Tuscany, part 1: Etruscan Tombs

Last summer we went to Italy for a few weeks. I finally have some time to post about that trip, but there is a lot to tell, so I'll do it in installments. Here is the first one.

Everybody knows about Tuscany: the rolling hills, the wine, the food, and so on. One of the less known things is that the region was home to the Etruscans, a mysterious people that thrived before the birth of Rome and that the Romans "absorbed" early on in their expansion, leaving little trace of their civilization. What is left are mostly underground tombs, scattered around the countryside.

You may be driving on a narrow winding road, when you may see a small sign directing you to a tomb in the middle of the woods, in a field, or in an olive orchard. Usually there is just a sign explaining when and how it was found, how old it is, and the little that is known about it. No tour guides on site, no admission ticket and no gift shop.

This is where we were walking to reach a tomb dating back from around the 3rd century before Christ.

Obviously the artifacts have long been removed and placed in museums or sold on the black art market, but the tombs themselves are fascinating, especially when you stop and realize that they are well over 2,000 years old.

These are the steps that lead down to one of the tombs.

Most of these tombs were built several feet underground, and you can access them only through these very steep and narrow stairs. It's kind of scary going down, because your eyes haven't adjusted from the bright summer day outside to the damp and mysterious darkness inside, and you don't quite know what to expect...

Here you can see the ledge where the dead were placed. The tomb is round, with a low vaulted ceiling and a pillar in the middle. The ledge runs around the perimeter of the tomb like a bench.

For more information about the Etruscans, refer to this very informative website: The Misterious Etruscans.

Windows

I took this picture a few years ago in Pavia, Italy.

These windows are on the building opposite the Certosa; in one of them you can see the reflection of the windows of the Ducal Palace.
It's interesting to see the traces of the long history of the building (probably built around the 15th century - I'm not sure because it's not one of the buildings of the Certosa that guidebooks mention), how the new windows have "grown" close to the old ones, like young trees growing next to an old stump.

Wright Brothers National Memorial

During the Outer Banks trip, we also visited the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk.
This is where Wilbur and Orville Wright attempted to fly for about 3 years, until they finally succeded in December of 1903.

There isn't much to see there: some markers that show where the plane started, took off, and landed again; a re-enactment (with mannequins) of the moment of flight (see picture above); and a nice futuristic monument to flight (see picture below - I tried to add a futuristic painting touch to it because the regular picture looked too much like a postcard).

There is also a small museum in the visitor center; it's pretty interesting, with a lot of information on flight and the work of the Wright brothers. Their story is fascinating, so don't miss out on it.

Old Salem

The week before Christmas we went for a walk around Old Salem. Old Salem is a neighborhood in Winston-Salem, NC, that has been kept more or less similar to what it was when the city was founded, in the 18th century, by Moravians moving from Pennsylvania.

There are regular people now living in the old houses, and the area features a college campus as well. The locals live like everybody else (it was pretty hard to keep cars out of the pictures) but they clearly take pride in the heritage of their neighborhood, they keep the area looking "original" and they set up lots of overpriced but nice gift shops for the tourists. There are a few museums as well, but you need a ticket for those. When we have more time we'll go back and take a look at those too.

There are still several Moravian Churches in the area to this day, and few know that the nationally reknown bank Wachovia took its name from this region (the Moravians thought that the area looked similar to their native Wach, and named it Wachovia).
We were hoping to see a lot of nice Christmas decorations (they had even been advertising on the radio), but we found it to be rather subdued. Still pretty nice though.

History of the American Soldier at Guilford Courthouse NMP

Today, the day after Memorial Day, the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park hosted the event "History of the American Soldier".
The park is the site of a major battle of the Revolutionary War, and it is a fitting place for displays and story telling about the life of American soldiers.

From the National Park Service website:

The "History of the American Soldier" is a unique interpretive program conducted as a tribute to all veterans, past and present. This living timeline of history represents eight major periods of United States military history, from the French and Indian War of 1755 to the present day. Park visitors are invited to tour its displays of equipment and weaponry ranging from the flintlock musket to the M16. Park volunteers, properly uniformed to reflect the flashy redcoat of the 18th century, the blue (and gray) of the 19th, and the subdued camouflage of the modern eras will be available to answer questions and describe their displays.

At the same time, there was also the recreation of a 1781 military encampment:

The militia was the citizen-soldier of the Revolution. The Guilford Militia, a
re-created Revolutionary War militia company, will present demonstrations of
period camp life, cooking, military demonstrations and drill, and talks
throughout the day for park visitors to their weekend encampment.

The chicken looked pretty yummy, better than the McDonald's that we ended up eating at.