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Newsletter #28 - December 26, 1959 to January 1, 1960 |
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Newsletter No. 28
Happy New Year! December 25, 1959 - January 1, 1960 Mailed from Rome, ITALY Received-Wilmington, Delaware on January 18,1960 Here we are in another country again - Italy. We left Monaco about noon and drove through the long scenic stretch of the Italian Riviera which is composed of gorgeous beach towns such as San Remo, Imperio, Alassio, Savona, Verazzo and many more. Tonight we are in Genoa, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. Unfortunately, we had cloudy weather the entire trip and so we will have no pictures of the popular resorts of the Italian Riviera. San Remo was one of the most beautiful. This town is nestled in the center of a deep gulf and exhibited many interesting rock formations along its shores. Due to the formation of the gulf, the waves splash fantastically against the rocks creating a very beautiful sight. One of the most outstanding views on today's drive were the many hillsides after hillsides of terraced beds of blooming carnations of all colors. On the lower terraced levels, fields of artichokes seemed to be growing. The entire drive along the Mediterranean is one curve after another with a spectacular view around each bend revealing sheer cliffs and rocks of all colors and descriptions. Perhaps you read in the paper early in December of a dam breaking in Frejus, France which caused much damage and the loss of many lives. We went through this town and the area which was flooded on the 24th of December. It was really almost unbelievable to see how the homes, trees, cars, etc. were washed away. We saw the townspeople still at work trying to clean the mud out of their homes. However, many of the homes were completely destroyed. The damaged cars, smaller structures, trees, etc. were still not removed and along the sides of the road it was filled with mud and debris. [December 26] We're stopping in Genoa for the night and, at the moment, it's pouring rain. So, we will not see Genoa until tomorrow. Instead of walking the streets tonight (as we do In each new town), we'll play some cards. Today was a holiday In Italy -- St. Stephen's Day which is always celebrated on December 26th. Since it was still raining in Genoa at noon, we decided to drive on to Milan where we hoped to find clear weather. But, if anything, the weather became worse. Before we left Genoa, which is a very old city, we saw a very lovely view in the mist and fog of its beautiful harbor which is in the shape of an amphitheatre and spreads out along the coast. All around the harbor, with its very rough streets, sprawls the older, medieval core of the city. |
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The more modern Genoa with its wide streets, monuments of Columbus, fountains, spacious parks, palaces, lovely gardens,, arches and colorful atmosphere lies above the older part of the city. The comparison of the old and the new Genoa have earned this city the name of "The Superb City". One floral bank at the Piazza Delia Vittoria, where there is an arch of victory, has Columbus' three ships in a floral display which is most unique. In fact, this is one of the best large displays of flowers in design we've seen on the entire trip. [December 27] We arrived in Milan early in the afternoon and had a difficult time finding a hotel as the city is very intricately laid out and every street has a different name every few blocks - thus making our way hard to find. The population of Milan is 1,355,500 and the wet streets were crowded with people. After we found a hotel and garage, we started walking to find the famous La Scala Opera House so that we could purchase tickets for a performance. Unfortunately they were sold out for today, but we now have tickets for tomorrow night's performance. We found the Duomo which is Milan's greatest Cathedral and the largest Gothic building in Italy. It possesses beautiful stained glass windows which we saw on the interior during the time services were being held in the Cathedral. This significant monument of Milan has a fantastic appearance of pinnacles, statues and lacy battlements. It is adorned with 3,159 statues -- 2,255 appear on the outside. On the very highest pinnacle there is a madonna in whose hand can be seen a staff. Pigeons are in the Duomo Plaza by the thousands and it was interesting to watch the people feeding them while the little tots enjoyed chasing them. What we've seen of Milan so far is quite outstanding and it certainly is a large city of the center of the Po River Plain. We drove around a great deal of the Po River section today on our drive from Genoa using the "Autostrade" which is the same as our turnpike or super highways of today. We went through at least twenty tunnels which are cut through the mountains and high hills and which all seemed to be terraced for agriculture. Today [December 28] we had some sunshine off-and-on so we really walked about in Milan and saw almost everything of importance. We visited the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Here we saw the famous original painting of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" which took him two years to complete. It is believed to be the most perfect interpretation of this mystic event and, although very wonderful, we enjoyed the window of "The Last Supper" in Los Angeles much more as it was done in stained glass. Another famous painting we saw today was the "Crucifixion" done by Montorfano. Other outstanding places of either historical or artistic interest were the Castello Sporzesco, the Basilica Di San Lorenzo, the |
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Arch of Peace, the Victor Emanuel Gallery and the Interior, as well as the exterior, of the La Scala Theater, The opera we saw and heard was "Fedora", a three-act tragedy, which was presented excellently and was performed to a full house. I know you've all seen pictures of the interior of La Scala, but you must really be there to receive the real thrill and to enjoy its beauty. We saw more women dripping with all kinds of expensive furs and beautiful gowns than we've seen for many a day. The entire audience was most appreciative as the applause was tremendous. This was really a thrill for both of us and I know we'll always remember it. You can tell that Milan has a wealthy and thriving population as evidenced by the fullness of its peculiar beauty and fine culture. Our days here were very much enjoyed and well spent. So, when you go to Italy, don't miss Milan. [December 29] We've just completed a glorious day along three of Italy's famous lakes. The first lake we visited was Lake Maggiore which certainly offers most extraordinary scenery enhanced by steep cliffs. Lake Maggiore is surrounded by these steep cliffs which many times have sheer drops into the lake and then, alternatingly, you see green and extensive slopes. The most northerly shores of Lake Maggiore belong politically to Switzerland and, at all times, you can see the snow-capped mountains of the alps which are serenely covered with snow. Luxuriant vegetation dominates the entire landscape which, most of the time, looks like an attractive sculptured picture upon which nature has lavished a subdued pageant of colors. The town of Stresa nestles gently along one of the most enchanting parts of this lake. Stresa has an international reputation of being a most popular resort of Italy. We crossed the lake at Intra on a ferry and, after another view of one of its seven islands, we drove on to Varese where we saw the placid waters of the Lake of Varese. Lake Varese is a miniature lake in size when compared to Lake Maggiore, but it had rare beauty also. Our third lake for today was Lake Como where we saw an interrupted succession of villas, flowering gardens, unusual plant life and many tiny colorful towns. We drove from Como, the city where you observe a magnificent view of the plain, the lake and the lofty Alps, to the most northern point of Lake Como - 28½ miles away. We are spending tonight here at a quaint, traditional hotel very near to the Swiss border [Chiavenna]. Since St. Moritz is only forty to fifty miles away, we think we will try to go there tomorrow if road conditions permit. We were informed this morning [December 30] we would be able to drive to St. Moritz if we had chains on the car. So, we decided to take the trip. Now the trip is over and I am very glad to be out of all the snow once more. However, it was surely a breath-taking experience to and from the Swiss border. The roads were thick with snow and ice and there was much slipping as you were climbing almost the entire trip. Travel posters and postcards |
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do not exaggerate the beauty of these mountains and many times you wanted to stop the car and snap a picture. But, because of the narrow roads, curves and steep grades, you had to keep moving all the time as it was really a very treacherous trip and full of dangers. In the little Swiss villages, through which we passed, there were deep ruts and high banks of snow where cars could easily be overturned and damaged. The hotels at St. Moritz are spectacularly beautiful as this celebrated holiday spot is one of the most internationally renowned resorts in Europe. Almost all of the hotels have an atmosphere of luxury and refined elegance and an old world look of rustic beauty on their exteriors. The town was crowded with sports minded folks of all ages and we again saw elegant costumes, but these were for the winter sports enthusiasts. Many quaint horse-drawn sleighs with their lovely sounding bells were giving visitors rides on the mountainside and they were covered with lovely laprobes of fur for warmth. Today's trip was another one we are glad we did not skip as I'm sure we saw views of unparalleled beauty. After returning from St, Moritz, whose lake was covered with snow, we started down the other side of Lake Como. Here we saw a few lovely pictures of the Alps reflected in the lake. However, these mirrored pictures did not last long as the sun was beginning to fade. On this same afternoon, we saw Lake Lecco whose beauty is due to the wild harshness of the granite peaks which are softened and tempered by the gentleness of its shores. Along this lake we noticed several small resorts which are probably quite crowded during the summer months, but seemed deserted today. [December 31] Tonight we are staying in the Italian city of Brescia which is the city where the famous Mille Miglia Auto Race has its starting point. We are staying at a very modern, new motel and it is really warm and a grand place to get caught up with our family laundry problem. This is because our bathroom shower will help to give us additional space to hang our drip-dry articles. (Tonight we will not need our North Pole sleeping apparel.) Here It is ... New Year's Eve! We're in a strange country, but at another very comfortable motel run by the same outfit who operated the motel where we slept last night. (They have ten motels in different localities of Italy.) The exceptionally nice feature of these two places Is that they have garages where your car can be locked. You are constantly warned to never leave anything in a car overnight, even in the trunk, as there is so much stealing. So, for the five weeks we're in Italy we've only stayed where they have garage accommodations. Today we spent our entire day traveling completely around Lake Garda which is the largest of all the Italian lakes and has a length of 32 miles of impressive views on either side. The coastline of Garda totals about 100 miles and we did the complete coastline today with many stops for picture-taking. |
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We saw the Gardone Riviera which is situated at one of the most enchanting spots along Lake Garda's shores and has perfect hotel and tourist facilities. There is a lovely lake promenade where you can see marvelous panoramic views of the many gardens in this area. On the west shores of Lake Garda, which enjoys a very mild climate, the local vegetation is unusual for such a latitude (remember the snow-capped Alps are in the background at all times). They grow olives, oranges, lemons, gorgeous cypress and magnolia trees, oleanders, camelias and palm tress which all thrive very well. They have unusual terraced plantations which are often high hothouses that contain many of the citrus trees. Darling young Italian boys hail you on the roads trying to sell handsome oranges and lemons. The town of Riva is situated at the northernmost extremity of Lake Garda and its enchanting position, plus its inviting landscape, caused my "shutterbug" husband to stop many times to catch its beauty in pictures. Even the fishermen, throwing their nets of many colors, are quite interesting in this area. We enjoyed all of these Italian Lakes and would hate to say which one we enjoyed the most as each lake possesses something in common and yet each had a distinct beauty of its own. Friday night [January 1, 1960] and the end of another newsletter week. We are comfortably nesting in a warm hotel room, in the world famous city of Florence which is located on both banks of the Arno River. We arrived here after seeing Modena - a very nice Italian city which had a gorgeous cathedral and a Ducal Palace. Our next large city was Bologna, a rather large old city situated at the foot of the Apennine Mountains. It was really quite a climb to this city because of the twisting, turning highway and we were often in the clouds as we drove through heavy fog for several hours this morning. Bologna claims the oldest university in Europe and has a street with several beautiful palaces and low medieval arches bordering other streets with most homes constructed of red brick. The arches and red brick homes are two of Bologna's distinctive features. We will tell you more about Florence in our next letter as the city is almost completely fogged in and has been for several days -- so we have been told. I was very anxious to get here as everyone claims it is a very nice place to shop but today is a holiday (New Year's) and all the shops were closed. We walked quite a bit in the fog and saw some of the many magnificent structures Florence is noted for and hope to see the Interiors tomorrow. Until next week,
Arriverderci (good-bye in Italian)
P.S. We hope everyone has made all their New Year's resolutions and wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. |