Ravenna

Sunday morning we took off for Ravenna.  The train trip across the mountains was great.  We had a nice dinner that night and Mon morning we walked up to the Basilica di San Vitale and the Mausoleo di Galla after breakfast.  Ravenna is known for it's Byzantine mosaics, and the examples we found in these 2 places were totally amazing.  I've always like the frescos, but they're usually really faded out.  But since the mosaics are made out of glass tiles and stone, they can get dirty but the color doesn't seem to fade.  And what amazing colors.  Lots and lots of gold leaf, greens and blues.  Even some great reds.  Some of the floors in the Basilica were re-done in the 1960's.  There wasn't a lot left to go by, but any floor needs new tile occationally :-).  The results were pretty great.
http://www.ravennamosaici.it/index3.html

And the mausoleum for Galla Placidia is also amazing.  She was the sister to a Roman Emporer and mother to another.  I think she was actually buried in Rome, but the blues of the ceiling of her mausoleum are breathtaking. 

Then we wandered down to the Domus dei Tapetti di Pietra.  It's a museaum for mosaic'd floors found in Ravenna.  It has some really great things to see.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187806-d1458446/Ravenna:Italy:Domus.Dei.Tappeti.Di.Pietra.html

As you can see, I'm using amazing a lot.  I really liked Ravenna.  I could have spent another couple of days there.  We only went because Shari and Val are taking a week long mosaic course in Ravenna, but I'm really glad we got to wander around a look.

After lunch we did some more walking.  We saw another church and an art exhibit about how mosaics and glass tiles were made.  It was all very colorful and fun to see.  Then we had another nice dinner and packed up so we could depart for Venice in the morning.