Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Feltre, a gem of Venetian / Italian Architecture

Feltre (Venetian: Fèltre) is a quiet town in the province of Belluno in Veneto, in northern Italy. The Dolomites loom to the north.  Feltre is the southern end of the Alta Via 2 hiking trail, which snakes through the Dolomites starting in Brixen, and a few nights here are a grand way to end an exhausting trek, sleep in, eat, and let your blisters drain.
Within the Dolomites, much of the architecture and tradition is Tyrolean because the mountains were part of the Hapsburg Empire until the end of the first World War, after which they were ceded to Italy. Feltre was largely destroyed in 1509 and rebuilt in classical Renaissance style, so it is decidedly Italian rather than Austrian. Your view from the hotel window tells the story: clay tile roofs, narrow lanes, and the Dolomites just to the north.
Feltre draws you in many ways.  First, it is a city of narrow stone-paved roads.
The town is full of shaded walking lanes.  Just walk randomly and something nice will be just around a corner.
Then there are the arches.  Ancient Italian towns are full of arches.
Then the plazas with neat architectural features and art.
Maybe best of all, like most Italian cities, Feltre is a food town.  These people have used fresh local ingredients for centuries, long before trendy American urbanites "discovered" the local food movement.
Want a light snack?  How about a sandwich in crusty bread and a glass (or two or three) of local wine?  It doesn't get much better than this. I found prices to be really reasonable and people incredibly hospitable.

An editorial note:  Small towns in Italy, Austria, Germany, France and Spain are clean, neat, and, for the most part, architecturally preserved  Their residents live harmoniously with their past and recycle their buildings.  Why do so many small U.S. towns look shabby, have dirty, pot-holed streets, have ghastly strips consisting of vile, fast-food restaurants and quickly-built steel commercial buildings, and why have they let their architectural heritage decay?  It baffles me.

Photographs taken with a Nexus 4 phone, reprocessed with ACDSee Pro software.  The automatic white balance of the Nexus is often off and needs manual correction.  Also, a fundamental flaw: it does not save a RAW file.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Revisit to the Pláka of Athens, Greece

When visiting Athens, one of your first destinations should be the Acropolis and the Pláka District. Compared to the noisy and congested modern city, in the Pláka, you have a sense of village life before the cars and mobile phones and pollution.  To refresh your geography, the Acropolis is the limestone hill on which temples and sacred precincts have existed for 3000 years.  Classical Athens was situated around the Acropolis, and the Pláka is the last remnant of the 1800s village that clung to the slopes before 20th century urban sprawl.
First, here is a 1951 photograph of the Acropolis taken on Kodak Plus-X black and white film. The big temple is the Parthenon.
View from the University of Athens History Museum (site of the original 1800s university).
Walk in the Pláka, look up, and the Acropolis looms above you.  History is everywhere. The two photographs above were taken from The University of Athens History Museum. The building is one of the few remaining from before the King Otto era. From 1837 to 1841, it served as the first university of the independent Greek State.  The museum is free, and the building is air conditioned if you need a cool break.
The narrow lanes wind up and down, and are really pleasant.
View north with Mount Lycabettus in the distance
Sadly, look in the distance, and the frenetic, uncontrolled post-World War II urban construction is all too evident.  Thousands of elegant homes, mansions and early 20th century Art Nouveau buildings were demolished and replaced with rapidly-constructed concrete boxes.
Still, take your time, look around, and stop for a relaxing drink or meal under an umbrella.
Temple of the Winds, 1951
Here is the Temple of the Winds, another 1951 scene.  This view does not look very different today.
I have written about the flea market in the Monastiraki District before.It is a bit dull compared to the 1950s (see the link) but still worth a visit.
It is definitely worth a visit to see lovelies like these two.
Emerge from the flea market, and you are in Monasteraki Square, now a popular meeting spot with easy access to the Metro. Beware of pick-pockets.
Turn around and look south, and there is the Acropolis dominating the skyline.  The building in the foreground is a former mosque, one of the few remaining from the Ottoman era.

Editorial note:  The US media is full of ominous stories about the terrible state of the Greek economy, strikes, civil disobedience, and general gloom and decay.  The stories may be true to some extent, but as a tourist, you are mostly sheltered. The Greek people are as friendly as ever, the restaurants a bit less expensive than five years ago, the food as good as ever, the wine better, the scenery as magical as ever, and the ladies weigh less than 300 lb. Moral: don't believe the scare stories in the media.

Update, October 2016:  Conditions have deteriorated badly in Athens. In 2015, it looked almost "normal." One year later, the city looks distinctly grungy, as if buildings have not been pressure-washed or painted in years. In rural Greece, trash is everywhere. Street repair is of a much lower standard than before. Graffiti has been sprayed on almost all flat surfaces as well as on busses and trams. The area between Omonia and Monasteraki has a distinctly Middle-East flavor and crime there has increased. I am changing my previous opinion and now recommend tourists not travel to Greece until it can sort out its financial and security issues. It's really sad.

2013 digital images were from July 2013 with a Nexus 4 phone, reprocessed with ACDsee Pro software. The 1951 photographs were from a Canon rangefinder camera (possibly a model IIB) with 50mm ƒ/1.9 Serenar lens.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Former mining town: Lavrio, Greece

Lavrio (Modern Greek: Λαύριο, classical Greek: Λαύριον) is a seaport on the southeast corner of the Attica peninsula, about two hours drive from Athens. This is the warmest part of mainland Greece, and the palms and tropical plants almost make you think you are in the tropics. In antiquity, Lavrio was famous for its silver mines. The mines, worked by slave labor, provided much of the revenue for the Athenian state. Around 483 BC, the mines provided funds to expand the Athenian fleet to 200 triremes, thus laying the foundation of Athenian naval power. According to the Blue Guide, Greece, some mining was already in progress here in paleolithic times. The mines were eventually exhausted but were reopened in the late 1800s by French and Greek companies to extract manganese, lead, and cadmium.

I think all mining has now ended.  But hills around town still have dilapidated factories, industrial buildings,  and pieces of machinery.
On the shore road is this half bridge, once probably holding a conveyor system or an ore railroad.
This iron pier extended out into the bay from the half bridge.  I noticed the cobble on the beach had a dark red, chunky appearance.  It was probably some sort of slag.
Today the modern town is cheerful, and locals and tourists sit in the plazas and enjoy coffees and meals.  A ferry goes to Kea (Tzia) island,with connections further to the Cyclades, and there are plenty of yachts in the harbor, so the town has a healthy tourist influx.
Lavrion was the terminal of the Athens-Lavrion Railroad, last used in 1957 (see the 2012 post on the rail station in Markoupolou).  The old depot is now a restaurant. Putting restaurants in old depots is a popular use, but many of these eateries in the USA fail rather quickly.
Here is another railroad building also reused as a restaurant and another one being used for storage.

Photographs taken with a Nexus 4 smart phone (operated by dumb user...).

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Ladies of Venice

Venice is unique. Truly, there is no other place on earth that has such an astonishing architectural heritage situated on low marshy islands around which you navigate by boat!
Most visitors arrive by train and take the water taxi along the Grand Canal, getting a fantastic tour of the 1500s pallazos and mansions.
We will leave an architectural tour for another blog entry.
But there is another Italian treasure worthy of examination whilst visiting Venice: the plastic and paint ladies of the evening (and day).  First, here is the mysterious secret agent look, wool trench coat and all (in mid-summer).
Then we have the hairy look, like friendly sheepdogs.
Then we proceed to the "I have attitude and have not shampooed in a week to prove it" look.
If you prefer no hair at all, that can be accommodated, too.
Here is "I have long hair but am sad.  Maybe I need some more eyelashes."
Here is hair, but they forgot to paint it.
Every fashionable lady needs red jeweled high heel shoes with fuzzy pompoms from Versace.  Perfect for those high-water days or an evening at the ‎Teatro La Fenice di Venezia (tickets are 200 Euros - wow).
If a sophisticated hat is more your style, here is one being worn by the silent, mysterious type.
Here is attire for the famous carnival season.
Finally, if you like really big ladies but of somewhat wooden personality, Venice can provide.

All photographs taken with a Nexus 4 phone, reprocessed with ACDSee Pro software. The phone is handy because you can place it directly against a glass show window, thereby avoiding glare and reflections.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Steam Railroad Equipment, Fèltre, Italy

I recently took the train from Feltre to Venice.  Feltre (in VenetianFèltre) is a delightful town in the southern foothills of the Dolomites.  It is on the Stizzon River, only a short train ride to the coastal plain and only two hours from Venice.  While waiting at the platform, I was surprised to see that the water tank used to refill steam locomotives was still standing.
This one is unusual in that it is made of concrete panels held together with steel bands.  Other railroad watering tanks or tank ponds I have seen were wood or steel tanks or pre-formed concrete cisterns.  
Even more surprising, the spigot is still standing and in good condition.  In typical Italian fashion, a utilitarian device is decorated with cast-iron patterns.  The upright tube is decorated with the wings, the logo of the FS, or Ferrovie dello Stato, a.k.a. Italian State Railways.  Possibly steam enthusiast trains occasionally run this route. In the lower photograph, you can see the foothills in the distance.  Feltre is a really nice town with excellent cuisine, friendly people, and a distinctive Venetian architectural character.  I highly recommend a visit.

For some other articles on railroads, please click the links:
Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Markópoulo, Greece
Kalávryta Narrow-Gauge Rack Railroad, Greece
The Athens to Peloponnese Railroad Corinth, Greece
Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad Station, Saginaw, Michigan
Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railway, Greece
Deserted train station, Milies, Greece

Photographs taken with a Nexus 4 phone camera (sorry, that is all I had with me).