A:

Thursday: We had a message this morning from Marthese and Elias to say their train trip to Switzerland last night was trouble-free and they had received a warm welcome from Wiebke and her parents, Connie and Matthias, and it was snowing. Yeah!

Today Mick and Beth and I took a trip (45 minutes on the train) to Mantova- Mantua- which is a pretty little place on the shores of three lakes; Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo and Lago Inferiore. The poet Virgil was born nearby and Shakespeare's Romeo found his poison in a Mantuan apothecary. The two main sites here were the Basilica di San Andrea which was full of scaffolding inside due to restoration work, and the Palazzo Ducale.

M:

The Church has another of those relics - this time two cups of earth supposedly collected by centurion Longinus after Jesus had bled on it from the cross. Aside from this there was little of any great merit in the Church, which was singularly dark in any case.

A:

Everywhere we go we seem to run into markets and this town was no exception, with seeming never-ending streets of them. Thursday turns out to be market day here. I felt so sorry for the workers who must feel the cold standing there, especially the women selling the fish. But they all seemed quite cheerful and busy most of the time. After we had been through the markets we headed for the Palace. The Duke's Palace is a huge complex of stately rooms, chapels and gardens. It, and the colection of art works was built up over hundreds of years spanning the time of the Hapsburgs, and most significantly, the Gonzaga family, some of whose members were in positions of influence right up until World War I.

Some of the key features: Pisanello completed a large fresco in a room soon after you enter which is of the stories of Arthur and his knights. Another room was beautifully decorated with the story of Troy. Another was full of marble busts - often made up of a first century head and a 16th century bust or vice versa. One of the most fascinating rooms had a painted occulus which showed a real sense of humour. It appears in this link.

We headed to the Osteria ai Ranari for another really good lunch. Mick had an antipasto of four cheeses and delicious accompaniments such as honey, apple mostarda and honey. Beth had mortadella and I had prawn tails in a bean soup. For mains I had pumpkin ravioli which was similar to the dish we cooked with Luisa last Friday and Beth had gnocchi and Mick risotta alla pilota- risotto with pork sausage. Mick thought his dish a little dry and the rice under-cooked but a Google search revealed it to be exactly as it was meant to be. Another good find from Trip Advisor.

On return, Beth and I had a haircut at the local hairdresser which was doing a roaring trade. I didn't get back to the unit until nearly 6. The hairdresser didn't speak any English but we made ourselves understood quite adequately and came out pleased with the result.