Bobby Burns Day

We have eaten haggis and lived to tell about it.

Robert Burns, the Scottish poet ("O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!"), was born on 25 January 1759. His birthday is not a national holiday in Great Britain, but Brits seldom pass up an excuse for a party.

"Bobby Burns Day" celebrations are usually dinners featuring haggis, a kind of Scottish soul food made from the ground heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, along with oatmeal and spices, stuffed into the sheep's stomach. This explains why alcohol is usually involved (Scotch whisky or ale), as some courage is necessary to eat haggis.

Haggis is considered the national dish of Scotland as a result of Robert Burns' poem Address to a Haggis, written in 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (turnips and potatoes). On Bobby Burns Night, the haggis is brought to the table with the accompaniment of bagpipes, and ceremoniously cut open with a dagger (though a kitchen knife will do if a dagger isn't handy).

Photo courtesy of www.holidayscotland.org

We went to The Lion Inn, our neighborhood pub of choice (see below) for the Bobby Burns celebration. The place was packed. There was a local metal rock band called the "Mighty Scotch Chocolate" (I think), who all wear kilts and look like extras from Braveheart. The lead vocal alternates between singing and playing the bagpipes. It's a nice balance, as the pipes require no amplification.

We didn't stay long, as there was no place to sit. But they were serving free haggis with neeps and tatties, and though we'd already eaten, we tried it (along with a pint to wash it down). It really was quite good -- sort of like meatloaf.

One merely has to forget the recipe to enjoy it.

Changeable Weather

We walked to the grocery store. It's in the low 40s today. It was partly sunny when we left home, and remained that way throughout the 15-20 minute walk.

But when we left the store, it began to sprinkle. Then it began to rain. Then the wind began to blow and it rained harder. It rained all the way home, and we were soaked by the time we got back.

By the time we got our clothes changed and the wet things hung up to dry, the sun was shining again.

People in the Midwest often say things like, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a bit, and it will change." But the weather in England is even more changeable than in Iowa. It changes minute by minute.

It changes so much that forecasts don't even try to pinpoint what will happen. The weather reports are almost always for the whole country, or regional at best. They are usually very general. Here is today's forecast for the East Midlands (where Nottingham is):

"Showers dying out to leave it dry and mostly clear, with lighter winds, allowing temperatures to fall quickly, with a widespread slight frost developing. Late in the night thickening cloud and outbreaks of rain, with some hill snow, will arrive."

In other words, it's going to rain awhile some places, then it will quit, then it will rain again. And it may get below freezing in some places.

And they could post that same forecast everyday for the month and it would be just as accurate. Just like horoscopes are sometimes vague enough to ring true.

The Euro Zone [Warning: Long, philosophical musings]

Political rhetoric in the U.S. has recently turned anti-European. A Gingrich spot prior to the Iowa caucuses derided Romney for being able to speak French. Romney, in a debate, accused President Obama of trying to make the U.S. "more European." The fact is, all societies have problems -- including the U.S. But European countries are far from dismal failures. We've just spent a month traveling on the European continent, so that makes us political and economic experts, right? OK, not so much. But here are some observations:

Italy and Spain are on the critical list of the Euro crisis. You wouldn't know it from the street. Both countries appear to be just as happy and prosperous as the Netherlands, or England, which are considered "healthy." For that matter, they seem as well off as the U.S.

Businesses seem to be thriving. Yes, we saw some boarded up factories, but fewer vacant storefronts than at home. Public employees, and people whose jobs are tied closely to government, such as railway workers, are striking because governments often economize on the backs of their workers. Unemployment, however, tends to be invisible. There are no more beggars in the streets than in big cities anywhere -- and they are usually targeting tourists.

Food is comparably priced, though some things are much more expensive and other things are cheaper. (We got great cappuccino anywhere in Italy for about $1.75. How much does Starbucks charge at home?) The stores are well-stocked and people seem to be doing lots of shopping. The tourist shops weren't doing much business, but that's because in the off season there are so few tourists.

Spain invested in infrastructure, and now has to pay the bill.

What we noticed has changed from our first trip to Europe in 1976 is that the infrastructure is much improved. When we were in Italy then, it wasn't even safe to drink the tap water. It was like a Third World country. We weren't in Spain on that trip, but our understanding is that it was similar. Things in Europe then looked a lot like some parts of China look today.

Today, Madrid has a Metro system that puts the London Tube to shame (watch for the horror stories about London transportation when the Olympics start this summer). Madrid's system is clean, modern, and easy to navigate. It's also a lot cheaper to ride than in England. Rome's Metro is so limited (only two lines and one intersection between them) that it's hard to compare, but what there is of it is clean and cheap.

Italian trains run on time (except when rail workers are on strike over pay cuts)

Trains and busses in both countries are clean, efficient, and run on time. They are also a bargain. British trains and busses are usually clean and efficient, and generally run on time, but are quite expensive. People in America (except in a few urban areas) haven't had passenger rail of any kind, at any price, for decades. Intercity busses in the U.S. are rare, and have reputation for filth.

Super highways in all of these countries are on par with the best Interstate highways in the U.S., usually with fewer pot holes. Fuel is expensive (equivalent to around $8.50 per U.S. gallon in most of Europe, a bit cheaper in UK, but still over $8), so cars tend to be smaller and more fuel-efficient, but people still drive. And there are affordable public transport alternatives.

Spanish superhighways are as good as U.S. interstates, but without the potholes.

[Aside: I was walking along the street in Nottingham the other day and saw a car with a Toyota logo on the grill, and thought to myself, "Wow, that's a really huge Toyota!" When I got closer, I saw that it was a Corolla. It's all in what we get used to.]

So what's the problem? Countries like Spain and Italy (and Greece, probably, but we'll withhold judgement until we've been there later this spring) invested heavily in new infrastructure during the good times. Their governments put people to work and built roads and railways and urban transit systems that put them on par with, or ahead of, their northern European neighbors. Their governments went heavily into debt to do this, assuming that good times would continue and the investments would pay off.

But then the greedy U.S. banking system popped the real estate bubble they had created and brought a large economic house of cards crashing down around the world. No one saw this coming -- not the Fed, or the regulators, or the European Central Bank, or anyone else.

Because the Euro separates fiscal control from monetary control, the governments who went out on a limb were left holding the bag. And now it's that same greedy banking system that is holding their feet to the fire to pay up in a recession. If they still had their own currencies they could do what our U.S. government does and, essentially, print more money (I know it's not quite that simple in reality, but essentially). But because they are in the Euro, they can't, and they're getting squeezed.

In the long run, these infrastructure investments will probably pay dividends and be good choices. They already have improved life and the business climate for common citizens. But the larger pay-off will now be far down the road.

True, we saw a great many Italians getting on and off busses without ever bothering to punch a ticket, and no one seemed to be enforcing. The work day, especially in Spain, seems incredibly short for many businesses. And from what we read, tax evasion is huge in most of these countries (but then Mitt only pays 15%, too). So there are some things that need to be done on the revenue side.

But generally, these countries are in trouble for having done the right thing for their people. And their people are legitimately angry for now being asked to pay for, in few years, what they expected to pay for over a few decades. No good deed goes unpunished.

Home to Rome

By this time we are somewhat weary of travel and ready to be back home in Nottingham. But plans are plans (and airline tickets are airline tickets), so we have 24 hours to kill in Rome.

Due to our landlord not showing up in a timely fashion, and an overzealous railway ticket agent who seemed to misunderstand our lack of urgency about getting back to Rome, we were up before the sun, left the room key in the door, and were off to an early train. This one cost more than the other, very reasonable train tickets we had purchased in Italy, and once on board we discovered that we were in our own little compartment on a very smooth, quiet, and fast express train. We were also traveling during the peak morning rush hour, so that probably added to the cost, as well.

The Arch of Titus, in the Roman Forum, famously celebrates the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, which remains a "Wailing Wall" to this day.

Arriving at Rome’s Termini Centrale before 10:30 a.m., we had contemplated a trip out on the Appian Way to see one of the catacombs, but that quickly began to look like a complicated and expensive proposition. So we dropped our bags at the hotel and walked to the Forum and Colosseum.

We’d seen all this by night just over a week ago on the outside, and on the inside 35 years ago, but it proved to be worthwhile even though we started out less than enthusiastic about it. It appears that more of the Forum has been excavated and opened than was the case three decades ago (or perhaps our memories are fading), and the exhibits in the Colosseum were definitely better than before.

Colosseum exterior

After lots of walking and climbing around the monuments, we found a bench in the sun on a beautifully warm January day (upper-50s) and enjoyed a gelato (very tasty Italian ice cream) before heading back to the hotel.

The Colosseum, interior 

The hotel was interesting. Well located and generally nicely refurbished, this was a fairly expensive place in season, but offered very reasonably off season on an online hotel site. They put us in a big room way up on the sixth floor (no view, however), but when I tried the key for the first time, the entire door handle came off in my hand!

All alone on the Spanish steps (which usually can't be seen because they are covered with tourists)

They sent a guy to fix that, and while he was working on it, I noticed that the remote control would not turn on the TV, and called this to his attention. He messed with it awhile, then said he’d be back. He returned and messed some more, then left to get a different TV, returned with another guy, and after an hour or so even the hotel manager was there. She and the two guys were going back and forth in Italian, as they tried different TVs, new cables, different remotes, etc. Eventually we had BBC World News on the screen, but it really took some doing!

The two of us at Trevi Fountain

Next morning we rode the Metro to see the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, neither of which took very long as there were few tourists anywhere to get in our way. One can't get near either for the crowds in summer. We came back and lounged around the room (to write this blog, etc.) until check-out time, grabbed a quick pizza for lunch, and headed for the airport.

Romans take communication studies seriously.

The flight home was uneventful and we arrived home on time. The first flight, from Rome to Frankfurt, afforded a gorgeous view of the snow-capped Alps on a crystal-clear afternoon.

Siena and Assisi

We made it! Due to the rail strike, the two hour trip to Siena took us a bit over five hours. Having mastered the rail system, we had to figure out the inter-city busses. And we had to follow our own instincts over against the advice of helpful Italian ticket agents. But we made it.

Il Campo, the main square in Siena, is not square, but like an amphitheater

Siena is a beautiful city in which all the buildings (at least in the old, Medieval portion) date from the 1300s and are made of the same local brick that is the color (according to the Rick Steves travel guidebook) that the big box of Crayola crayons calls “Burnt Siena.” About right. Il Campo, the town square, is unique, and dominated by a high tower above the old city hall (which is now a museum).

It's all the color of Burnt Siena!

But dominating that, and everything else, is the Duomo (cathedral) which is even more grand than that of Florence. It took more than 200 years just to complete the mosaics in the floors! Above, looking down on us, are more that 170 popes, from St. Peter into the 12th century (although, despite the labels under their busts, all these popes seem to have shared just a half-dozen or so faces). The frescos on the walls were breathtaking.

All of the popes look alike.

A combination ticket allowed us to visit the Duomo as well as the baptistry (interestingly tucked under the wrong [east] end of the Duomo because of a lack of flat land for building in this hilly place). Also included was the museum (many 700 year old treasures) plus a chance to climb to the top of a wall that was erected in a project to expand the cathedral -- a project that was abandoned after the Black Death wiped out a third of the city’s population. And finally, the ticket allowed us into the crypt, where remains of even earlier frescos and foundations of a Roman temple have been recently uncovered. Fascinating!

Exterior of the Duomo -- like the popes on the inside, the churches all start to look alike on the outside.

It was much easier to get out of Siena than into it, because the strike was only one day. The shortest path from Siena to Assisi is a bus, but it only runs once a day after 5 p.m. So we bought tickets on the train back to Florence (a beautiful ride through countryside and villages in early morning light), and then, after a brief layover for a cup of cappuccino, a direct train to Assisi. This took much longer, but we arrived in Assisi by 2 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., and had time to see most of the sites.

Assisi

Thanks to getting on the wrong bus, we first drove through the newer part of Assisi. This showed us that tourism brought about by Saint Francis (who took a vow of extreme poverty) has brought great wealth to the modern residents (most of whom have taken no such vow). Our walk through the old city on the hill included the old Roman amphitheater, the church of Saint Rufino (a local tossed to the lions by the Romans), church of Saint Clare (including her tomb, which evokes those of Mao or Lenin), the church Sopra di Minerva (built over a Roman temple to the goddess Minerva, with floor drains for the blood of animal sacrifices still visible in the floor either side of the altar.

St. Rufino meets the lion in stone outside of his church

Finally we reached the Basilica di San Francesco -- a massive monument to a man who led a simple life among the poor. We began in the crypt with the tomb (he wasn’t actually buried here for more than 600 years because the Franciscans were afraid relic hunters would steal parts of the body), the lower basilica (amazing frescos), the cloister (advanced teaching center for Franciscans from around the world), and the upper basilica (even more amazing frescos, except those that were damaged in the 1997 earthquake).

Font in St. Rufino's church where St. Francis and St. Clare were both baptized

The whole old town and city walls are extraordinarily well preserved, and may be the best example of a Medieval walled town we’ve seen anywhere. Even though we aren’t especially enamored of saints and religious souvenirs, we were glad we saw Assisi. After much walking on the confusing, narrow, winding streets -- and with the help of a kind woman who spoke little English, but who nevertheless walked blocks out of her way to lead us where we needed to go -- we found our hotel for the night.

Basilica of Saint Francis

The hotel manager spoke almost no English (odd, with so many tourists here from around the world during the regular season), and closed up shop as soon as we checked in (we were apparently the only guests for the night in this, the off season). We came and went with our keys to both outer and inner doors, finding a restaurant near the central piazza where we had, perhaps, the best of many fine meals in Italy.

They claim that St. Francis invented the concept of the nativity scene. This one, outside of his basilica, is life sized. The guy on the far right, by the light, is not a shepherd.

Adventure in Cinque Terra

After visiting a couple more Florence museums on Sunday (Pitti Palace, yet another Medici study in opulence which we nearly had to ourselves when we arrived, the Galileo -- including two of his original telescopes and other instruments -- and the Baptistry of the Duomo -- a separate building outside the church) we left the city by train toward the north, changing at La Spezia, and arriving at the southernmost town of the Cinque Terra ("five lands" of the Italian riviera), Riomaggiore.

Riomaggiore, the first of the Cinque Terra towns.

Riomaggiore, a tiny village, built in a narrow ravine emptying into the Mediterranean Sea, is steep to climb but worth the effort. On the way up from the rail station we visited two small churches decked out for the season. At our hotel, Franca, the owner (who speaks little English), who had been waiting for her only customers of the day to arrive, offered us a nice room in the main hotel, or a self-catering apartment up some steep stairs in the heart of town.

Mary sips a glass of wine in our little apartment.

We took the latter, because it was cute, clean, private, and -- well -- romantic (we’re not too old for that, even six decades on). We could come and go as we pleased and even had a little kitchen to fix our own breakfast or chill a bottle of local wine. The market was just across the street, and Franca just had to shout up to the neighbor’s window from the street below to let her know that there would be someone in the apartment for a couple nights.

A shout up to the neighbors' window alerted the neighborhood to our presence.

We had an excellent meal in the restaurant across the street, but there wasn't much else open. One other restaurant looked inviting, but we saw that already seated there were 7 or 8 U.S. university students we had encountered on the train earlier in the day. They were loud, apparently did not know one another well (we speculated that they had merely run into one another by staying in the same hostel the night before), and some didn't even seem to know where they were going or why -- just that someone had suggested the Cinque Terre for the day, and they were along for the ride. They struck us as very immature, and made us glad for our group of Luther students we’d be back with next week.

We set out on the Cinque Terra trail.

Next morning we bought our day pass for Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, which allowed us to hike the trails and ride the local train all day. We then set out on Via del Amore -- the very easy paved trail from Riomaggiore to the town of Manarola only a kilometer away. The trail got its name from the fact that the five towns were all very isolated for centuries, accessible only by boat. When the railroad came in, and later the hiking trails and national park were established, it was possible for young people to meet, date, and marry someone from the next town -- something very rare before. So this trail got the name of “lovers lane” and the railings are covered with padlocks attesting unending bonds of local lovers, as well as thousands of tourist couples. Yes, we’re old romantics, but no, we did not add a lock to the path.

Lovers' locks on the Via del Amore

At Manarola we visited the church and hiked through the vineyards, including one family vineyard decorated with dozens of life-sized religious figures that are lighted on the nights of religious festivals. This is the work of one local man who made it his mission after surviving a rare illness. We then caught the local train, because we weren't up for a more strenuous walk, and because signs told us part of the trail was closed due to a mudslide. We skipped the third town of Corniglia because it didn’t sound very interesting in the tour book, and rode on to Vernazza.

Life-sized religious figures walk the vineyards at Manarola

We were told when we bought our park pass that today was the first day Vernazza was reopened to tourists, but we didn't really understand why it might have been closed. When we got there, it became clear. In late October torrential rains created mud slides and flash floods in the area. A huge wall of mud and water had washed through Vernazza two months ago. The locals seemed incredulous that we could not know this (stupid Americans!). Nothing was open in Vernazza, and work is underway to restore gas, electricity, water, and sewer service to the town. We visited the 14th century church to find it nothing but bare stone, and filled with pallets of food being distributed to needy residents. We felt as though we had intruded on a tragedy, which we had. After climbing to the castle ruins to take in the view, and walking around a bit more to take in the devastation, we got back on the train.

We couldn't really bring ourselves to photograph the worst of the destruction a Vernazza.

At Monterosso al Mare, the fifth and final town, things were not as bad, but many shops were still gutted. The church had been cleaned up, though one could see the water damage on the walls. A couple of restaurants were open, so we got lunch, climbed to the ancient convent for the view, and enjoyed a cold drink at a cantina along the shore.

St. Francis of Assisi (who probably  never set foot here) shows off the Cinque Terra to a wild wolf from the convent above Monterosso al Mare

Returning to Riomaggiore, we learned that a railway strike scheduled for the next day may make it difficult to get to Siena, where we have a non-refundable hotel reservation. Between natural disasters and labor disputes, our luck seems not to be very good! We bought a ticket for an early morning train to Pisa because the ticket agent seemed to think we could get that far before the 9 a.m. strike deadline. Then we’ll see.

Off to Italy

Traveling once again after a few short days at home in Nottingham, we took the train to London and enjoyed a day at the British Library seeing a special exhibit of incunabular books owned by English monarchs, most from the Library’s own collection. The exhibit focused primarily on the illuminations -- the detailed art work hand drawn in the pages of books before the age of print.

In the evening, after standing in line for almost two hours, we were admitted to the Sir John Soane Museum for a special candlelight exhibition. Soane was an architect in the Victorian era who filled his rather odd home with an even more odd collection of artworks and architectural objects from the ancient Egyptians right on through his own time.

Dome of St. Peter's in Rome

Next morning we flew to Rome. After nearly missing a connection in Munich, and taking a wild ride by shuttle bus from the airport, we arrived at our rather nice cheap hotel (off season travel saves bunches of money). We took a long walk past the Colosseum and the Forum after dark. Nothing was open to go into, but all was beautifully lighted as we walked by.

Hallway outside the Sistine Chapel

The next morning we were nearly first in line at the Vatican Museum. We had seen the Sistine Chapel 35 years ago, but it has undergone a major restoration since then, and the colors are now much more vivid. When we got to it, we practically had the place to ourselves for the first few minutes, until the thundering hordes caught up with us!

City walls of Orvieto

We then traveled by train to Orvieto, to the north. This ancient city on a steep hill is reached bay a funicular elevator (think Dubuque, Iowa but bigger) from the rail station up to the top. The old city is mostly unchanged from at least the 17th century, with remnants of Medieval and ancient Etruscan life still to be found.

The Duomo at Orvieto

 The Duomo, or cathedral, is quite fabulous. We also toured a system of hand-dug caves under the city, some of which date from the Etruscans, which are still used today, primarily as wine cellars.

Pigeon roosts in the caves beneath Orvieto

Our train to Florence was less hectic than the previous day, and involved no running along the platform to jump aboard with seconds to spare this time. After a relaxing, scenic journey we arrived just before noon, and immediately found the tourist information office with a helpful person who answered all of our questions. We really lucked out on the hotel -- only two blocks from the train station, great view of the Duomo, free breakfast and wi-fi, all for 45 Euro a night. Let’s hear it for off-season travel!

The Duomo in Florence

Armed yet again with a museum card, we visited the 15th century mansion and opulent family chapel of the Medicci family. These people made Bill Gates and Warren Buffet look like paupers by the standards of their day, with their fingers in every business or power pie, even buying the papacy for a nephew, Leo X, who would build St. Peter’s and excommunicate Martin Luther for calling attention to Leo’s (among others) greed and corruption. We went on to visit the Museo di San Marco, the old monastery where Savanorolla lived. This monk was an earlier challenger of Medicci power who was burned at the stake for his trouble. At the Galleria dell Accademia we visited Michelangelo’s David and a number of other sculptures and paintings from the 14th century onward.

Ponte Vecchio

Finally, growing weary, we walked to the Piazza San Giovanni, immediately in front of the Duomo (cathedral) and caught a small part of the Epiphany procession. In Italy, Christmas is a strictly religious holiday. The day for giving gifts and such is the Day of the Three Kings, January 6. For that reason, many shops were closed today, and special services were being held in many churches. We didn’t really understand what was going on, but there were a lot of people in colorful costumes parading by!

Epiphany procession participants

Next day we visited the Uffizi, Vecchio, and Bargello palace museums (how many palaces did these Medici guys have?), walked over the Ponte (bridge) Vecchio, and did a little shopping in the Mercato Centale. We also saw the inside of the Duomo, and visited the museum in the old cloister of Santa Maria Novella. Since our museum cards also serve as unlimited bus passes for three days, we rode around the city to save our legs and see the city from the bus windows.

Chapter House at Santa Maria Novella cloister