Monthly Archives: July 2012

60 Years Ago Today

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Friday, 4 July 1952:

In the morning we hurried off to the fruit market. Afterwards we journeyed to see the San Lorenzo Church of Medici, Old Sacristy Cloister and library. The library had a 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci with an exhibition of his works. He was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, and writer.

Leonardo da Vinci’s designs were really ahead of his time. He painted many self portraits and there were study sketches of pictures, Madonna on the rocks, and proportions of human body, face, and eyes. I saw designs of battles, weapons, and tanks. Other works included: Design for the Cathedral at Paris, study for horse equestrian statue, sketches for Santa Anna, manuscript of Divine Comedy, writing done backwards in mirror to keep it secret, study of Christ going to Calvary, sketches of Ceasar Borgia a friend, study of the flight of birds, manuscript of Divine Comedy, study for the last supper, wooden carved ceiling, manuscripts collected by Medicos family, pictures of Laura Petrarch, original poem written on vase by Sappho who was an ancient Greek poet, and huge music books written by monks from the 15th century.

Next we saw the Medici chapels in the Basilica of San Lorenzo Medicos Chapel and the crypt. The chapels included the New Sacristy and Chapel of the Princess. The Florence Baptistery had Ghiberti’s doors. The first set of Ghiberti’s four panel doors took twenty years to make. The second set of doors took the rest of his life. Seeking refuge we went in the cathedral to wait for the sun to shine on the right spot for a picture of the Cathedral Brunelleschi of Florence.

The cathedral church of Florence was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as El Duomo. It was started in 1296 a.d. in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio. Later the church was completed structurally in 1436 a.d. with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.

The exterior of the basilica was faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white. It had an elaborate 19th century Gothic revival facade by Emilio De Fabris. The cathedral dome was engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. He received his inspiration from the Pantheon. Later we passed from the cathedral back door and into the baptistry.

Then we had lunch at the same restaurant where we had eaten the night before and at the hotel we had a cool siesta. Afterwards we traveled to Dante’s house, an Italian poet of the Middle Ages, and Palazzo Vecchio, Florence’s town hall. The guide was English speaking and helped us to see all of it in an hour and a half.

Next we reached the Uffizi Gallery. It had masterpieces from the 11th to 18th centuries and 10th and 12th centuries from Tuscany. The Christ on the cross was painted by an unknown painter. Giotto and Cemabore both painted a Madonna and child paintings. Starnina was a follower of Giotto. Angelico from the 15th century painted the coronation of Virgin Fillipo Lippi. The first painting on canvas by Botticelli was the Birth of Venus. Next was the only painting in Italy by Michelangelo done in wood.

I walked down to the end of the courtyard to take pictures with Herr Watkins and Dick. When we got back to the Vecchio bridge everyone had taken off. Here was little old me waiting to climb the tower. Lisa popped out of nowhere and I talked her into going up with me. I had difficulty finding the stairs again, but success! We climbed the tower together.

There was a beautiful view of the city at the first platform all around the tower. We continued upward through the locked door and tower. There were peep holes at different intervals and I found another platform with an equally incredible 360º view of the city. On the last lap I ran into some congestion of the winding stairs. Then onto the top.

At the top we met two students from Chicago and New York. Both were traveling alone with their travels concentrating on Italy. We compared notes on our travels to see who could outdo each other. It was time to close the tower, so we went down on the street again.

We stopped at a sidewalk café for an orangeade, our favorite drink in Italy. I told them about our cute, cool, and cheap restaurant. While our meal had cost 500 lire a piece, the students last meal had cost 1400 lire a piece. We showed them the way. They had to go back to their hotel so we ate. They came back before we were through, so we chatted with them some more. And we met a Texan as well. Then home to bed.

60 Years Ago Today

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Thursday, 3 July 1952:

In the morning my breakfast in the hotel included a really soft six minute boiled egg. Then we started the day by visiting a church that was built over St. Francis’ grave. In the middle of the church the frescos began with a beautiful mural by Giotto and another artist. Giotto’s mural had a bright blue background with his characteristic holes.

Then we went down into the lower church and into the crypt where I saw an ornamental iron grave. At the crypt there was a German speaking monk. Another monk came up to us as we were leaving and asked for change. He had lots of small change in American money and wanted to change it for American dollars, so we obliged. Next on the tour was the upper church. It was Gothic even more so than the middle church.

Soon after it was back to the bus and off to Florence. The bus climbed up to Perugia, which was one of the most beautiful hill cities, and then down to the shores of Lake Trasimeno. With Florence coming up I napped.

I couldn’t tell for sure about this place yet. It was pretty hot! We were all anxious to get out, relax, and cool off somehow. We reached Atlantico Hotel. My first thought was for a drink of water. The lobby looked fairly nice, but the room was not as nice as last night. However we had a bath nearby.

Mrs. Hansen, Mrs. McDonald, and I decided to go shopping, but I lost them quite soon. I found Mrs. McDonald talking to a couple of American servicemen from Maryland that were stationed in the woods near Leghorn. They shared with us that they don’t like Italy, because it’s too dirty. Also they warned us not to drink or eat any of the dairy products, because several of the boys from their unit had gotten spinal meningitis. Furthermore they felt the Italian Communists were out for anything they could get. One soldier liked Austria and Germany much better than Italy. All the soldiers were anxious to get home to the United States.

I wandered around a book shop reading the books before buying them. I ended up with a book about Florence and Rome. Then I ran into Irene, Hermine, and Betty. Eventually we located a little restaurant that wasn’t open until 7 p.m. We were standing there wondering what to do when a cute little gray haired man came and opened the door. We followed the man inside to take a look and see what kind of place it was.

It was so cool, restful, and clean with flowers and fruit sitting all around. We thought we would have to wait until 7 p.m. to eat, but the man motioned us to sit down and brought us a menu. We had quite a hilarious time ordering. With the help of my Spanish, we finally made it clear that we wanted to eat dinner.

Our dinner started out with ravioli. And during that time the manager, who spoke a little English, came over to help us. Also a GI from San Antonio, who was stationed in Germany, came and offered his assistance as well. He loved Italy, in contrast to the other GI’s, but didn’t like Germany so well. The manager’s daughter had been helpful to him, so he had more or less made this his headquarters. We talked to him until she came over. He said she would be able to show Irene where to find a transformer for her iron.

The whole family was accommodating and willing to do anything they could for us. The wife of the manager and another daughter of the man, who opened up the restaurant for us, came by with her little baby. We had old home week playing with the baby.

2 July 1856 – Railroad Travel – Mary Taylor

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From the Diary of Samuel Openshaw

July 2 – We started on the Western Railway at twenty minutes to twelve and passed through a large extensive woodland country a distance at 200 miles, when the train stopped at one o’clock a.m. at a place called Greenbush, near the Albany River.

From the Journal of Joseph Beecroft

July 2nd Wed. We awoke and got up about 3 and attended to packing, and before six we got breakfast and packing finished. I then got our things out and then guarded for a brother while he got his things out. About 8 o’clock I was on my way to station, on a van loaded with our luggage and set on tins to keep them on. When arrived we got our things weighed and kept an eye on them till my wife and John came that we could go into our carriage, which was a cattle van. Our luggage had to be box for seats, and at night our beds. I felt highly delighted as we passed along in seeing the various streets and houses. A little past eleven we were steaming away from Boston towards Iowa City. I had some delightful reflections as we beheld the splendid buildings and beautiful landscapes that spread out before our eyes as we rapidly passed along. We passed Malbro [LOCATION UNKNOWN] and a many interesting villages with their chapels and spires. At six we were at Springfield, a large city and stopped a while and while there we were asked many questions about our passage, the numbers on board, deaths & the places from whence we started and where we were going. One apostate tried to dissuade us from going further, some laughed and turned up their noses with scorn. We had got 100 miles from Boston, and had got to Albany, which place we reached about 12 at midnight. Our carriages were luggage vans vans [SIC], and our seats were our luggage which was in our way. We were uncomfortable in some some [SIC] things, but comfortable in mind. We were cramped with being confined, some slept in the [p.34] carriages and some laid down on the ground and some walked about till we had orders to pack up and go a quarter of a mile to a camping ground near the ferry called Offman on a broad part of Hudson. We crossed the ferry and had near a mile to carry our provisions to station, which we found in the middle of a street unfenced off. We were soon on our journey which was rendered very pleasant with being in good carriages and having good Saints about us. We passed Utica a large city and arrived at Rochester early in the morning.

60 Years Ago Today

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Wednesday, 2 July 1952:

I took my bag down to breakfast. Herr Rogers called me down for not bringing it sooner. I was too late! The bus was all packed. After breakfast, I carried my own bag to the bus and with Mrs. Hansen’s help I put it on the top myself. I had Andre check the strap for me though.

Soon we were off for Assisi! Evidently we have to go back through Naples. While there we stopped at the hotel to pick up some stuff the kids had left. Then we raided a fruit shop and got back on the road to Rome via Cassino. It seems all roads to Rome must be tree lined.

Cassino was at one time the most bombed out place of World War II. Germans used Cassino as a stronghold and Americans finally had to bomb them out. Herr Watkins fought here. The most bitter fighting in Italy took place here and it became a no man’s land for a while.Since then it has been reconstructed. A documentary movie, San Pietro, was filmed in the area in 1945.

Then as we left Cassino we passed a former town on a hillside that was completely in ruins. A new town had been built below. We had lunch on the road. In Rome we stopped back to pick up Betty’s coat and get a drink of water in the public horse trough. We passed several monuments and huge buildings that I didn’t see when we were here before. We saw the Etruscan Capitaline Wolf statue from the 5th century, who had rescued Remus and Romulus, Rome’s mythological twin founders, from death.

I observed the big stadium and the Tiber River which was a beautiful green. Some of the scenery looked a lot like Utah. One section of land had sugar cane or something that looked like it. Today was kind of a lost day. It was really hot and Bev had heat exhaustion or something of the sort. I missed the scenery for some well needed napping and writing.

Our next rest stop was at Turin. I snapped a picture of oxen and a man with a donkey cart who posed for us. By the time we left there was a huge crowd around the bus. Dusk was coming on as we met the hilly and windy roads. We caught sight of the Assisi Arched Gateway like in the picture shots we saw in Italy.

We stopped to stay at a beautiful hotel where the section we were in was probably once an old monastery. I talked to a girl from Nebraska and found a little book about Assisi for 250 lire. Then we ate dinner at a restaurant down a little street from the hotel.

Soon after it was time for bed. My only mistake was laying down on the bed before getting undressed. At 3:30 a.m., I finally got undressed and climbed under the covers.

60 Years Ago Today

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Tuesday, 1 July 1952:

At the continental breakfast we had marmalade and chocolate. I lost count of how many slices of bread we ate. Later I tried to brush my teeth without water. Today we’re off to the island of Capri. All of us walked down to the same pier we had gone to the night before and climbed through three boats to get to ours—a cutie speed boat. I climbed on top of the boat to sun bathe or burn.

As we rounded the bend, Capri’s blue shadow gradually grew larger. After approximately an hour there was a crowd of boats ahead. We sat rockin’ like a rocking chair waiting to go into Blue Grotto cave, one of the biggest draws on the island. Several kids got quite seasick and “tossed their breakfast.” It included Nelda, Carol S., Carmela, Betty Lou, and Joyce.

We had to get down low in the bottom of the boat to get through the hole into Blue Grotto cave. It was a huge cave with clear crystal blue water. It was absolutely indescribable as we swam in the water close to the boat—so refreshing!

Eventually we got back in the boat and everyone was trying to change back into their clothes. The men were first as they held a towel in front of the cabin door. Then it was the girls’ turn. What a circus! I wore my swimsuit underneath my clothes so it was a cinch for me. I just left my wet suit underneath.

Then we went back around the island to dock. We had three more boats to go through again to reach the shore. There were convertible open buses waiting for us. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner on the terrace of a beautiful hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Dinner consisted of spaghetti, breaded veal, potato chips, salad, and fruit. After I took pictures from the terrace.
We piled aboard a bus for a 300 lire per person ride around Capri. We wound round and round past the little shrine and beautiful white villas. I saw a pensione once owned by Caesar Augustus. At the top we stopped at a village of little shops for our benefit. We walked past the shops to a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea, a part of the island of Capri, and the mainland. I took a couple more pictures of the sea.

Then we proceeded back through the Nastri Gelati marketplace. And I couldn’t resist a couple of scarves. I talked the Italian man down from 2800 lire to 2300 lire for both scarves. Next we followed Herr Watkins up to view the rocks of Capri and its gardens. I spotted a chateau in the distance. On the way back I got lost in the shops and succumbed to some bathing shoes for 1600 lire. I hope I’m not sorry. Then back to the square again to catch the bus and then the boat.

We got on a big boat this time–but heavens, it rocked more than the little boat. Water came over the sides and got the kids wet near the rail. Nelda, Betty and Carmela got sick again. An accordion player played for us and went around asking for alms. Again we passed over three boats to the shore. Then we climbed up the road and finally the stairs to the hotel.

Some Italian ladies and girls knocked themselves out laughing at us in a rather rude way. I don’t know for sure what brought it on, but we sensed ridicule in it. Perhaps it was the Levi’s, shorts, and peddle pushers they found so hilarious. One of the ladies stopped Alicia to tell her about her son who is in America in a very high and harried voice.

At the hotel I dashed up and stripped down to my bathing suit. I took 100 lire with my soap down to the beach for a swim and shower while Alicia had a bath in the wash basin. Then we dressed for dinner.

I scraped my soup bowl until the waiter asked me if I wanted more. He hardly had gotten through asking me when I was ready for more soup. It was mighty delicious tomato soup. White fish, pastry roll, and fruit followed the soup. Afterwards I walked down to look around the shops and the people. Back at the lobby I fell asleep trying to write. Once again we slept on the terrace.