conticelli.it

Finding stories on the road

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In Higashiyama we stopped in front of this bell tower of the temple, surrounded by greenery and traditional buildings. The red of the beams and the decorations under the roof stood out even more with the light. Looking at the suspended bell and the panorama that opens up a little further on, you understand how much this area manages to mix tranquility and daily life. It is one of those points where you let yourself go and observe the details, without haste.

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DAY 5 Back in Zurich, we spent the last day visiting the cathedral and the Fraumünster, a church with beautiful stained glass windows designed by Chagall.

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Somewhat hidden, the "Löwendenkmal" is a sculpture carved into the rock depicting a mortally wounded lion, in memory of the Swiss soldiers who died during the French Revolution.

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The hills around Lucerne offer beautiful views of the city and the lake.

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Lucerne is definitely smaller than Zurich, but it has an elegant, well-maintained old town, with beautiful perspectives of buildings reflected on the lake or waterways.

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DAY 4 To escape from the heat wave in Zurich, we took the train and took refuge in Lucerne which, nestled in the Alps, enjoyed a minimum of breeze. Also overlooking a lake, it has as its symbol the Kapellbrücke, a long wooden bridge, crowded with tourists and spiders.

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DAY 3 We dedicated the day to the "Kunsthaus", the Museum of Fine Arts in Zurich: vast, extremely interesting, and.... air-conditioned. Ancient and modern art, installations and sculpture; definitely, we have had our fill of Art

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Walk along the Bahnhofstrasse, the main thoroughfare, visiting the old town and arriving on the shores of Lake Zurich.

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Also inside the "Schweizerisches Landesmuseum" we admired this beautiful ceramic stove.

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DAY 2 We started the day in the cool, visiting the "Schweizerisches Landesmuseum", that is to say the museum of Swiss History and Culture. Housed in a building reminiscent of a medieval castle, we were especially interested in the historical section, since objectively little is known about the country, and the beautiful exhibitions of religious art.

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From the Platzpromenade there are beautiful views of the city, the spires of its bold bell towers and the waterways that cross it.

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DAY 1 We arrived in Zurich on a hot day at the end of June, with the thermometer quietly exceeding 30º and a sirocco wind more African than alpine. We spent the late afternoon visiting the beautiful central station, elegant and airy, and then we slipped into the nearby Platzpromenade, a corner of greenery and coolness at the intersection of two waterways, with the natives bathing as if they were at the sea.

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We have published photos of Switzerland!

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We found ourselves in front of these orderly vineyards that seem to never end. The large house in the background immediately gives the idea of a quiet estate, immersed in the daily work of wine. It is one of those places where you realize how much the landscape here is linked to the production and care of the vineyards, without needing to say anything else.

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An expanse of conical roofs that chase each other one after the other, almost like a small stone labyrinth. In Alberobello every glimpse seems to come out of a fairy tale, with the trulli overlapping between the white of the houses and the gray of the stones, framed by the dark green of the cypresses. Even with the cloudy sky, the landscape has something unique and familiar at the same time, as if it belonged to another time but was still alive, here, before your eyes.

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We stopped for a moment in front of these windows of the Hospital de Sant Pau, struck by a light that constantly changed the colors of the glass. The hanging lantern and geometric patterns of Catalan modernism created a calm, almost intimate atmosphere. It is one of those corners of the complex that make you appreciate how much the architecture here was designed not only to work, but also to make those who passed through it every day feel better.

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The Valley of the Roses is one of those places that surprises even when you think you've already seen everything about Cappadocia. The rocks seem to grow out of the ground like sculptures left there by the wind, and the path winds between shapes that change color with every ray of sunshine. It is a silent, almost suspended landscape, which accompanies you step by step without haste.