Children of Men

We went to the cinema in Shrewsbury last night and I was blown away by Children of Men. I have to say that the genre of 'post-apocalyptic England' has always appealed to me, I guess partly because sometimes it feels a bit like that anyway (for instance yesterday I had a meeting in West Bromwich) and probably due to seeing things like 'Day of the Triffids' and 'Threads' on the telly at an impressionable age.

Anyway Children of Men is probably the best film I have seen for absolutely ages and you all must go and see it straight away. There were one or two minor quibbles (why didn't they shoot the tyres?) but otherwise an excellent and quite frightening portrayal of a future Britain. The treatment of 'illegals' was very close to the way it might yet go if the Daily Mail has its way, and was particularly chilling given where we were on Sunday...

'Arbeit Macht Frei'











...of which more in another post. Needless to say I found the visit to Auschwitz earlier this week extremely moving, but, as I say, more later, as I haven't got the time or emotional strength to address the many issues raised by that visit just at present.

But anyway go and see 'Children of Men' it is an excellent film with some very good acting (even by Michael Caine). Lots of clever bits - the 'Ministry of Art' with 'Guernica' and a pink pig at the Battersea Power Station - the deserted school - and so-on. More than one Pink Floyd reference too.

Dorchester Show

Well we have just got back from the beauty of Cracow, so it seems a bit silly to put up a picture of a bag of wheat but that is really all I have time for today! And I did promise Dad last week to show him something of professional interest...

The winner of the 'Winter Wheat - Milling' category ('Solstice').

Winner of 'Winter Wheat - Feed' category, and overall winner of the Best Wheat Exhibit ('Alchemy').












Sadly the 'Spring Barley (Malting)' category photo was a bit dark and pointless. Other perspectives of the show have been provided by Moss on her blog. Hopefully tomorrow, and certainly by Friday, I will have time to post some photos of Cracow which is a beautiful city. And arguably much more interesting than some bags of wheat!

The conference occupied a large part of our time, which was excellent and very useful for all sorts of reasons. However it did mean that we had less time to explore the city, and no time at all to visit sites in the countryside of family history interest. I was able to buy some books and maps however for future use. The only remotely family interest that was discovered (and going forwards into the future not backwards to the ancestors) was the discovery of Isaac Street during our evening wandering round the former Jewish quarter! So here is a photo of the street sign...

Florence

Well you all know about what happened in Florence, but now you get to see the pictures! Once again another warning about the number of pictures in this post. All of these were taken by Kate (except the ones taken by me which are pretty obvious as they have Kate in them!). The photos are not in chronological order either, but are arranged by location (in no particular order). I am not going to even attempt to provide a 'guide to Florence' or any detailed historical information, but I hope you enjoy seeing what we got up to.

Early morning at Birmingham airport, Katie very excited about her birthday trip!




The flight was OK, an hour in Munich airport en route. Sandwiches on the plane served by statuesque Wagnerian blondes. The hotel was a fantastic place, the 'Hotel Centrale', on the second floor of a building right in the centre of the city. The view from the room was of the dome of San Lorenzo, which was fantastic (there is a picture of this below). Lovely staff, a very nice atmosphere, clean and overall an excellent hotel which I would not hesitate to recommend. Anyway onto more exciting things...

The Palazzo Vecchio, in the main square in Florence. Built in 1299 and 'improved' in the 1450s.

I proposed just here, at the foot of the statue of Perseus and Medusa, at midnight the day after this photo was taken.

David, by Michaelangelo (also seen in the background of the previous photo).













The Palazzo Vecchio is nowadays the offices of the city council, but was formerly a grand palace of the Medici, with much extension and development taking place in the 1450s. This included the most impressive Hall of the Cinquecento. Best bit for me was the map room, with maps of the world as it was in the 16th century.

A view of the Duomo from the Palazzo Vecchio.














Adjacent to the Palazzo Vecchio is the Uffizi, which was built as offices of state in the 15th century. It was then used as a gallery for sculpture and painting, and does house an extremely impressive collection. Lots of people seemed to get very stressed thinking they had to queue for hours, as entry is limited to 600 people at any one time, but we bought a timed ticket in advance and just wondered in with no hassle. After a few hundred paintings by Michaelangelo, Botticelli and all the rest I must say I did suffer a little from 'art fatigue'.

One of the most impressive art galleries in the world.

Another view, this time from ground level. Looking back from the River Arno towards the Palazzo Vecchio.

...and looking out the other way down towards the Ponte- vecchio.

Looking downriver from the top floor of the Uffizi gallery.

The Ponte- vecchio is the oldest bridge in Florence, with medieval shops and houses.

Yet another view of the Ponte- vecchio from the next bridge down.

Modelling my new camera bag which cost sixty quid but was well worth it.

Nice evening light (I think this was on the third day, the water was very still).




On returning to the hotel after our excursions on Thursday we were delighted to find a complimentary bottle of champagne to celebrate Kate's birthday. So we had a drink before going out for the evening in which we began our four-day mission of practising how to order food in Italian and how to consume four or five courses in one sitting!

Here you see the view from our hotel window of the church of San Lorenzo.













The main cathedral, the Duomo (or 'Domino' as Kate preferred to call it) did indeed dominate the city centre and seemed to be visible from every street. The church (dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore) was designed in the late 13th century and completed by the 1360s. Interestingly at about the same time the finishing touches were being added to Holy Trinity Church in Hull. The exterior (of the Duomo, not Holy Trinity) is covered in green, red and white marble. Probably the most impressive feature of the cathedral is the dome, conceived by Filippo Brunelleschi and finally completed in 1436. The Cathedral itself is part of a complex of buildings including the campanile (bell tower) designed by Giotto, and the Baptistry - the earliest building of the complex. In the basement of the Duomo you can see the remains of the late Roman basillica which stood on the site before the medieval cathedral replaced it. So all in all rather marvellous...

The Duomo in its landscape setting, with the bell tower on the right.

A similar view but close up, with the octagonal Baptistry on the left.

The spectac- ularly gold-plated ceiling of the baptistry.

The facade in the brilliant Tuscan sunshine, some very nice light on our final day.

The interior of the dome as seen on our climb to the top...

...and a closeup of the frescoes which are impressive as the perspective works well from below.

Finally made it to the top and what a fantastic view from the tallest building in the city

My pretty fiancee with the world at her feet!

Many thanks to the anonymous fellow-tourist who took this photo.

The church of San Lorenzo seen from the Dome, our hotel is just off the left hand edge of this photo.

Inside the cloister at San Lorenzo. This was the church of the Medici family.

Slightly more down-to-earth, one of several intriguing alleys.














Perhaps I should say a few words about our dining out experiences. The first night, Kate's actual birthday, we dined at the recommendation of the hotel owner in a restaurant nearby. The food was nice but not spectacular. The second night (the famous night) we had a lovely ouside table at Za Za in the Piazza del Mercato - again just round the corner from the hotel. Our guidebook made the unlikely claim that this was the favoured eating spot of the rich and famous. It was certainly expensive (and evidently popular, luckily we made a reservation in advance) but the food was not exceptional and the service less than cheerful. The third night we at a couple of doors down from Za Za, also in the Piazza del Mercato, and had a nice meal sitting next to an Australian couple. On our final evening we gave in to the persistent 'charms' of the 'waiter' in a restaurant near San Lorenzo who had hassled us each time we had gone past. His patter was utterly ludicrous and his waitering skills non-existent!

Comparing different Chiantis on the last evening.








Florence is undoubtedly the most expensive city to eat out in, with the possible exception of London. Anyway on with the guided tour of historical monuments. The Bargello was built in 1255 and was for a long time the 'town hall' of medieval and renaissance Florence. It also served as the headquarters of the secret police in the 16th century, and as a prison in the 18th century. It is now a museum, including various sculptural masterpieces such as Donatello's 'David' (the one with the hat). It is a very pretty building arranged around a courtyard.

Nice windows made entirely of crown class.

More nice windows overlooking the courtyard.














Just outside the main area of the town centre was the church and monastery of Santa Croce, built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Here are buried pretty much anyone who was anyone in renaissance Italy. Spectacular tombs here of Gallileo, Dante, Michaelangelo, Machiavelli and so-on. The adjacent cloisters are particularly lovely...

The chapter house, built by Brune- lleschi between 1442 and 1446.






Finally we come to the Medici Palace itself. The Medici family coat of arms (featuring balls) was present everywhere in the city, and nowhere more so than here - the headquarters of the powerful banking family. Built in 1444, it was the prototype for all 'classical' villas and houses which followed - pretty much right up to the present day.

In the courtyard.

The large hall feauring a Biblical-style painting showing Medici world domination.

A detail of the painting.










So that was that. It is worth mentioning the Museum of the History of Science, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is full of interesting renaissance instruments for measuring various aspects of the world. It is a curious reflection of modern society that whilst there were lengthy queues to see art in the Uffizi, there was virtually no-one in the Museum of the History of Science - where you could see such wonders as a 16th-century three metre diameter brass model of the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic universe built for the Medici, and Gallileo's telescope, his compass and even his finger (!).

Well we had a lovely time in Florence and apologies to everyone for posting so many photos.