The Grand Tour 06: Kodachrome Slides from Campania, Venice, and Rome, 1950

 

Continuing his long 1950 voyage back to the USA, my dad took a steamer from Alexandria, Egypt, to Genoa, Italy, with a stopover in Syracusa. He wrote in his diary it was a rough crossing, with many passengers seasick. After disembarking, he took a bus tour along the coast and to Pompeii. The following day, he entrained to Rome. 

 

 Syracuse, Sicily

 

The famous amphitheater was excavated from the limestone in the early Imperial Era (approx. 100 BC).  The superstructure is gone. 

 

Amalfi Coast, Campania

 

The famous Amalfi Coast, at the southern edge of the Sorrentine Peninsula in Campania, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This view is from the town of Ravello looking south towards Minori and Maiori. The spectacular coast is now horrendously over-touristed.

 

Rome

 

The Arch of Septimius Severus (203 AD), Roman Forum

The Roman Forum - where are all the tourists? (October 27, 1950)

Piazza della Rotondo (Pantheon). The Albergo del Sole is now a boutique hotel.

 

Venice

 

After a few days in Rome, my dad took the train to Venice. He noted that the car was unheated and he had to wear his topcoat in the compartment. Fortunately, Venice was sunny and warmer.

 

View from the top, Piazza San Marco from St Mark's Campanile

Piazza San Marco, November 1 or 2, 1950

Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront

Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal (Nov. 1, 1950). Where are all the tourists?

Venice really is a fantastic destination. The Rialto bridge and the nearby market area is most interesting. I have not been to Venice since 2013 - much too long. By all means, make it a life goal to see the islands, canals, architecture, and the opera - but go off season. Just do it.

Rialto Bridge in 2013 with a few more people (digital file)

  

After a few days in Venice, my dad took the train to Verona and changed to a train heading to Innsbruck via the Brenner Pass. 

My dad took the 1950 photographs on Kodachrome film with his Leica IIIC camera and a 5 cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens. I scanned the slides with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED film scanner run by NikonScan 4.03 software. On some frames, I corrected color casts with the color correction tool in Photoshop Elements 2024. It is surprisingly effective. 

 Next: central Europe. 

 

Comfort Food and Ambience at the Franklin Hotel, Rome, New York

For the last 22 years, Parks & Trails of New York (PTNY) has sponsored and organized an annual Cycle the Erie Canal Bike Tour. This is an amazing ride that covers over 400 miles in 8 days. Bicyclists ride along the historic Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, camping out along the way and eating at tremendous buffet dinners and breakfasts. The camp sites are at high schools, municipal parks, and, once, at a Jewish Community Center. Riders who do not want to camp can book bed and breakfast inns along the way or stay in indoor gymnasiums.

Unfortunately, the Trump Virus forced the cancellation of the 2020 ride. Instead, PTNY ran a virtual tour with photographs and video from previous years. I hope I can participate again in 2021.

My long-term hiking friend from Albany (see Kilimanjaro) and I biked the Erie Canal tour in 2018. We had excellent weather, although a few days were hot. The tour included over 700 riders from all over the world. One couple from Australia had biked to northern New York from Australia (tough people!).

On Day 5, we cycled from Syracuse to Rome, a distance of about 50 miles. We camped at Fort Stanwix National Monument, a restored fort that played a role in the American Revolution. For dinner, we were on our own, meaning eat in town.

Rome immediately caught my eye. It was a bit tired looking and still had some historic architecture. Some of the other riders recommended that we eat at the Franklin Hotel, at 301 South James Street. The steaks were supposed to be special. Well, after biking 50 miles, a mountain of protein sounded like just the treat. We "deserved" it. (Note: deserved is dangerous vocabulary in Middle America. It is used as justification to purchase any number of material possessions or excess housing, regardless of the real need of said items.)

The steak was excellent, the sides were fresh, and we all feasted as if we deserved it. Most of the customers that evening appeared to be from the bicycle crowd, but the Franklin certainly did not feed 700 people.

Ah, interesting old stairs with sturdy original banisters. But wooden stairs in a hotel? The Franklin's web page describes the food service but does not say anything about rooms, so the upstairs may be closed now.

The upstairs halls were clean but, I think, no longer used.

Rome is an old-line industrial town. Tracks once ran through this warehouse and industrial district. I wish we had been able to explore more, but we were tired and had to sleep in preparation for the next morning's early awakening and vigorous peddling. The Erie Canal Ride passed through some interesting towns, but we did not have enough time to explore. A car trip along this route would be a rewarding alternative some day.

The images are from a Moto G5 mobile phone.