Ravenna, Italy

From Venice we drove south down along Italy's Adriatic coast. There are several rivers that all enter the sea along there, so it is delta land and very flat. Our GPS altimeter measured -30 feet. (We keep the measurements in feet, yards, miles so we can have some sense of where we are without too many calculations!) We came to the great Po delta and Ravenna.

We arrived in the mid-afternoon, and after some minor difficulties found our hotel. We hope we don't have a big fine when we turn our car in for inadvertently driving in the restricted zone - many of these old cities have these areas that are either only for pedestrians and buses, or have limited access for the vehicles of residents and business owners. In a couple places we saw posts that had sensors for buses. When the bus approached, the posts went down, and after it went through they went up again! Very smart.

We got parked and settled in our hotel, and then went out to see a few things in this town famous for its mosaics. They first place we went was Dante's tomb. Although Dante was from Florence, he ran afoul of the authorities there and fled to Ravenna where he lived until his death. From there we went to see the basilica and small mausoleum. After figuring out which tickets to buy (not at all straight-forward) we entered the ancient basilica that has mosaics from the 4th century. It was just amazing and beautiful. The floor was especially lovely. We waited a little bit for three school tours to get done. Italy has one week each Spring when they make many of these sites free to everyone and all the schools do cultural tours. It can be a little hectic to see things some times, but it's also fun to see all these students learning about their heritage. The real treat was the small mausoleum behind the basilica. Although never used for the family for whom it was made, it has remained a treasure of Ravenna mosaics. We couldn't take any pictures in there, here is a picture from the floor of the basilica:
We saw a little more of Ravenna, checked out the restaurant where we wanted to have dinner, and then went back to the hotel for a little break. The restaurant didn't open until 7, and we got there right at opening. We are really glad we did (it was a Friday night) as the place was packed in about 15 minutes! It has been around a long time and is popular with locals and tourists alike. It was really good, and great fun to be in this lively and hospitable space.

When we arrived at our hotel we met an English couple who had also be been looking for the entrance! We saw them again at the basilica and mausoleum, and at the restaurant. We visited with them briefly as we went along, and then had opportunity to talk to them more at breakfast the next morning. That's part of the fun of traveling - meeting other travelers from other parts of the world and hearing of their lives and adventures. They were on their way to their home in Greece in an area where they had lived for 30 years and had a wind surfing and sailing business. Very interesting!