We spent a pleasant 3 days with Alice, staying in her house on the edge of Hampstead Heath. The house, and situation seems perfect: one gets to it from Victoria station with a single bus ride; there is a vast expanse of green to walk on across the street (the heath); there are small shops, butcher, coffee bar, etc., within a short block; there is a small, manageable back yard, the house is charming, and finally, London is at one's fingertips. Monday we went with Alice for lunch with an old friend, Alice meeting her for the first time. Tuesday we just stayed in the neighborhood. On Wednesday, which was beautiful, we went for a walk along the Thames. We took the underground to the Embankment station, then walked upstream along the left bank of the Thames, past some fine plantings and statues to Westminster Bridge. Then over the bridge, with a fine view of Parliament to the right bank and, continuing upstream to Lambeth Bridge, where we stopped for a coffee. Crossing Lambeth Bridge, we walked back through the Westminster Abbey yard and Parliament Square where news media were setting up for interviews because the budget was being presented that day (I think), and through some side streets to St. James Park. Then into the park for a lunch appointment at a restaurant there. The park was crowded with people enjoying the sun. The meal was for the most part disappointing, and we had to wait over an hour to be served; as a result we were told that the meal would be free of charge. Unfortunately I neglected to take any pictures of this expedition. That evening Mary Jo and I went to Gatwick where we spent the night in the Yotel there (minuscule room) in preparation for an early flight to Ireland.

Our last week on this trip finished in Cork City, Ireland, where we stayed with our friends with Martin and Jeanne Stynes. We talked a lot, visited with Sebastian Franz, a mathematician friend, who came down from Limerick to see us, walked around the city visiting places with which we are familiar, and were kindly taken by Martin on several very nice hikes in and near Cork City. Some pictures are attached.

The trip home was without incident, except that Mary Jo's suitcase had not yet arrived. It arrived the next day.

The river Lee, on our walk to Blackrock Castle

Mary Jo and Martin Stynes, the castle in the distance

Mary Jo and martin at the Fota gardens

Italian garden at Fota

The highlight of the week was the visit of our Landrum neighbors, Gary and Betty Carver. They were on the last leg of a 3 city trip and were in Florence for 4 days. During this time we visited with each other, went to various museums, drank lots of expresso and some grappa, and on a very rainy day took a side trip to Pisa and Lucca. This week also saw celebrations of the 150th birth of unified Italy and there was much celebrating and tricolored bunting.

We have tickets to a concert of the Tokyo String Quartet for this afternoon (Saturday). We leave for London on Sunday.

Here we are in front of the leaning tower

A mural in the Pisa train station titled 'Hommage to Galileo'

This is the top of an arch at Piazza della Republica, in Florence. Translated, the inscription reads: 'The old city center, after centuries old squalor, restored to a new life'

This week saw the end of Carnivale and the beginning of Lent. Scattered confetti on the streets, masks for sale in shop windows. This week we have been to the Uffizi, where crowds and tour groups somewhat marred the visit. The first rooms are, to my mind, the best. Early Renaissance, Botticelli and Lippi, etc. I think that the museum area has been enlarged, one walks down one main corridor, and then back partway on the other side. There is now a coffee bar at the end with a good view overlooking the rooftops of the city.

I picked up a small book by Bernard Berenson, in Italian. I am trying to read it, using the flash card app on the iPad. I put words that I do not know (there are many, but some I can guess at) on flash cards, work on them, and in this way move forward slowly with the book. Good mental exercise, to mat ch the physical exercise that comes from walking around a lot. 

The city is gearing up for the celebration of Italian unification days, on March 16 and 17, I think. By one reckoning, it is the 150th anniversary of Italy as a nation. There will be artistic and musical events in various piazzas of the city, on the days before we leave.

We took a bus to the Piazzale Michelangelo where there are fine views of the city and an elegant restaurant. A few photos are in this blog entry.   

The sign indicates the water level in the flood of the 1960s. Picture is taken not near the Arno but a mile or so away.

View of Florence from the Piazale Michalangelo

View of Florence from the Piazale Michalangelo

Statue of David at the Piazale Michalangelo

View of Perugia; this always reminds me of an Esher engraving

View from Cortona

Over the weekend we went by train to the hill towns of Arezzo, Cortona, and Perugia. Stayed in the town below Cortona for 2 nights, stopped in Arezzo to see the frescos of Piero della Francesca, and walked around Perugia for a few hours to revisit the scenes where i had taught a summer course 15 years ago. Some pictures are attached.

This is a good time of year to visit Florence. There are not the crowds of tourists that we have seen at other times. It is rather cold and windy in the city so we bundle up while walking around. We have eaten at several mediocre restaurants but two good ones, one of which is relatively cheap. Our apartment is not completely satisfactory as it consists of only one room with no easy chairs and a primitive kitchenette, and is rather cold. On the other hand it is very well placed in the city and has good internet. 

Although we have been to Florence before, we never have had the time to really see its treasures thoroughly, as is our plan for this visit. If only to remind myself, I  list here what we have seen. During this week we have been to the following.

Santa Marie Novella: a large, recently restored, fresco of Masaccio from 1425 that is a marvel of light and tromp l'oeile 3 dimensional illusion. This seemed to set the stage for further frescos in the church.

Accademia: The magnificent David statue by Michelangelo, plus an interesting display of old musical instruments. 

Palazzo Vecchio:  Here there is an exhibition consisting of one item: For the love of God  by Damien Hirst, which is a human skull with hundreds (thousands?) of diamonds implanted in a regular pattern. it is heavily guarded and, we have read, on sale for millions of dollars. 

Bargello: An old building, formerly a prison, that contains many statures of Donatello and some and della Robbia ceramic pieces. 

Carnevale "happening": We noticed a poster announcement, and went to this event which consisted of masques made by a number of local artists and a short act presented by 2 women, probably sisters. The room darkened, they came out in black robes with white masks. covering their faces. There was mildly threatening music, and they handed out some paper horns labelled (in Italian) with words meaning 'hate', sorrow', etc. Then the took off their masks, laughed, and blew their horns. Everyone else blew the horns they were handed and the mildly threatening spell was broken in merriment. A charming event. No doubt we were the only non-Italians there, and did not understand everything that was said, but we were made welcome.

On Friday and Saturday we took a trip by train and bus to Urbino, a charming old hill town in the Marches which has a fine ducal palace and the Flagellation of Piero della Francesca, one of the great pictures of all time. (IMHO) We saw a lot of snow from the train, and the streets of Urbino had piles of melting snow but it stayed above freezing while we were there. The old town is very hilly with cobblestone streets, not so many tourists, and quite a few students at the university that is in Urbino.

View of the surrounding countryside from Urbino

Stone pillar in Urbino

During our week in Nicosia, Cyprus I spent some time every day at the university with our host Christos Xenophantos, later joined by Charlie Johnson who came from the US. (Charlie was heading to another venue in Europe but, by prearrangement, overlapped our stay in Nicosia for 4 days.) We stayed in a hotel in the old part of Nicosia, ringed by a still standing old wall and split in two by the "Green Line" that separates Greek Cyprus from Turkish Cyprus. There was much discussion of all this, and we have learned some recent history as a result which I will not repeat here. The Greek part of the old town is somewhat abandoned and a little seedy, with a small "touristic" section. Outside the walls there is a shopping district and a suburban-like district where the University is located. The island has a UN presence and a British military presence. as well as a long history. Mary Jo and I walked around some, and Mary Jo walked around a lot more and on Thursday took a 3-hour walking tour of the old, walled city centre of Nicosia, led by a Greek Cypriot woman. A free tour sponsored by the Tourist Information Center. Of the 10-11 on the tour several were Egyptian 'refugees' who had recently been airlifted to Nicosia by the UN. Among other things she showed us the elementary school she attended as a child and which is now attended by many Georgian children and other foreign nationals. According to her, the city center was abandoned by the Greek Cypriot community when the Turkish Cypriots invaded in 1974. Indeed we saw many closed and shuttered houses and shops. On Friday evening MJ, Charlie, and Bruce passed through the Green Line (passport required) and walked to a pleasant restaurant for dinner.

Our last day, Sunday, Mary Jo and I, with Charlie, took a cab to the shore in Turkish Cyprus. There we saw an old monastery, the house of the British writer Laurence Durrell (Bitter Lemons, Alexandria Quartet), and the harbor at Kyrenia, and had a nice dinner. In the evening I met Christo's parents, and learned that his father had taken English from Durrell while in high school. Monday we left for Florence and occupied our flat. It has a fine location but is not as nice as we had expected. It will do for the 3 weeks we are here, however.

A view from the monastery. This view reminds me of some paintings of our Landrum friend Carol Icard.

Mary Jo and Carlie at the top of the monastery.

View of hills in back of monastery

Former house of Laurence Durrell, with placque on wall.

Our full day in Athens was devoted to the Acropolis and the adjacent Acropolis Museum. From our hotel, located nearby, one walks up through a series of streets to the entrance (free on Sundays), and then walks carefully up stone stairs and slopes, to the top. Just being there was moving; not because one worships the goddess Athena, but because this site represents (to me) in some way the development of rational thought. There are many olive trees surrounding the hill. The crowds at the top were not excessive. All the buildings are being renovated and one cannot get too close, but the pictures may give an idea of the scene. 

The museum is next to the hill and contains artifacts taken from the site. Most impressive is the reconstruction of the frieze of the Parthenon, with plaster casts of the famous Elgin marbles that are now in the British museum. One sees these, and looks out the window at the Parthenon, and realizes that the Greeks would dearly love to have them back. The museum is a statement of this desire. No photographs allowed in the museum. The combined experiences of the day made us think of our friend Marion in Tryon, who would have greatly enjoyed this.

Approach to the Acropolis

Parthenon, showing restoration activity

Erechtheion temple

Erechtheion temple

In front of the Erechtheion temple

View of some construction

View from Acropolis

View from Acropolis

In front of the Parthenon

Athena Nike temple

Olive grove below the Acropolis

After pondering all this, in the evening we went to a rather good restaurant where I had "little marinated fish, good with ouzo", and a glass of ouzo. This ouzo is mixed with water, has an anisette taste, and I think is the same thing as "raki", which we tried in Istanbul. The combination was indeed good. Mary Jo had marinated octopus with a glass of white wine.

Pictures from Istanbul

Wall in Haghia Sophia

Interior of Haghia Sophia, showing panels added when it was a mosque. (Fine calligraphy)

In Haghia Sophia, grave of Venetian Doge who conquered Constantinople when in his 80s, and died there.

Mosaic in Haghia Sophia

Mary Jo pondering a Turkish coffee

Old wooden house on the Bosphorus. Most of them have burned down (see Pamuk's Istanbul).

The Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus, seen from the Eyup Cemetery.

Interior of the Suleymaniye Mosque, with service in the background.

Harem area in Topkapi Palace

Golden Horn, seen from Eyup Cemetery

Here are some impressions of Istanbul, at the end of our stay. They are, naturally, based only on the areas we have visited.

Transportation: We have been on the subway, a tram, underground one-stop subway called the Tunel, an underground one-stop funicular, an old tram going along a major shopping and promenade street, a cable car, and an ordinary bus. These are all charming; where one ride ends another begins, but one must buy another ticket; the terminals are very clean and there is very charming artwork and beautiful tiles on the walls.

The city: It is hard to find a specific address, such as a restaurant or the jazz club, but perseverance plus a close study of google maps helps. It has been rather cold here, especially in the evenings. However, the last day was lovely and we sat outside for lunch.

The bazaars: The Grand Bazaar is indeed very grand. I bought a LARGE scarf made of goat wool that effectively deals with the cold.

The food: lots of lamb, yogurt, pomegranate syrup flavoring, other spices, very interesting mezzes. After the first night we have not had a bad meal. The bread is excellent. Street vendors sell doughnut shaped buns with sesame seeds that are fine. Turkish coffee not so good; tea is fine.

The jazz club: A small venue, a quartet (piano, bass fiddle, sax, drums) the night we were there. Low key, rhythmic, closely coordinated sound.

The hamam: Mary Jo and I both went (separate rooms for women and men). A very large heated stone in the center of the room. Sitting a while, with a towel as loincloth, one sweats more than in, say Singapore, or Landrum in the heat of the summer. Then one lies on the heated stone. A man (in my case), rubs one with a rough cloth, then piles on sudsy soap, rubs again etc., rinses one off with pails of warm or hot water. Then one can sit around and watch others being similarly tortured. One can douse one's self with cooler, or cold, water. Eventually, one leaves and dresses in the private, locked dressing room. Our haman was built in the late 1500s by Sinan, the master Ottoman architect of Istanbul. In contrast with a Swedish sauna there is no "dry heat" room and "moist heat" room, and there is no obligatory cold plunge afterward. Mary Jo's experience was like mine except that she finished with a swim in a very hot pool.

The water: An earlier posting dealt with our Bosphoros cruise. Here I note that in the 1930s, the founder of modern Turkey, Ataturk, swam the Bosphorus, from Europe to Asia, with a group of colleagues. Just like Mao swimming the Yellow River? Maybe our presidents should swim the Potomac, or the Mississippi.

The sights: We visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, built by the afore-mentioned Sinan, and were allowed in during a service. We stayed in the back. Men in front were kneeling, and there was an evocative singing chant; I do not know if it was recorded or live. After a bit, the chanting stopped and the men left, but some people remained praying here or there. Pictures without flash were allowed. Also, went up the Galata tower, built by Genoese in the 1400s. Toured the Topkapi Palace; a large complex of buildings. Jewels and artifacts from the Ottoman era, a large set of rooms for the harem. Went to the Pierre Lotti cafe and cemetery in Eyup, by cable car. There is a fine view of the Golden Horn and many minarets on the horizon. Unfortunately the sky was hazy so the pictures are not good. Then walked down, visited and, somewhat to our annoyance, were shown around the Eyup Mosque complex by an old man who then requested, and received, some money from us. He also did a little Muslim proselytizing.

Our trip from Singapore to Istanbul included a brief stop in Dubai and a clear flight over Bagdad, and near Mosul and Kirkuk, then over snowy mountains of eastern Turkey to Istanbul. We arrived at 6PM (11PM Singapore time) and after a not great meal, went to bed. The next morning, Feb. 11, on the other hand, we had a great breakfast at the hotel, then found our way via subway and tram to the Haghia Sophia church/museum where we spent a fascinating several hours. A massive domed structure, the interior space is massive, old frescos, partly damaged, after the Ottoman capture of Constantinople it became a mosque, then with the birth of the Turkish republic it became a museum. Some indication of the size and mixture of Christian-Muslim history may be suggested by the photos.
Today (Feb. 12), we spent in our neighborhood of Beyoglu, finding our way around and doing a little shopping. We find it rather hard to locate a specific store or restaurant, but perseverance pays off and the search itself is of interest. This neighborhood is a good location for us. We cannot use wifi in our room, but there are 2 computers available in the hotel. Yesterday was the fall of Mubarak, and for a short time western newspapers were not available on line, but this morning they were. Today we came upon a demonstration on the main shopping street, people with signs and speeches, and a group of police watching with guns and shields. I have no specific information about it.
We enjoy Istanbul very much so far. Fascinating city, very interesting food. Tomorrow we plan a boat trip on the Bosphorus, probably taking all day.
　
　
　
 

Preparing to leave Singapore, I muse on our trip so far. One may think of the trip as starting in the "New World", represented by Taipei and Singapore, moving to the Middle East, Istanbul and Cyprus, and ending in "Old Europe", represented by Italy and Ireland. (The NYTimes columnist, Thomas Friedman has in the last weeks made part of our traverse, going from Singapore to Egypt and Jordan.) The sights and conversations with Greg and Lisa in Singapore and Jerry Shih in Taipei, and reading about Tunisia and Egypt, cause one's head to swim with new ideas and dimly aware of the inchoate forces shaping the future. 

It is interesting to see what the kids are learning in their International Chinese American school. Louise, in second grade, is learning her multiplication tables up to nine and working with fractions and decimals. In English, she writes paragraphs and takes dictation. She also takes dictation in Chinese. Nora, in kindergarten, is learning to print her letters (she is working on printing as I write). She can sound out words with regular spelling.

Yesterday, Mary Jo and I took the kids to High Tea at the Raffles Hotel. We printed invitations several days earlier, which they then responded to (orally). They were primed with excitement and we had a great time. They were very well behaved; various High Tea attendees commented on them. The picture does not do justice to the occasion. 

This was the first week of the girls' vacation. They played a lot at home, several times with friends who came for play dates. It is very nice in the morning to listen to Louise and Nora talk and play by themselves. They seem good company to each other. One day Mary Jo and I took them to the Science Museum, which is a very hands on place that amused them much. One of the photos show Nora's disembodied head sticking out of a magician's hat. Another excursion took Mary Jo and I on a walk near the waterfront, where there are remarkable new buildings amidst some of the old. And a third walk took us to the Arab district and a good mezze platter for lunch at the Cafe Le Caire.

This afternoon everyone went to a gathering at the apartment of the Chinese teacher of Louise and Nora. The teacher has worked with Louise more or less every Saturday since she was 2 years old and has become fond of the family. The girls were flower girls at her wedding, not long ago. Now she must move, with her husband, to inner Mongolia where his company will work for several years erecting windmills for electric power generation. Their apartment is a little smaller than Greg and Lisa's but very nice and with nice facilities and shrubbery in the grounds.  

Nora's head, seemingly detached from her body.

Gambling casino, as a large ship atop 3 buildings

Old Fullerton Hotel (former post office) in front of buildings in the financial center

Interior of the Blue Mosque

Exterior of the Blue Mosque, built in the 1960s by the small Muslim community from the Malabar coast, near Goa, India.

Sign in front of an Arab school for girls. Note that iPads are supplied to the students.

We have fallen into a routine this week. The 2 children go to school in the morning and Mary Jo and I go off on an excursion during the day. We come back after lunch for our nap and usually eat at the apartment in the evening, perhaps going out for a coffee afterwards.  

One day our excursion took us to the Botanical Garden and back, a 40 minute walk each way plus a walk through the BG. (This is the second time we have been there. Several days ago we went with Lisa and the kids.)  We walked 4-5 miles and, with the heat and humidity, were rather tired afterwards. On Tuesday we took a guided walking tour through Chinatown, about 3 hours. One of the women on the tour is from Kansas, retired from Boeing in Wichita. She comes to Singapore every two years or so for a holiday. She finds it a safe, convenient and interesting environment which is all true. We had lunch together after the tour. She is also a hiker, has done more than half of the AT in increments, with a friend. They hike separately but end up together at the end of the day. Thursday we took a Singapore Walking Tours walk that featured the days of the spice traders in the early 1800s. We finished with a lunch at a Malaysian Restaurant, eating some rather obscure foods. While in Singapore we have had some great food: soba noodles, noodles made fresh at a restaurant with an theatrical show of pulling the dough to create the noodle strands, some fantastic sushi, green tea ice cream, etc.

We have gone to a Lunar New Year program at Louise and Nora's school. Various dances and songs given by the various classes, including Nora's kindergarten and Louise's second grade class. Not dis-similar to events we have been to in the US. Next week the kids start a several week New Year vacation.

There are lots of preparation for the new year under way. Lots of fantastic and (to a Western sensibility) ridiculous decorations involving rabbits. It is suggested that, to deal with Singapore's low birth rate, the coming Year of the Rabbit will be useful. Then, many babies conceived in the Year of the Rabbit will be born in the following Year of the Dragon, providing a strong vigorous, dragon-like baby.

One of the pictures shows Nora at the school Lunar New Year program.

At the Botanical Garden

Neighborhood restaurant

Interior of a mosque

Lunar New Year program, Nora is second from the right