Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and is the target for today's high-octane team and I. It's known for its early Christian monuments and mosaics, eight of which are inscribed on the World Heritage List. Much of the art is Byzantine in style Although I didn't manage to visit all the sites, I managed to visit the majority.
The day started with a visit to the Basilica of San Vitale (548) with its Byzantine architecture and mixture of mosaics, frescos and mouldings. The architecture is very similar to the Hagia Sophia in Constaninople, unsurprising as both sites were created under the reign and guidance of Justinian I and Theodora, his wife. In addition to a glorious range of ecclesiastical mosaics, there are two striking groups either side of the apse portraying these two benefactors. Whilst Justinian is very much as you would expect a Roman Emperor to look (suave, debonair and slightly dissolute), Theodora is a sad disappointment and looks bad tempered and mean - not at all the legendary beauty who started life as a prostitute and trapped herself an emperor!
From there onto the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (c. 430), a small very Greek Orthodox looking building in the courtyard of the Basilica. Once inside, the ceiling and walls are covered with the most incredibly vibrant and rich colored mosaics of incredible fineness. The site is controlled carefully to ensure that the microclimate is not too disrupted, but to be honest, I'm really not convinced the approach is particularly valid, as the door is wide open and people traipse in and out throughout the day.
Final stop of the morning was the city museum with a fine collection of orthodox christian artwork to view.
By this time, I was ravenous and also incredibly thirsty, as Ravenna was hot despite the sea breeze. It had become abundantly clear that any weight I had managed to lose earlier in the journey was going to be re-acquired with a vengeance, courtesy of the Italian staple diet of pizza and pasta, but hey, if you are going to have to pay later, you may as well enjoy the now to the hilt - so lunch was saffron, clams and parmesan gnocchi with a side platter of grilled vegetables!
From lunch, time for a quick visit to Dante's tomb ( as in 'Dante's Inferno'). As the Ravennans did not find the ivy covered mound sufficiently elaborate for such a famous wordsmith, they have constructed a small marble temple just outside it before continuing on to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (c. 500).
From the outside it is a unassuming and plain mediterranean church, but once inside in the cool shadows, once again you realise it's covered with spectacular mosaics. Interestingly, one wall is lined with male saints, each with a unique face, hairstyle and haircolor; the other is lined with female saints, all with the same face, and almost entirely blond. I know Italians are famous for their dark hair, but almost all medieval art seems to portray the women with blond or mousy hair!
The Arian Baptistry (c. 500) and Neonian Baptistery (c. 430) are small chapels, adjacent to other churches or community centres.....more mosaics!!
The main Franciscan church is plain and sombre by comparison to the bright complexities of all these early churches, but it had its own little surprise in store for us - head on down under the main altar, into the crypt and voila.....ancient mosaic'd goldfish pond!! Complete with goldfish!
By now we were all starting to flag a little, and decided to head back to the 'van with a brief stop at the 'House of Stone Carpets' - a 14 roomed roman villa excavated over the last few decades and with superb mosaic floors. It's most spectacular center piece is known as the dance of the 4 seasons and depicts enthusiastic folk dancing to the tunes played by accompanying musicians.
After all the color and vibrancy the Mausoleum of Theodoric (520), was really a bit of a let down - it was a large marble building some way out of town with little to no remaining decoration. Despite all of Theodoric's power, it appears he was actually buried in a bathtub - albeit a very very large porphyry one! Do the dead sing in the bath?
Last stop of the day was the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe (549) before heading off on the long drive down towards Tarquinia.
My satnav is known to be a little dodgy so my passengers decided to opt for good old fashioned map based navigation, which ended up taking us across the Apennine Hills at the Muraglione Pass. It's a gloriously twisty windy hairpin bendy road, with lots of steep ascents and descents, and probably had the most amazing views - but by the time I managed to baby the van up the hills, the dark had settled, and nothing was in sight! As we started to descend on the other side of the hills, I decided to call it quits for the night driving and we wildcamped next to a ghostly glowing TV set, discarded randomly in the middle of a nature reserve.....
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was the next substantial stop on the north bound run - Janine and I spent a day on the motorway, running between Chamonix and there, and although we enjoyed the countryside views, there just isn't that much you can say about the junk food that is the lot of the long distance driver. It is an amazingly verdant area - there are very few towns or villages visible in the southern side so you approach through fields and countrysides. Luxembourg itself is a deceptive mix of old and modern, until you get near to the centre, and get a sudden glimpse of the river gorge that runs right through the centre of it. 
The heart of the old town is based around 'Lucinburhulic' the original fortress, started in 963. Over time it was grown and morphed, eventually ending up as a Napoleonic style fortification built on and through the cliff face, albeit mostly dismantled as a result of the Treaty of London in 1867. The internal 'casements' are however still there, and have been pressed into service in numerous ways since then. In WWII the population of Luxembourg sheltered in them from the bombings, and the remains of the 'sand loos' are still visible, complete with reminder to take your sand with you into the loo. The stench of humanity in such a confined space must have been pretty unpleasant. Other parts of the casement have been made into telephony and electrical hub rooms, and still others are the gold vaults of the national bank of Luxembourg - sadly we were not allowed to tour that part of the casements! Some of the original guns have survived, and one is still standing guard in solitary splendour, whilst the others have been removed to the central museum for preservation, away from the damp mizzle that lines the tunnels.
Luxembourg is also home to the largest stone bridge in Europe - it's quite imposing, reaching as it is across the breadth of the valley. Our guide blithely informed us that as a part of the plans to modernise the city, the bridge is soon to be completely dismantled, strengthened, and since they've got it down and in pieces, widened, and replaced back up 'exactly' as it was before.
In the heart of the city, you find the Cathedral - an interesting architectural experience for a religious building of such prominence, as it is predominantly 1920s and 1930s built. There is also, for some unknown reason, just outside the Duke's palace, a large herd of blue plastic sheep. A somewhat sheepish attendant tried really hard to persuade me that it was bringing world peace, goodwill and an end to hunger.............it just reminded me why I have little patience with a lot of modern art.
Lunch was an exploration of Luxembourg cuisine - I decided to go for Kniddelen with bacon and cream. Kniddelen are essentially dumplings, and whilst it was a very flavoursome dish and I'd recommend it for a winters day, it sat rather heavily during the rest of our trogging around town!
