's destroying the country ? Oh that's right, there isn't any because it isn't true, and anybody with even a tenuous grasp on sanity should be able to see this. And as for claims that he's the anti-christ, well. First off there's no such thing of course, that belief is primitive superstitious nonsense. There are enough truly evil humans around to totally negate the need for any supernatural beast with a 666 tattoo to come along. Secondly what actions has he taken to suggest such a thing ? I can't see any. So where are these people getting their information from, or perhaps it's better to ask where they are getting their opinions fed to them from.

These views about Obama are so ridiculous that I do wonder whether they are just a convenient smokescreen for what people want to say but don't dare, i.e. that he's black and they don't like it. Jimmy Carter seems to think so, although when I first saw his comments I thought they might be unwise. After all it's a dangerous gambit to play the race card, as it may look as if you yourself are trying to conjure up a smokescreen of your own. But having looked at the facts (facts which are freely available by the way), I think Carter may have a point. There's no justification for the attacks on Obama, and they are so hysterical and borderline insanse that they are either masking something else, or there are some VERY crazy people out there. Views ?

Dan...Dan...Dan...Dan...

A certain book launches today, by a certain well known author. And I'm not ashamed to say that I have ordered it. There was a time when I too was swept up in the Dan Brown hatred, and scoffed at The Da Vinci Code with my best sneer. But what I started to see in this campaign of literary loathing was a trait that I dislike intensely, namely snobbery. One of my great literary heroes, Ian Fleming, suffered from the same thing in his career. His wife was friends with a number of the leading intellectuals of the time, and they were known to laugh behind Fleming's back at the Bond novels. I bet they didn't laugh at the sales figures though.

I'm beginning to feel that the same thing is afflicting Dan Brown. It's so easy to take his work, pull it to pieces, criticise the writing style and point out the bits that he got wrong. But you can't argue with the figure of 80 million, which is the number of copies that 'The Da Vinci Code' sold worldwide. Is everyone who enjoyed it an idiot ? Melvyn Bragg famously said of it at the time, that it was absolutely gripping. And he knows a thing or two does old Melv.

So behind all this sneering I feel the distinct scent of sour grapes. Dan Brown cannot control how many people buy his stuff, and surely couldn't have foreseen the phenomenon it would become. I'm sure he wrote the best book he possibly could, and if it hadn't sold so much I'm sure the critics wouldn't have given it such a kicking. There are many books far worse than his, they just don't sell so well and thus we don't hear about them. If Brown has committed any crime at all it's to be unexpectedly successful, and that's always dangerous for those that treasure the status quo.

So yes, I have ordered 'The Lost Symbol' and am looking forward to it. I also just saw the film of 'Angels & Demons' and enjoyed that too. Brown has concocted a winning formula and millions of people love it. Not only that but it's a book. Not a reality show, nor a celebrity gossip mag, nor a pointless soap opera. It's a book made of paper, that you sit in a comfortable chair with and enjoy in the way that people have been doing for hundreds of years. His stuff certainly has its faults, but it's good fun, entertaining and as Bragg says, quite gripping. So let's give the man a break and perhaps focus on those that really deserve a kicking, because there are an awful lot of them out there.

First Thoughts

I have a fair amount to say about Rome and Florence, and quite a few pictures that I'm quite pleased with. But this will be a short post for today with just some initial impressions. I'd never been to Italy before although I'd always wanted to. Having recently become interested in art, I was curious to see what Italy had to offer, and I wasn't disappointed. I come from a country where art is historically less important than say literature or theatre. So to go to a place where statues by Bernini and Michelangelo are just dotted around the streets was remarkable. You can't really get away from masterpieces in Rome, because Michelangelo's dome to the Vatican is visible nearly constantly and you keep on bumping into Bernini fountains. Even works by others such as the Trevi Fountain above, are breathtaking and abundant. And it's the baroque period that dominates the art and architecture of modern Italy. Very little is left of Imperial Rome, save for the Forum, Coliseum and Pantheon. But there's still enough to dazzle.

Living in Spain as I do, Italy wasn't that different in feel, climate or people. It was, however, greatly more expensive and anyone travelling there should be wary of that, and the number of flim flam artists that proliferate. The rule is, if someone you don't know offers to do something for you, even if they say it's free, it isn't. But those are minor irritations, and should be apparent to anyone that's done their research properly. What is good about Italy is very good. The two cities we visited were stunning, almost to the point where you think they're starting to show off. The art on display is without parallel anywhere on earth, and the buildings are phenomenal. Perhaps most satisfyingly of all the food is extraordinary and a rival to the best that France has to offer. So all in all we loved every second of our stay there and will willingly return at the drop of a hat. Right, tomorrow more photos.

The Italian Job

Well, bugger me !! One week away and it seems like a year. Right now I'm picking round the house as if I've never been here before, and the sense of holiday disorientation is strong. But in case you were wondering yes, I had a marvellous holiday. I will be blogging about various aspects in the next few days and sharing some of the 900 odd photos I took. But until then I need to feel my way back into being me, look at some frightening bank letters and adjust to the increase in temperature (that's a weird thing to come from holiday to isn't it).

Also while I've been away, I've received my blu-ray copy of 'From Russia With Love' which is nothing less than astounding. Looking like it was filmed yesterday, and crammed with HD extras, I'm delighted with it. Sadly this means further Bond HD purchases are now inevitable, but I've narrowed it down to 5-6 tops. Right, now I've gotta go and decide just what the purple rotating sodomy I'm going to eat for dinner tonight. But this blog will return on Monday, with a new look and lots of new drivel.

All Roads Lead To Rome

Tomorrow I shall be flying to Rome, to begin my 40th birthday celebrations. I'll be gone a week or so and this blog will remain closed in my absence. After that it'll be back, refreshed and renewed for the autumn season.

And does turning 40 worry me ? Well, not as much as I thought it would, in fact it's produced some positive benefits. This impending milestone has forced me to, as the Americans say, 'get my shit together'. And my life is a lot more in order than it was a couple of years back.

In case you're interested, on my actual birthday, I shall awake in Rome, will breakfast there and no doubt read telegrams from all over the world congratulating me (ahem). Then we will go to the railway station and take a train into Tuscany and eventually to Florence where we will dine in sight of the famous bridge. All in all I've had much worse birthdays really, and thus the sting of turning 40 will be drawn to some extent. Having said that, to quote a pupil of mine, this birthday does tell me something i.e. 'things are now getting serious'. So from here on in, if I want to do something I'd better get the Hell on with it.

London Calling

I'm considering going home. Not permanently you understand, it would take something of a seismic shift in my life to pull me away from the palm trees, but I am finally, after 18 months away getting homsesick. I knew it had started when I watched a show on TV where a presenter was walking across Trafalgar Square doing a piece to camera, and it was raining and my heart melted a little bit. I spent many happy hours in that part of London when I lived there and it brought back fond memories.

It was never my intention to abandon Britian entirely, but I needed a damn good break, and I think that just under 2 years may be enough. My hope was to divide my time to some extent between both countries, but that is easier said than done. In the end you need to work somewhere, and I have work here. So I expect that the balance will be heavily Spain biased for some time to come. But that means I can visit England as a tourist which will be fun. I'd like to go to Tussauds again, perhaps some of the museums and certainly the Cabinet War Rooms, which are something of a Mecca for me. I haven't decided exact dates yet but I'm pretty sure it'll be soon. Then of course I can live my Bond fantasy to the full, and step off the plane with an unseasonal suntan, and take a cab to an unremarkable building in Regents Park. Oh.