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| Tower with Ghibelline (swallowtail) crenellations, Assisi |
We have a winner! The contest in a previous post (here) has been well and truly won by Monique Liddle, whose absolutely correct and amazingly prompt answers appear in her comment at the end of the blog. Monique, please get in touch with me so I can send you the book you've won. I need to know your preferred format and where to send it. Congratulations, and thanks for entering!
On December 24th I will be hosting a guest post from author Nancy Jardine, who is promoting her new book, After Whorl: Bran Reborn, the second book in her Celtic Fervour series set in Roman Britain. She will describe what goes into researching a not-so-well-documented period, and I think you'll find it very interesting.
I'm recently back from a research trip to Assisi, where I had the privilege of spending a wonderful three weeks. My husband and I stayed in an apartment just a few yards from the cathedral, with its ancient romanesque facade. Had it been the thirteenth century, we would have been Saint Clare's next-door neighbors. We had a spectacular view out across the valley. We spent many days in the Basilica of Saint Francis, studying and enjoying the frescoes. That remarkable building is probably the most extraordinary indoor space I have ever been in (though the Sistine Chapel and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua are both close competitors).
Naturally I will be blogging about this, but with all of the things that accumulated while we were away and the holidays coming up, it may come out in bits and pieces.
To whet your appetite, I'll post a random selection from our photos taken in Assisi:
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| View from our window |
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| Our neighborhood |
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| Fortress on a hill (the Rocca) |
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| The Rocca, up close |
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| View of the city |
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| Nothing is flat here - lots of up and down |
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| The cathedral |
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| View from the Basilica of Saint Francis |
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| Street scene |
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| The Basilica of Saint Francis |
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| Assisi's answer to America's Pizzeria Uno |
Images in this post are all photographs taken by Timothy Heath, who holds copyright.
5 comments:
Lovely shots! Do you happen to know what plants were trailing down the wall in the "up & down" photo?
No, sorry, I have no idea. Even though it snowed while we were there, before it got that cold, balconies were covered with flowerpots and lots of stuff was still blooming. Apparently there are competitions, earlier in the season, for such things. I'd love to go there in May sometime and see their amazing Calendimaggio festival, and the flowers everywhere.
Wow! How wonderful it must be to tread the paths of the ancients. I am sure you could feel their presence and that truth will seep into your writing. I love the scene from your window with its view of the dramatic cloudscape.
You must have a vigilant guardian angel who guided you to choose Florence and Italy et al as your chosen arena of writing. Most fabulous photos and I am going to have to have stern words with MY guardian, (who did not choose the most photograpic era - Celtic prehistory - no charming houses or churches)
Kathryn, yes, I am so lucky to be able to do this, and I wish I could do it more often! I hope that something of that beautiful place will find its way into my writing. I love being able to stay in a place long enough to absorb the atmosphere.
Judith, my guardian angel does seem to have led me to a place I enjoy a lot. As for Celtic prehistory, I suppose there is a certain lack of photographable residue, but that means all the more scope for the imagination - yours and your readers.
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