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[Monday 10 June 2013]
Tour to Montecassino—Santa Chiara Hotel, Chianciano Terme, Siena
Day 162 Tues 11 June 1Kings 5-6, 2Chron 2-3
The alarm clock was set for 5.30am. We went down for breakfast at 7am, then brought our suitcases down for loading onto the coach and boarded it a bit after 7.30am. It was en route that Jane started the ongoing game or pastime of collecting from us as many Italian words as we knew or whose meaning we had picked up on this holiday.
Janet thought of many Italian “food”-words. Jane started at the front, listing words beginning with “a” — “arrivederci”, “albergho”, “alimenti”, “aceto”, “area”, “assistenza”,… — till she got to us at the back; then starting with us, she went back, listing “b’s” —.“bravo”, “bagno”,…. She continued similarly at times during journeys for the rest of the week. There was one word that I thought of straight away, but had to wait till it was the turn for the “p’s” to give it. On the way from the airport, Jane had said that the tap water in the hotel was “potable”, and I wondered at her use of that word rather than “drinkable”. I guessed that she was thinking in Italian at that point, then later on saw the word “potabile” at a drinking fountain. We went through the town of Cassino then up, via many hairpin bends, to the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino. Being one of the key German strongholds in World War II blocking the Allied advance to Rome, it was almost completely destroyed by American bombing air-raids, then rebuilt after the war.
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:29:08
View from the coach, ascending to the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:43:56
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:46:56
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:48:40
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:50:16
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:52:06
View from the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:53:46
Polish cemetery, viewed from the monastery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:53:46
Polish cemetery —detail 1
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:53:46
Polish cemetery —detail 2
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:54:36
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:54:36
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino — detail
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:55:18
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:56:18
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:56:18
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino — detail
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:57:56
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:58:50
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino — Clement XI eats a panino.
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:59:24
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 09:59:46
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino — Urban V
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:00:58
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:04:14
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:05:22
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:06:58
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:09:18
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:10:28
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:11:28
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:12:52
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:15:42
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:40:22
The Benedictine monastery of Montecassino from the coach, about to depart
On the way down, Jane pointed out a metal sculpture,
not far from a fortification, which was made from bits of abandoned armoured
vehicles.
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:51:36
View from the coach
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:52:28
View from the coach
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:52:28
View from the coach — detail
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 10:54:38
View from the coach
Before proceeding on our way, we visited the Cassino
War Cemetery.
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:02:56
Reflection in the windscreen of the adjacent coach
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:04:32
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:05:20
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:05:46
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:06:48
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:08:56
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:10:58
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:11:58
Cassino War Cemetery
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 11:13:22
Zoomed-in shot of the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino
We stopped for lunch, ca.12.00–1.00pm, in a
bar/ristorante — my scribbled note says “Liolà, Castrocielo” — which seemed expensive. And the method of obtaining prepared food items, such as panini or pizza-slices, displayed on a counter behind glass, was complicated: one had to choose, tell the person at the checkout, pay, then go with the till receipt to the counter. I didn’t know what to call some of the items in English, let alone Italian! What’s more, I saw an assistant more than once “maul” the items to arrange them in the display. I had to have something, though, and contented myself with a bottle of
Fanta and a tub of Italian-produced Pringles-style crisps, which one could just pick up and pay for at the checkout. I sat under an awning just outside to consume them, but
Janet went inside. The mountains en route were the Apennines — I knew the name, and wondered whether these were they, then Jane told us, anyway — but they weren’t a single chain, because for some of the journey we were going through a plain with mountains in the distance on both sides. We’d claimed the back seat again, and once or twice
Janet lay down when she felt ill en route. Ca.1.55pm, Jane said that the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome was just visible to the left on the horizon, but I looked and couldn’t see it.
Ca.2.30pm, there was one more “comfort” stop at some autostrada “services”. I was fascinated by my first sight of a town seemingly clinging to a hilltop, but failed to photograph it. Then it became obvious that this was a typical feature of the region, and that there were many of them.
Tuesday 11 June 2013 — 15:07:54
View from the coach — a hill-top town seen en route
We arrived, ca.4.30pm, at Chianciano Terme, itself indeed a hill town — the old town was, anyway. Our hotel was in the newer part, though, that has spread out from the very top of the hill. There was a safe and a fridge in our room at this hotel. The only thing lacking, as far as I was concerned, was a spare power socket by the desk/dressing table for my computer. The only reachable socket was used by the fridge. The only thing lacking, from
Janet’s point of view, was the availability of any diet drinks at the bar. Initially I set up the computer on the bedside cabinet, and pulled this round to face me as I sat on the bed. Later, I would use the desk, either disconnecting the fridge while I did so, or using the computer’s battery and later plugging it in elsewhere to recharge. My adaptor just about fitted in the socket, but the connection was sparky and unstable. We were able to pay a refundable deposit for an Italian-to-German adaptor, though, which my adaptor fitted better — and we paid a refundable deposit for the key to the safe at the same time. After we’d got settled in our room,
Janet wanted to go out, to locate an ATM and purchase supplies of drinks to go in the fridge. But I didn’t feel up to walking; although my feet had recovered completely from the rigours of yesterday, walking around at our stops, together perhaps with the prolonged inactivity on the coach, had proved enough for them.
Janet went out, had a scout around, and had a drink in a café. She didn’t find a place that sold cheap bottled
Pepsi Diet, though, and had to content herself with relatively pricy cans of less palatable
Coke Light. But she did get me a cheap bottle of Fanta. Pasted the rubrics from yesterday’s
PowerPoint presentation, together with yesterday’s pictures, in
“2013.doc” [the source-document of what you’re looking at now]. Found a few errors in the
PowerPoint presentation rubrics, which I corrected (17:23). Resumed the
PowerPoint presentation of photos from Sunday (to 19:14); had got to slide 55 out of 94.
Ca.7.30pm, we went down to the dining room. Dinner at this hotel, to Janet’s disappointment, was again to a set menu, not a buffet, with items which one chose in advance by ticking a list on the table. Most of our party sat at tables for perhaps six, but we occupied one that had been set for just two.… Afterwards, we both went out to find the ATM that
Janet had spotted earlier, but it reported that the card was not authorised for international transactions. Disconcerting: but that happened at an ATM in Lanzarote, and on that occasion we got cash at the next one we tried. Resumed the
PowerPoint presentation of photos from Sunday: got as far as slide 76 (21:58). Copied today’s photos from the camera (22:04–22:05). Did the Bible reading for Day 155 (to 22:20).
Janet and I were both in bed before 11pm.
[Wednesday 12 June 2013]
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