Florence 2019

"We shall meet again before long to march to new triumphs. "
Giuseppe Garibaldi

Anyone who has followed this blog will know how 

much we enjoyed visiting Italy. We cannot help 

 worrying about all the lovely people we met on our trips.

Italy passes 1m cases

The total number of coronavirus cases registered in Italy since the start of the pandemic surpassed the one million mark on Wednesday, the health ministry said.

About 32,961 new infections were recorded in the past 24 hours, down from the 35,098 cases reported on Tuesday.

The ministry also reported 623 Covid-related deaths, up from 580 the day before and the highest figure since April 6.

A total of 42,953 people have now died because of coronavirus in Italy since the disease came to light in February.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/nov/11/coronavirus-live-news-governments-scramble-to-secure-vaccine-doses-as-us-infections-top-100000-for-seventh-day-in-a-row?page=with:block-5fac0f598f08cd9e0b7f7426#block-5fac0f598f08cd9e0b7f7426

Why Italians Are Growing Apples for Wild Bears (see link below)

"Bears are made of the same dust as we, and they breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters. A bear's days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart pulsing like ours. He was poured from the same first fountain."

John Muir

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/04/what-wildlife-really-looks-like/609721/

Grizzly Bear seen in Banff National Park Canada (2011)

Florence Sept. 2019 Verdi

"Fly, my thoughts, on wings of gold;      "Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate;
go settle upon the slopes and the hills,   va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli,
where, soft and mild, the sweet airs       ove olezzano tepide e molli
of my native land smell fragrant!"          l'aure dolci del suolo natal!"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Va,_pensiero

We watched the Venice episode of Lucy Worsley's Nights at the Opera
last night.

Italian Trip; Detail of Sculpture

"As the sunrise to the night,
As the north wind to the clouds,
As the earthquake’s fiery flight,
Ruining mountain solitudes,
Everlasting Italy,
Be those hopes and fears on thee."

To Italy by Shelly

Dolomites Part 2

"Where’s the trail to Cold Mountain?
Cold Mountain? There’s no clear way.
Ice, in summer, is still frozen.
Bright sun shines through thick fog.
You won’t get there following me.
Your heart and mine are not the same.
If your heart was like mine,
You’d have made it, and be there!"

from Words from Cold Mountain
by Han-shan


The Dolomites seem much more developed
than the Rockies with electric power
extending high into the mountains. We asked
our driver who has taken tourists into the
mountains for 7 years, what animals he
had seen, he had only seen deer twice again
a real contrast to the amount of wildlife we would
we would normally see in the Rockies.

These paved paths extend around the entire 

mountain a walk of 2 or 3 hours.

In the photo below you can see two transmission towers 

bringing power right up the mountain.

“Mountains, according to the angle of view, the season, 

the time of day, the beholder's frame of mind, or any one 

thing, can effectively change their appearance. Thus, it is 

essential to recognize that we can never know more than 

one side, one small aspect of a mountain.”

from A Wild Sheep Chase

by Haruki Murakami

Pieve di Cadore birthplace of Titian

On our way to the Dolomite mountains we stopped at a charming alpine town.

Pieve di Cadore was the birthplace of Titian a leading artist of the Italian Renaissance.

The Church, Chiesa di Santa Maria Nascente was lovely.