Comments about Walking through Tuscany

We were bussed (ugh) and walked (slowly) through some of the finest, most evocative, and genuinely peaceful scenery we have had the pleasure of experiencing.

We start with Etrucia in a small town called Tarquinia. We visited the necropolis which had some 6000 tombs deposited ca. 2500 years ago. The Etruscan culture was quite artistic, productive, and, by all appearances peaceful. Recipe for being taken over by the (then) relatively barbaric Romans.

Note the Grecian influence on the art. The Mediterranean sea was alive with trade and cultural exchange as evidenced by manifold artifacts and the influence of other cultures.

Pictures taken in Rural Tuscany

click on images to receive high resolution pictures...

	This is one of the best preserved and finely crafted examples of Etruscan pottery. A goblet, it stands about 6 to 8 inches high. Tarquinia, Archaeological Museum
	Some more examples of fine Etruscan flatware... DOVUNQUE TU SIA, FAI COME GLI ETRUSCHI ! Tarquinia, Archaeological Museum
	Some art from the wall of an Etruscan tomb. "Pete and Re-Pete Etruschi" Necropolis outside Tarquinia

The art is entirely in wood. In the high resolution version, you can see the town in the background. Note also the colors and even the expression of the man in the inlaid picture.

This is another wood inlay picture like the one above. To me it is more interesting in that it is a "fool the eye" style where it looks like there is depth when it is actually flat. Sorry for the reflection; the Italians are often remiss in the presentation of their art (there is so much, just how do you present it all in a quality manner?) and I couldn't process the reflection out with any of my post processing programs.

Here is the last (though not atypical) lunch served the weary travelers on the tour. Wonderful things like boar sausage, three cheeses (measured by age, the oldest, in the center of the cheese plate) aged in ashes and oak leaves), artichokes, lemon cabbage salad, wonderful green olives, basil and tomatoes... etc. There was another whole table for the breads (surprisingly bland to the US pallet) and (great) local wines.

This page last updated Monday, January 03, 2000