03.07.2022
June turned out a
bit of a stop-at-home month, full of Ferrara-centric work on
Churches of Venice, my new-found genealogy obsession, and
medical appointments. But all is now clear, and my health is
in the clear, for some English summer destinations, a
Courtauld Summer School week, and two Italian trips in the
Autumn. First up is Hereford and Worcester tomorrow, for some
cathedral and cemetery action. Reading that Hereford Cathedral
is having work done and is covered in scaffolding would've
been dispiriting, had I not read it in a guidebook from 1858.
Still, it's nice to know that one of the main banes of travel
has not changed much in a hundred years. July also sees the
publication of site-fave Philip Gwynne Jones's new novel
The Angels of Venice. So, what with a clean bill of
health, trips aplenty, and juicy reads, the future's looking
bright.
21.05.2022
Back from my trip to
Ferrara and Venice, and boy was it hot - the upper 20s°C. But
lots of photos were taken, churches visited, and gelati and
pastries scoffed in both cities.
Only really the
mask-wearing remains of the Covid measures, on public
transport and some churches, although I was blessed with hand
wash from a nun.
Having been on three trips abroad and two in the UK so far
this year I plan to stay at home now for a bit, probably until
September/October. I'm looking at plenty of work to get my
Ferrara church page presentable and my Venice
pages freshened up, which I've already begun.
03.05.2022
This time next week I'll
be packing for my trip to Ferrara and Venice, where I'll be
selflessly devoting myself to photographing churches and
eating gelato. It'll be my first trip to Venice, and first
solo trip to Italy, since November 2019. In Venice I'll also
be checking out the now-finished conversion of the
ground-floor rooms at the Accademia to gallery space which,
since August 2021, has included a new big room of church art
of the 17th and 18th centuries. Not our favourite centuries,
but still. The new display presents 63 works, many not
previously on display for space reasons. There's a few
rarely-open churches being used as Biennale satellite venues
too, and temperatures are looking to reach around a comfortable 23°.
The need for the personal locator form for entry into Italy
ceased on the 1st of May and the NHS covid-jab proof
is now only needed for entry into the country, not restaurants
and galleries anymore. FFP2 masks are still compulsory on flights into
Italy and on public transport there. A minor pain, and weird after the UK's relaxation of all
rules, but not as bad as February.
05.04.2022
Just when you thought it was
safe ... my
guided trip to South Tyrol in June has just been cancelled,
due to too-low numbers. It seems that not everyone thinks it's
safe yet. The silver lining is that I now have a swathe of
free weeks in June giving me scope to book my own destination(s) in
Italy.
08.03.2022
Encouraged by the news that from the 1st of March entry to
Italy no longer requires a pre-trip Covid test, just proof of vaccination and passenger locator form, I've booked
a week in Ferrara and Venice in mid-May!
01.03.2022
I'm just back from Florence -
my first trip to Italy since Venice in November 2019 and my
first trip abroad since my Covid-cursed trip to (not) see the
Van Eyck exhibition in Ghent in March 2020. So that’s two
years of lockdowns, staycations and online courses, but no
getting out of my own country. Rules have been relaxing very
fast in England of late, but Italy was still not taking any
chances.
old news
here
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July 2022
Rebecca Stott
Dark Earth
London
Philip Gwynne Jones
The Angels of Venice
Hereford & Worcester
Trips
May 2022
Maria Luisa Minarelli
Murder in Venice
Ferrara & Venice
Trips
Tasha Alexander
Death in the Floating City
Venice
April 2022
Norwich Trips
March 2022
Rob Samborn
The Prisoner of Paradise
Venice
Toulouse, Conques & Albi
Trips
February 2022
Florence
Trips
Tasha Alexander
The Dark Heart of
Florence
Marco Vichi Ghosts of the Past
Florence
Donna Leon
Give Unto Others
Venice
January 2022
D.V. Bishop City of Vengeance
Florence
Robyn Cadwallader
Book of Colours
London
November 2021
Daniel Wallace Maze
Young Bellini
Venice
September &
October 2021
Durham
Trips
Serge Simonart
Venezia
Venice
August 2021
Suffolk
Trips
Carpaccio in Venice: a guide
Venice
July 2021
E.M. Forster A Room with a View
Florence
Sarah
Winman
Still Life
Florence
Norwich
Trips
June 2021
Edinburgh
Trips
Cathedral Towns Between Lockdowns
Trips
Cynthia Saltzman
Napoleon’s Plunder and the Theft
of Veronese’s Feast
Venice
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