Montefegatesi

Posted on May 4, 2016 by kathy

Our last day in Ponte a Serraglio was grey and drizzly but we had planned a drive to Montefegatesi and nothing was going to stop us. On the way we passed San Gemignano and took the opportunity to pull over and admire the scenery.

1.San Gemignano 2.San Gemignano 3.view

Montefegatesi is the highest village in Bagni di Lucca at 842m above sea level and was used by Lucca to guard the boundary with Modena.

4.Montefegatesi

We wandered through the village along impossibly narrow streets

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14.walk10

with random cars parked at impossible angles.

15.car1

The old wooden doorways had so much character

and the houses were wedged into every available space.

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26.house3 28.house5

At the top of the village is a monument to Dante Alighieri built by the villagers in 1908.

29.Dante5 30.Dante6

His stern countenance belies the breathtaking vista from his vantage point or maybe he just doesn’t like the rain.

31.Dante4 32.Dante3 33.Dante7 34.Dante8

Returning to the village we were rewarded with more gorgeous views.

35.view1 36.view2 37.view3

We enjoyed a prosciutto & formaggio panini at the Pizzeria (ham & cheese roll sounds much more enticing in Italian)

38.pizzeria

before the hair-raising drive back down the mountain for our last night in Ponte a Serraglio.

Bradford-on-Avon

Posted on April 30, 2016 by kathy

Returning from our day out in Bath we discovered the lovely town of Bradford-on-Avon. With Roman origins, it grew in the 17^th century with a thriving woollen textile industry. We parked the car and walked to the river.

2.Bradford on Avon 1.Bradford on Avon 3.Bradford on Avon

The Town Bridge was built in Norman times. The small building in the middle of the bridge was originally a chapel but later used as a town lockup. The unusual weather vane has a fish on top.

4.The Town Bridge 5.Lock up

Many of the old textile factories have been converted into modern flats and apartments.

6.Bradford on Avon

Holy Trinity Church is the original parish church and is Norman in origin. The tower and spire was replaced around 1480.

7.Bradford on Avon 8.Holy Trinity Church

We wandered through the town with its quaint shops and buildings.

9.Bradford on Avon 10.Bradford on Avon 11.Bradford on Avon 12.Bradford on Avon 13.Bradford on Avon

The Swan Hotel is one of the few buildings that are still used as they were originally intended. There has been a public house on the same site since the 1500s, though the current building is 17th century.

14.Swan Hotel

We would like to have had more time to sample the local ale but more adventures awaited.

down the track

Posted on April 28, 2016 by kathy

We left Katherine early with a long day’s drive ahead of us. Our first break was Mataranka Homestead. Built in 1916 to serve the original sheep station, the homestead borders Elsey National Park and is situated between two rivers, the Waterhouse river and the Little Roper river.

1.Mataranka Homestead circa 1916 2.peacock

The early morning sun bathed us as we walked to the thermal pool.

4.walk 3.walk

The thermal pool is spring fed, bubbling at a constant 34ºC. The dappled light on the surface of the water adds to the relaxing atmosphere.

5.thermal pool 6.thermal pool

The river was so peaceful and still

9.river

and the return walk was hugged by majestic palm trees.

11.return walk

In the early 1980s, a movie based on Jeannie Gunn’s “We of the Never Never” was shot around Mataranka. A replica of the old Elsey Homestead was erected for the film and still stands at Mataranka Homestead.

12.We of the Never Never

200km along the track we stopped at Daly Waters. The name was given to a series of natural springs by John McDouall Stuart, after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly.

There was some interesting signage in the town.

The famous pub is decorated with memorabilia left by visitors from all over the globe. Rumour has it that it started in the 1980s with a drinking bet between a coach driver and his female passengers.

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The beer garden was delightfully rustic

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and the signage theme continued.

We lunched a bit further on at the roadhouse at Dunmarra, a small settlement on the historic Overland Telegraph Line. We were joined by a group of apostlebirds, named after the apostles because they travel in groups of 12.

I like to know how places get their names and this one is quite convoluted. Dan O’Mara, an Overland Telegraph linesman, disappeared in the region in the early 1900s. Drover Noel Healy established a cattle station in the 1930s and discovered O’Mara’s skeleton in the bush. The local Aboriginal people couldn’t pronounce O’Mara and their attempts sounded more like Dunmarra and so, the station was named.

bedazzling bridge

Posted on April 20, 2016 by kathy

Crossing the Serchio River near the town of Borgo a Mozzano is the stunning Ponte del Diavolo, Bridge of the Devil.

1.bridge

Commissioned by Countess Matilda of Tuscany and completed around 1100, it became an important medieval pilgrimage route to Rome from France.

2.bridge

Legend has it that the stone mason was struggling to complete the bridge on time and so, asked the Devil for help. The Devil accepted, with the payment being the soul of the first to cross the bridge. Long story short, a pig was sent across first. The Devil was so angry, he threw himself into the river and disappeared.

3.from other side

On a gloomy day it’s easy to imagine the Devil lurking in the murky depths.

4.downstream

In 1500, the bridge became known as Ponte della Maddalena, from an oratory dedicated to Mary Magdalene, whose statue stood at the foot of the bridge on the eastern bank.

6.bridge

On a perfect spring day, the Devil is nowhere to be seen.

7.bridge 8.bridge up 9.downstream 10.upstream 11.bridge down 12.bridge

Bath & Bulford

Posted on April 15, 2016 by kathy

While staying in Wiltshire, we crossed the border into Somerset for a day trip to Bath.

1.Bath

Known for it magnificent 18th century Georgian architecture

2.Bath

5.Bath

and natural hot springs, we headed for a tour of the original Roman Baths. Our attention was diverted to a gathering crowd and we joined them to find two g-string clad gents who proceeded to entertain with an array of cunning stunts for the next half hour.