Strong gusts of wind outside the window shutters woke me up just before the alarm went off. I looked out of the window to find several sunbeds had blown into the hotel pool and that the balcony table’s cloth and cushions had blown onto the floor. We made our way downstairs to breakfast which was inside rather than outside due to the weather. There was a good spread of both continental hot and cold food to choose from.

After breakfast we had intended to go on a walking tour of Ravello to find out what there was to see but due to the extremely strong gusts of wind we decided to go into the Cathedral (Duomo) instead. The main entrance to the Cathedral is via two twelfth century bronze doors cast with 54 scenes of the Passion. On entering the Cathedral, it is notable that the floor slopes quite steeply upwards towards the altar giving the impression of walking up towards God. There are two huge mosaic-covered pulpits; one on either side of the aisle.

To the left of the altar is a small  chapel dedicated to St Pantaleone at the back of which is a small passageway that leads to the Holy Relic of St Pantaleone; a vial of his blood that becomes translucent every 27th July, the day of his martyrdom. I was quite dismayed that a tour guide was talking loudly to her group just outside the chapel, a place that I felt should be a place for reflection rather than noise! After she had gone I entered the chapel and visited the relic which is placed behind glass and contained in a metal grille.

After leaving the Cathedral we sat in the square for some time drinking tea before setting off on a walk to find the tourist information centre so that we could buy a multi-site ticket to Ravello’s attractions. We arrived at where it should have been to find that it had recently moved location and so we set off to find the new location, taking in some spectacular views along the way. As we paused to take some photos at the top of a flight of steps, there was a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass. An upper window had banged against its shutter and shattered into the street, narrowly missing Mr C.

We continued walking along S. Giovanni del Torro past the Palazzo Avino Hotel and the Hotel Parsifal both of which were on our list of options for a meal one evening. Nearby we paused to look at the war memorial and memorial stone to Umberto I, King of Italy before finally reaching the tourist information office. We found out that the ticket we required was only available at the Cathedral, in the ticket office we had tried earlier in the day but it was closed!

We continued our walk, looking for a lunch venue that served Pizza, ending up back almost where we had started our walk. After we had finished our pizzas, which were delicious, we returned to the Cathedral to find the ticket office now open so we were able to purchase our multi-site tickets. Presumably the ticket office is only open when the Cathedral is shut between 12.00 and 17.00 hours. However with the ticket we were able to enter the Cathedral even though it was closed.

We started with the Cathedral museum which has many interesting items including a reliquary bust of St Barbara which contains her skull. A former Bishop insisted that holes be drilled into the bust so that he could check inside to see the relic. Our second visit of the day to the Cathedral was much more tranquil than our first and we paused to light  candles before we left and I offered silent prayers.

Our plan for an evening meal was the Villa Amora where we had eaten lunch the previous day but after getting slightly lost on our way there we arrived to find that they only did lunches. We settled on a plan B and booked a table in the Hotel Rufolo before making our way back to our hotel to relax and freshen up before dinner. For my meal I chose sword fish which came with roast potatoes, tomatoes and olives followed by rum baba.

We had a perfect seat overlooking the Amalfi Bay with its twinkling lights and saw some fireworks in the distance. Closer by there was a son et lumière set to the music of Wagner lighting up the Villa Rufolo .

Back in the hotel room we sampled another of the local wines. It was then that I realised that ‘it was forbidden’ to consume any food or drink that had not been purchased in the hotel and that the fridge was not to be used for for personal items either. Ooops!!

I invite you to read my reflection on 2014 on the Broad Oak Magazine blog.

I have really enjoyed my ‘part year’ in the 52 photos project and I am looking forward to starting the next round of challenges from the beginning.  Thank you Bella

The final photo in this round is a self portrait. For several reasons I haven’t been inspired to take a self portrait over the last few months and the last few weeks have been rather hectic…  So I delved into my ‘fairly recent’ archives to find a suitable photograph for the theme.

See the gallery for more ‘self portraits‘.

The Eiffel Tower is currently having a glass viewing platform installed so unfortunately the view is slightly impaired by scaffolding.

The prompt for this theme was:

We Paint, We Cook, We Sew,
We Knit, We Photograph,

We Make.
We Create.

But where do we start?
What elements or ingredients
do you gather together to begin?

Scott Adams (B. 1957)