Hello, Italy

We left for our trip to Italy on Monday, April 22 - Earth Day - at about 9am. A day and a half later (including the time difference) we were in Ancona, Italy, a sea port on the Adriatic Coast - about half way up the East coast of Italy. We were met by our Roads Scholar tour guide, Allessandro, who shepherded us and our 10 tour group companions to our hotel in Senigallia, a beach town to the north. In fact our hotel is named Albergo Bice, which is pronounced Beeka in Italian and reminded us of the beach.

We spent our first 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday) in the Marche (Marka) region (one of 20 regions or states of Italy). We are here to learn about the art and artists of Italy. So we started our first day with a lecture on the artist Lorenzo Lotto. It was not until recently when a Boston art historian wrote about him and his creative genius that he has become more popular. He paints gorgeous portraits in natural poses with much movement. He uses symbols alluding to the name of the sitter and his occupation. After the lecture we went by bus to the town of Jesi to see some of his paintings in the Palazzo Pianetti - an art gallery in a historical house, still lived in by some of the family.

In the afternoon we went back to Ancona to walk down from the cathedral to the historic town center. We walked down the cobble streets past old stone & brick houses, many of which have been restored. We admired the views of the coast line and the green hills surrounding the city. Somehow it reminded me of Santa Monica Bay.

Urbino Italy

The next day, Thursday, we learned about the painter Raphael, another fabulous Renaissance painter. We motorbussed to his home town of Urbino to see reproductions of his paintings in the house known as his birthplace. We also visited the Ducal Palace where we could see more of his paintings and admire the many rooms of the home of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino.

Walking down the streets of Urbino