Scenes from Padova Italy

Interesting Architecture

Tempio of Canova above in Possagno.
Unidentified building from the Aldige valley below.

Factory of Brion Vega above in Asolo Casella by Marco Zanuso above.

Tomba of Brion in St Vito by Carlo Scarpa below.

Out of Trento and into the Brenta Valley

The Brenta Valley flows east and south from Trento toward the Piedmont. It is on the western side of the Dolomites and is a wine growing region.
Alan below enjoys breakfast at a B&B.



Two last scenes from Trento...
Above the central fountain at night and below a mushroom show displaying hundreds of local mushrooms, both edible and poisonous.

The Church Giveth and the Church Taketh Away

Trento, as the seat of the Austrian-Hungarian Bishop Princes, was a wealthy city and the church paid for many great works of art, such as altar carvings above and expensive Belgian tapestries below.

About 1475 the head bishop-prince wished to acquire manuscripts held by the Jewish priests who lived in the town. The church helped to propagate a rumor that a Christian child found dead had been tortured and killed by Jews, see the altar carving below, showing a child being strangled and tortured.


The carved door of the church of St Peter and Paul has a likeness of the child and there was an attempt to turn him into a saint. When his remains were exhumed, it was found that he had drowned and was not killed. Presumably, the church successfully acquired the manuscripts and the Jews were driven out of Trento, as so many other places in the late 1400's.

Trento, Italy

Il Castello del Buon Consighlia has beautiful frescoes and sculpture.
Depicted below are the Bishop Princes of Trent on the bottom row and the Emporors of the Holy Roman Empire above.

Further Down the Adige River from Bolzano to Trento

After a long day of cycling we were happy to find a food fair in Trento, with good meals below.

The hostel provided not so good breakfasts, prepackaged, below.

Dutch cyclist Kees was cycling to Israel as a peace pilgrim.

Into Italy: Down the Aldige River

One of the branches of the Aldige River starts in the Vinschgau Valley, seen above and below.


The Aldige broadens as it flows into a large agricultural valley, growing principally apples.

This area, as far as Merano and Bolzano, is German speaking and full of German tourists.
The province is called Alto Adige in Italian and Sudtirol in German, it was part of Austria until after WW I. We were happy to find a bike path the whole way along the Adige.

Goodbye to Switzerland, Sept 2010

Alan has biked up and over the Fluelen Pass in Graubunden, out of Davos,
Heading for the Ofenpass into Italy.
We biked through the one National Park of Switzerland.
The sign is in Romansch, the fourth national language.

We end up at St Maria im Munstertal, in the Vinschgau Valley, very near the Italian border.

September 2010 Paris

King Leo surveys his domain in the 'Champs de Mars.'

Scenes of gardens and food below.

Ochre Quarries in Provence

The quarries in the town of Rousillion, below, have provided tints for walls, buildings, and other uses all over the world. The colors are particularly evocative of Provence and northern Italy.


Wall of a house above and in the quarry below showing microfracture cracks.

Visit in Provence

Pascale and the dog welcome Alan with a walk in Provence.
Alan enjoyed his first view of the Mediterranean Sea, below.



Patrick was a good tour guide for Marseille and driver in Provence.
Bogart below took care of the rest.