Ceilings of bedrooms…

..has been the theme for this morning. The Palazzo Ducale and the adjacent Castle of San Giorgio was the home of the ruling Mantovan family for several hundreds of years. At its height it was, according to the guide book, the largest palace in Europe. (definition of Europe?) Anyway, what took my fancy in the several hours that it took to wander though, up and down, through some more, etc, etc was the ceilings of the bedchambers. One had an intricate wooden maze with , in Italian, ‘maybe yes, maybe no’ written all over it. I got a severely cricked neck trying to work it out, so have bought a postcard. ( No photos allowed in this palace – but bright sunlight streams in and sooty, humid air pours in through the wide open windows !) . In another bedroom the ceiling is painted blue with bright yellow stars. Diana races across the sky in her chariot, ably assisted by several angels. I was reminded of a lovely place I visit occasionally in Brisbane with the stars on the ceiling. The final bedchamber had a nice piece of trompe l’oeil. You look up and it looks like several women and a few angels are balancing a tub of plants on the edge of a balustrade, about to come tumbling down on top of you.

I’ve also walked miles this morning looking at other piazzas. In the main piazza there is some gathering of old racing cars. They are all lined up with no appearance of order. I walked up and down the rows taking photos of MG’s and Jaguars. The place was crowded with men peering at cars. The only other women I saw were apparently young ,decorative , very scantily attired ( it is very hot here) appendages of men. Maybe it was too early for real women.

This afternoon I visited a few churches. See previous post.

I leave here tomorrow. I will walk to Mantova station, get 3 or maybe 4 trains depending on the connections, ending up at Viareggio at 1.30ish, then I walk to the bus stop and catch a bus to Camaiore and from there walk about 5 km uphill to www.peraltatuscany.com. With a bit of luck Chris and Pip will pick me up in a taxi as they go past.
I have no idea what the internet connection will be like.