Assisi

From Orvieto we went to Assisi, another beautiful small city, home to Saint Francis and so a pilgrimage place. The city is stunningly beautiful, we stayed in another nice hotel, Quo Vadis, close to the centre. We started by walking through its many narrow streets, winding stairways and lovely piazzas. After a great dinner at Trattoria da Erminio, we enjoyed the sight of the Piazza del Comune by night, with its fountain, the tower and the Minerva temple, now a church.

The next day, we started by visiting the cathedral of San Ruffino, that has one the most impressive Romanesque façades I ever saw – big, elegant and austere, with some beautiful sculptures. The interior is spacious and luminous, so different from our small Romanesque churches in Portugal.
Walking around the city, we visited several churches – Santa Chiara Basilica, the church where Saint Francis was supposed to live, the small but enchanting church of Santo Stefano, hidden in the middle of a maze of stairways and small gardens with olive trees.

Then there is the Saint Francis Basilica; even if I had heard so much about it, I wasn’t really ready for such wonder. It’s absolutely incredible, one feels like entering a supernatural world of colour, the frescoes are stunningly magnificent, both in the Upper and the Lower churches. I felt like Lucy Honeychurch in Santa Croce without a Baedecker, not knowing which were the frescoes by Giotto or Cimabue, but it didn’t matter, because it was the whole space and atmosphere that mattered. And the crypt is also impressive, even for a staunch non-believer as myself.

Then it’s funny and kind of sad how all such beauty finds its counterpart in the many tourist shops with thousands of tacky Saint Francis and Saint Claires. But that’s the effect of mass tourism and mass pilgrimages.

We ended the stay in Assisi with a climb to the Rocca Maggiore, a castle from where the views over the city and the plain are really magnificent.

A rainy day in Orvieto

It’s always a pleasure to go back to Italy – it’s an inexhaustible source of sightseeing, good food and lively cities, where modern life coexists with the plentiful signs of past civilizations.

This time, we started by visiting Orvieto, a small but beautiful city perched on top of a volcanic hill, reached by a funicular from the train station. We stayed at a very nice B&B (SantAngelo 42) and had a wonderful dinner at Osteria da Mama Angela.

The rainy and cloudy weather kept us from enjoying the views from the hill, but we could still explore the narrow cobbled streets and the main sights of the city.

The main sight par excellence is undoubtedly the Duomo, Orvieto’s cathedral. It’s one the most beautiful cathedrals in Italy – and that’s quite something – a massive Gothic building, huge considering the city’s size (but then it was once a Papal residence). The façade is very original, being not only sculpted but also painted. The interior is dazzling, vast and with a beautifully decorated chapel, painted by Lucca Signorelli.

There are plenty of lovely squares, narrow streets, nice cafés and tourist shops, including with doubtful taste pottery. Piazza del Popolo, the tower, the market place, are all beautiful.

Then we visited Orvieto underground, a most interesting experience. The hill under the city is all excavated since Etruscan times, and the caves were in use until the 19th century. There are caves and wells dug in the soft volcanic rock – pozzolana – where they used to keep pigeons, make olive oil, store water, etc. The tour is very informative and takes us back in time.

I never get tired of these small Italian cities, they're all so beautiful and full of History and art! And there are SO many of them.

The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu

A great Sci-Fi book, as I hadn't read in a very long time. Accurate science and big questions wrapped in a thrilling plot with interesting characters. Looking forward to read the next books in the series.

La Vie Lente, de Abdellah Taïa

I think this is the best book by Taïa I read so far. As usual, his melancholic tone and his beautiful writing are moving and engaging, the characters believable, and the story strong and thought provoking. And unlike in some of his other novels, this time I liked the ending, I think it really works.

Giovanni's Room, by James Baldwin

I don't know why it took me so long to read something by James Baldwin, since I've heard of his writing for ages, always referred to in the most favourable terms, from sources I trust. But in a way it was a good thing - I always love to discover great books, and fortunately there is really a never ending supply of them.

Because this is a great book, and the author in undeniably a superb writer. Right from the beginning, I felt positively enchanted, mesmerized by the beautiful writing, the smooth succession of words and sentences. And then there's the story, and the characters, so real and heartbreaking. It's a beautiful love story, and a perfect depiction of human feelings, doubts, complexities and contradictions.

So, I was really impressed by Baldwin, and hope to read more of his work.

La Promesse de l'Aube, de Romain Gary

The more I read from Romain Gary and his pseudonym Emile Ajar, the more I like him and admire him. His writing is just too beautiful, the stories and characters moving, making one feel really good and optimistic about the potential humanity in people (even if, oddly enough, he killed himself). I was literally delighted all through the reading of La Promesse de l'Aube, as I had been reading La Vie Devant Soi, Les Cerfs-Volants and L'Angoisse du Roi Salomon. Also enjoyed immensely his sound mind in La Nuit Sera Calme. I'm just glad there are other books by him I didn't read; something to look forward to.

Journal, by André Gide

André Gide is someone I've come across many times, as a writer who has had great influence on other writers. I read some of his books - I can't remember much of La Porte Étroite or Les Faux Monnayeurs, that I read many years ago, but I liked a lot Les Caves du Vatican and Corydon, that I've read more recently. But I was wonderfully impressed by his Journal. Reading it, I felt like there was someone who felt as I did. It was most interesting witnessing his evolution, his evolving feelings. I loved the way his feelings resonated with my own. His was such a sensible mind. I really wish there were other sound minds like his.

Mindelo - last days

Back to Mindelo, enjoying the restaurants, the music, the memories. The fish market, so lively and genuine, the African market with the immigrants from Guinea. And best of all, our friends from the old times – the lovely D. Ondina who treated us to a Cape Vertian tea with cuscus and lots of delicious pastries, and Maria da Luz, in whose house we had a wonderful lunch of cachupa, cheese pudding and cold hibiscus tea. They were all so welcoming and nice.

So, I really enjoyed this trip to Cape Vert. It was nice to see again the places I remembered from my childhood, to see a country coming of age, to meet friends. And to listen to mornas and feel the morabeza!