The New Arrival...

Firstly, apologies to Johnny Hoogerland, who doesn't ride for Team Rabobank at all - he's with Vacancesoleil.  The moral of this tale is: not every Dutchman rides for Rabobank.  That is if Johnny Hoogerland is in fact a Dutchman.  [Readers Please Note:  this is not the place to come for fully up-to-date and accurate sports news.  Not even cycling news.  I might have been a bike-racing geek once upon a time, but obviously I've now grown out of it.  This is probably a good thing...]

A pleasant surprise this morning.  Squinty the scruffy blackbird brought a baby with her when she arrived for breakfast.  Baby sat on the windowsill and stared into the kitchen a while, then flew about the garden a bit.  I haven't seen Squinty Junior since this morning, but it goes a long way to explain why Squinty has been eating enough for at least two.  And I hasten to add that Squinty Junior looks neither squint, nor scruffy, nor dishevelled, and is in fact the epitomy of elegance. 

Now, without further ado, I would like to introduce to you my all-time favourite site in our Sorrento trip.  As you know, we visited a lot of buildings and monuments, so to be given the accolade of 'Ultimate Monument in the Holiday' is quite an achievement.  This one beat Roman villas, intact Roman shops, amphitheatres, paper mills, cathedrals, castles, the works...
 
The building in question enjoys a very picturesque setting in the town of Ravello on the Amalfi Coast.  Here's some Atmospheric Shots to give you some idea of its surroundings:-

The picture above is one of the stock images that are often found on postcards and in guidebooks, which my cheap little camera managed to replicate with panache, I'm pleased to say.

Anyway, my chosen building, though not the church featured above, is a medieval ecclesiastical structure, though on a slightly larger scale.  It's the cathedral of Ravello, and from a distance, the exterior appears quite plain and modest:-

The cathedral building is, of course, equipped with the inevitable campanile, which is much more ornate:-

The ruined building in the foreground is interesting in its own right, but we'll deal with that later.  Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at the facade, and then go inside.  The interior is worth a few posts in its own right, as it's full of Wonderful Things...

More to follow...

The New Arrival...

Firstly, apologies to Johnny Hoogerland, who doesn't ride for Team Rabobank at all - he's with Vacancesoleil.  The moral of this tale is: not every Dutchman rides for Rabobank.  That is if Johnny Hoogerland is in fact a Dutchman.  [Readers Please Note:  this is not the place to come for fully up-to-date and accurate sports news.  Not even cycling news.  I might have been a bike-racing geek once upon a time, but obviously I've now grown out of it.  This is probably a good thing...]

A pleasant surprise this morning.  Squinty the scruffy blackbird brought a baby with her when she arrived for breakfast.  Baby sat on the windowsill and stared into the kitchen a while, then flew about the garden a bit.  I haven't seen Squinty Junior since this morning, but it goes a long way to explain why Squinty has been eating enough for at least two.  And I hasten to add that Squinty Junior looks neither squint, nor scruffy, nor dishevelled, and is in fact the epitomy of elegance. 

Now, without further ado, I would like to introduce to you my all-time favourite site in our Sorrento trip.  As you know, we visited a lot of buildings and monuments, so to be given the accolade of 'Ultimate Monument in the Holiday' is quite an achievement.  This one beat Roman villas, intact Roman shops, amphitheatres, paper mills, cathedrals, castles, the works...
 
The building in question enjoys a very picturesque setting in the town of Ravello on the Amalfi Coast.  Here's some Atmospheric Shots to give you some idea of its surroundings:-

The picture above is one of the stock images that are often found on postcards and in guidebooks, which my cheap little camera managed to replicate with panache, I'm pleased to say.

Anyway, my chosen building, though not the church featured above, is a medieval ecclesiastical structure, though on a slightly larger scale.  It's the cathedral of Ravello, and from a distance, the exterior appears quite plain and modest:-

The cathedral building is, of course, equipped with the inevitable campanile, which is much more ornate:-

The ruined building in the foreground is interesting in its own right, but we'll deal with that later.  Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at the facade, and then go inside.  The interior is worth a few posts in its own right, as it's full of Wonderful Things...

More to follow...