The passage of time in Wellington and elsewhere
Super effort today by EQ.
On a chilly morning she ran the line distance in the beautiful surroundings of Florence.
Mum and dad went from one part of the course to another in order to offer cheer and encouragement. Shaz almost lost her voice from all the encouragement of the runners, while both of us had sore hands from clapping!
The atmosphere was great and the city is a fine backdrop to an event.
A trip to the Uffizi gallery today to see part of a huge collection of art.
There is so much to see and appreciate but in reality it is so difficult to absorb so much.
Medieval art with clearly religious themes-recurrent. So good and so easy to admire. The nature of the art does change through the centuries. Plus the Roman sculptures. A selection:
After a longer than expected journey yesterday we arrived in Florence.
EQ is doing the marathon tomorrow. Well cool.👍
We arrived early having taken a flight from Marseille just about 6am.
So to the hotel to leave the bags and out again to see some sights.
We walked and saw the Plaza d’Espana and the gardens next door. Tapas for lunch before a Power Nap.
A large church very close by. Very Baroque apparently. I find it all a little overpowering.
I did not capture the many altars but the stain glass windows were in comparison simple.
This is actually day 3. This morning we went to the renowned cathedral. It is the second largest in Europe by size not height. It is built on the original site of a mosque. Our overall impression was of size and not quality. As a church it is too large and the art content is not so inspiring.
And Shaz in the courtyard:
A lovely weekend being shown the sites. Different restaurants and museums. Lovely walks including to the top of the hill to see Mary.
We arrived at Saint Brieuc in good time but unfortunately the train did not. Due to either signaling failure or hitting an animal on the line, or both, the train was an hour late.
We missed our connection to Marseille by three minutes despite a rush through the metro. So we have spent a little more time at Gare de Lyon.
Seems a little unseasonal to me.
So now the re-pointing is finished. The mud between the stones has been replaced by beautiful lime mortar.
It took us 4 weeks each of work. So quite a substantial effort and a learning experience along the way as we learned and adapted the techniques for applying the mortar. The stones needed a good clean at the end and it was clear the applying and smoothing of the mortar improved as experience was gained.
Now will be the time to turn it into a better entertainment area and zone space. We will see.