Images from Italy

OK, I've uploaded the first batch of photos from the trip to Florence - pooling them together, I've added 117 pix to the gallery. I'll do Siena later when I get round to it.

Catch them here.

Next blog update below:



Fascinating stuff.

Most fascinating was a talk by Teresa Woodruff from Chicago – first met her about 8 years ago – doing work maturing primordial follicles (eggs to you) in culture. This is important because cancer therapy is often lethal to the reproductive system, so freezing an ovary would make children possible in later life. She even coined a phrase ‘oncofertility’. Went along to the welcome party, then back to collect Chris for a later dinner.

We were talking over dinner about our feeling toward the city. So many people have told us how wonderful it is, how it’s their favourite, how magnificent etc. I hate to say it, but somehow it feels oppressive.

Maybe it’s the narrow streets, the rain and cloud, hassles with transport and the poor hotel, but somehow there’s a feeling here of dark unpleasantness. Not too far away is a museum dedicated to instruments of torture, complete with a skeleton in rusty iron cage. None of this is unique to Siena, but most societies have buried, flattened and changed almost everything over the last 500 years. Here all the buildings are more-or-less still there, a little patched but otherwise un-modified. There’s no doubt it’s a fascinating place, but compared to the friendly and open atmosphere of Florence, it feels dark and brooding.

Not sure we’ll hurry to come back.