Turning Point

The 17th century paintings on the 14th century Mill Bridge:
The Reuss River, Luzern:


With the medieval water tower behind us in Luzern:
Over the chapel bridge:
The lion monument, dedicated to the Swiss Guard that were mobbed and killed in Paris during the French Revolution:

Out of Levanto this morning, I realized that the whole thing wraps up in two days... We’ve been so busy enjoying the good life in Italy I haven’t really been thinking about what day it is or when we go home. On our way out of Italy, we stopped in Milano to visit the massive cathedral (4^th largest in Europe). I haven’t been before, but I had read that the visit to the rooftop is the highlight – however the stairs were closed! Not a lot of people complained about missing more stairs though. The inside of the cathedral was, well, the inside of a cathedral – lots of stained glass, painting, sculpture. I think the kids are cathedraled-out. I think I’m cathedraled-out! Well, maybe not. I did enjoy the statue of St. Bartholomew (whose martyrdom involved being skinned alive) – he is standing, holding his skin like a toga, with all his muscles/veins/ligaments exposed. It was done by a student of DaVinci – those Renaissance artists were very interested in anatomy, and studied cadavers (illegally) to perfect their art.

We had a beautiful sunny drive through the Swiss Alps in the afternoon, and lots of people tried (mostly in vain) to capture the scenery through the window of the moving bus. I used to do that too. Now I just sit back and enjoy it (if I’m awake). I love photography, but sometimes get tired of photographing something I’ve seen 6 times before. I don’t tire of visiting the same spots though – I always learn something new, notice something different, and mostly just enjoy seeing the kids’ (and parents’) reactions. Maybe next year I’ll just take pictures of everyone else taking pictures or gawking at whatever castle, church, or monument we are at.

In Luzern we had a kind of long, drawn out visit to the local swiss army knife shops, and then a short tour over the Chapel Bridge and around the Reuss River as the sun set. The highlight of Luzern was probably the entertainment at the youth hostel. The parents, led by Mrs. Fairley and Mrs. Fast, put together a series of skits lampooning themselves, the teachers, and of course the kids. It’s all on video – us embarrassing ourselves that is. Critics such as Morgan had this to say: “I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants”. Good times. Good times.