Sunday - Ravenna’s mosaics

Yesterday I was very tired and the thought of the mind-blowing mosaics that fill this city ( the reason I have come) did nothing for me. I woke up after 10 hours ( I have been waking up at 4 or 5 for several days and thought I was hallucinating when the watch said 7.10 this morning) and felt really excited about all the things to see.

I figured that you could read about Urbino if you were interested in Wikipedia or similar, but I needed to put down on ‘paper’ to get clear in my head the history of Ravenna – part of the problem of multiple pieces of paper with info about the city , it’s all over the place. See previous post.

There are 8 sites in Ravenna that have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
I decided which order to see things in, had breakfast and set off for the furthest one first (it is quite hot ) – Theodoric’s mausoleum ( see notes)


I then walked to 2 and 3 on my list, only to be told that 2 was closed for mass ( it is , after all , Sunday) and so I a. could not get into 2 and the tickets for 3 were sold in 2. Ah well. Off I went to number 4 on my list . see notes of Baptistry of the Arians. Number 5 was closed for repair. Back to number 2 after a coffee ( I can now confidently walk into a bar, ask for a coffee and water, pay, respond appropriately to various questions, ask for the loo, etc, without a word of English – I’ve decided it’s all in the confidence – it doesn’t matter if it maybe a bit wrong) Anyway 2 was amazing. See notes of Basilica di San Vitale. Then 3 on my list. See notes of Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

Time for some food and back to hotel to sort out thoughts of what I had seen. On the way got stopped by 2 kids who wanted directions. I pulled out my map and helped – they were genuine, not pickpockets. Could not find a caffe – did not want much, but most closed because Sunday. Got stopped by a guy and I was polite and stopped to talk to him – he wrote his name down for me and wanted to know my name and whether I was married. I talked on for a bit but when he grabbed my hand and held it to his heart I thought – oops - and told him sorry, but I had to go. He did not smell of alcohol, nor did he nick my wallet , but I then had to walk past my hotel and keep going for a while before I turned around to make sure he was not following, because I could hear him initially – he was wheezing. The block I went around turned out to be bigger than I expected. I gave up looking for something light and went to a restaurant near the hotel for some food. The elderly couple at the table next to me were lovely. Talked to me and invited me to sit with them. I declined - still a bit wary after short,fat Luciano. Yuk.
This afternoon I went to Basilica San’Apollinare Nuovo and the Baptistry degli Ariani ( see notes) . Then I went to a place where they have excavated about 3 m under road level and found mosaic pavements of a 6th C Byzantine palace called Domus dei Trappeti di Pietra. I looked at a small museum, only because it was included in one of the entrance