Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Sherlocking in Florence, Italy

Joyce and I arrived in Bologna, Italy for a few days R and R before heading south to our main destination, Florence. This did not stop me from finding a few book stores and picking up some new Italy translations. One of the books I bought, Il Mastino dei Baskervilles, had the introduction by Enrico Solito, one of my good friends that lives in Florence. We departed Bologna on Sunday morning, boarding an express train to Florence. A quick twenty-five minutes later (300 kph or 184 mph) without any stops, we pulled into the Central Station in Florence. We hopped into a cab that took us to our little apartment, just around the corner from the Duomo.
 
Gabriele, Mario, and me
Soon after arriving, we met with Italian Sherlockian collector extraordinaire, Gabriele Mazzoni and his wife Donatella. We had a grand time reuniting and then heading to the small town of Fiesole that overlooks Florence. We visited a small Roman theatre and museum before motoring back into town. We chose a restaurant that looked promising and it was more that acceptable. The owner took us under his wing and made sure we did not leave in need of anything. Gabriele offered to drive us back to our apartment but we assured him we could find our way back there. As it turned out, our apartment was only a block and a half from the restaurant. We were inside before Gabriele could get to his car. We arranged to take the train to Empoli, where Gabriele lives, on Saturday and start round two of our reuniting.
 
Moi and Gianluca at his gallery.Add caption
The next day we called in on Gianluca Salvatore at his art gallery. Gianluca is a member of the Baker Street Irregular, so he is also like family. It was a short, impromptu visit and we made plans for lunch on Friday. I also called another friend and BSI member, Enrico Solito, mentioned above. We arranged to meet for dinner on Friday night. Our dance card is filling up on the Sherlockian Front. To fill the time, in between Sherlockian activities, I managed to locate more than a dozen bookshops and load up with a plethora of old and new Italian Sherlock Holmes books, all were new to my collection. I managed to find about thirty translations in total. This is the reason we always travel with an extra suitcase.
Vernet's "Waterfall and a Fisherman"

On Wednesday, Joyce and I headed to the Uffizi Gallery. This was the collection of the Medici's. They were collecting Roman antiquities since the Fourteenth century and branched into works of art as well. As we were going from room to room, our mouths were dropping further and further as we went along, we came across a painting my Claude-Joseph Vernet - "Waterfall and Fishermen." It is mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes stories that Holmes' maternal grandmother was a Vernet. This painting was by Holmes' great uncle. So, there is always a Sherlockian connection, you just have to dig deep enough to uncover it. Of course there were some other paintings in the Uffizi, such as Rembrandt's and Rubens but a Vernet, well what else is needed to be said.
Joyce, Don , and Gianluca at Five e cinque
Friday morning rolled in and we arrived at the gallery of Gianluca right on time. We strolled back across the Arno to a fun little Vegetarian restaurant, Five e cinque, where lunch was as many stars as one can imagine. Wine and pasta and great conversation made the two and a half hour lunch breeze past. Eventually, lunch ended and we parted ways, Joyce and I returned to our apartment before heading back out to meeting Enrico a few hours later.

We found Enrico waiting on us at Heaven’s Door in front of the Baptistery by the Duomo. We strolled through Florence, receiving a history lesson full of Dante references before heading to Ristarante Acqua Al 2, located near our apartment on Via della Vigna Vecchia. We were joined by Enrico’s wife Isa, short for Isabel. We enjoyed a five course sampler of different pasta, two bottles of wine and another five course sampler of desserts. A double espresso topped off the evening. We sauntered back to our apartment before bidding each other farewell. Another successful Florentine day in the books.
Isa, Enrico Solito; Joyce and I at Ristarante Acqua Al2

Saturday found us heading to Empoli where Gabriele met us at the train station. It was in the early afternoon so we headed across the Arno to Vinci, home of Leonardo. In Vinci, there is a library and museum dedicated the Leonardo. The library is only open to the public on random days and it was our random day because it was open. We attended a lecture by one of the resident Leonardo scholars that was in Italian. I did understand enough to get the gist about Bill Gates buying some of the manuscripts for $43,000.000. At the end of the lecture, we were able to thumb through all of the replica editions of the original manuscripts and journals.

The museum next door featured actual working models of Leonardo’s ideas for the bicycle, the helicopter, the battle tank, SCUBA gear and many others. From there it was a short drive up into the hills over looking Vinci to the house where Leonardo was born. The country side surrounding his birth place was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We watched a short film on Leonardo’s life before heading back to Empoli and a visit of Gabriele’s Sherlockian collection. This was my second time there and I was just as amazed as I was the first time. Gabriele is my brother in collection and although I am chronologically older, he is my big brother in collecting.
 
Inside Ali Baba's cave - or Gabriele's collection
He has the most spectacular way of finding so many one-of-a-kind items. His Italian and French sections are superb and nearly complete. He own some real gems and like most collectors, he more than happy to show it to you. His ‘warehouse’ is stocked with all things Sherlockian, not just books like my collection. Time seemed to stand still while there but I was reminded that we still needed to meet Donatella and have dinner. So I was drug away but by now I was floating on air. My Sherlockian head was spinning with thoughts of all of the new (old) items I had seen and now will be trying to find on my own.

The four of us had a marvelous dinner and like all good things, the evening came to a close way too soon. Joyce and I were driven back to Florence by Gabriele and Donatella and tearfully promised to get together again as soon as possible. And just like the dinner, our two weeks in Italy flew past and soon we were back on the big silver bird heading across the Atlantic. Italy is such a wonderful place and having great friend there makes it all the better.
Just some of my new additions.


Happy Blogging! !

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sherlocking in Scandinavia Part II

Part II of my Scandinavian adventure began on Friday morning when I departed from Hjørring. I checked out of my hotel and walked two blocks to the train station. Inside, there was a 7-Eleven store and this is where I purchased my ticket. I exited the train at the Linholm station, where I planned on catching a taxi to the Aalborg airport. I was approached by a small, white-hair lady who asked if I was going to the airport. When I answered yes, she kindly told me the bus would drop me right at the terminal and cost about a tenth of a taxi. She was also headed there, so we chatted for about fifteen minutes, waiting for the bus. Her name was Beatrice, she told me and she had worked two years in Los Angeles for a Danish opera singer. She was sweet and friendly. We bid each other farewell and went off different terminals.

My flight to Stockholm was uneventful, arriving about three in the afternoon. I like to think of myself as a sophisticated and seasoned traveler, pretty hip to what’s going on around me but even so, I can occasionally make boneheaded mistakes. I deplaned and walked down the concourse and found my hotel which was right there in the airport. I was booked for two nights and the next day, Saturday, was my visit to Bålsta where Mattias Boström lives. My concern was how I was going to get back in the hotel, thinking all along I was still in the security zone. I took my concerns to the front desk and she explained that I would be able to check-in twelve hours before departure. When I got back to my room, it hit me that I would have to check-in without bags, the go out through security the next morning with my bags and go back through the security lines. I went back to the front desk with my new concerns. After several minutes the girl at the desk realized my error and kindly told me I was outside security- problem resolved. Nearly as soon as I had deplaned, I had exited the secure area. It was not well defined as it is other places. Oh well, you live and you learn.
 
Holmes Road in Bålsta
I awoke on Saturday and had a leisurely morning. I ate breakfast, showered and then played on the computer. I needed to catch bus 579 from terminal 5. This bus travels between Aranda (the airport) and Bålsta. The entire trip is just under an hour. Mattias told me to take the 1:08 bus and when I arrived, he was there awaiting. He had invited his friend and fellow Swedish Sherlockian Morgan Malm. He lives in Uppsala and his bus arrive about four minutes prior to mine. The three of us piled into Mattias’ car (not a Volvo) and headed out. We made one little side-stop for a photo-op at Holmes Street. I was pleased to know I am not the only one that does these sorts of things.

Mattias lives on a quiet residential street in Bålsta. We were greeted at the door by his wife and small daughter. We removed our shoes as is the Swedish tradition and ushered in to a house full of books – my kind of place. Right off the bat, Mattias pulled out a large box that was full of duplicates. He told me I could have as many as I needed. I selected maybe a dozen, I had limited means of getting them back with me. It was my first time to meet Morgan, so the next hour was spent chatting over the many filled bookcases and exchanging Sherlockian battle stories with each other. Mattias drifted in and out of our conversations, sharing his time between cooking dinner, tending to fatherly/husbandly duties, and adding his own Sherlockian battle stories.
Chef Mattias

Mattias’ collection has many, many one of a kind Swedish treasures. Several things I simply drooled over, wishing they had sisters and brother in Texas. Of course there were plenty of things there that I did have copies of at home. Mattias works at a publishing company in Stockholm and Morgan teaches high-school literature. He held edited, proof-read and offered suggestions to Mattiäs’ books From Holmes to Sherlock. He also helped with Mattias’ other literary works. They told me about their upcoming trip to London and Leeds. We talked all things Sherlockian for another two hours when it was time for dinner. If Mattias ever decides to give up being a Sherlockian, he might want to become a chef. Morgan and I were served roast beef, done to perfection, potatoes, and sautéed red bell peppers, carrots, and snow peas. This was accompanied by a delicious Spanish red wine. Homemade apple pie and vanilla sauce finished the meal. All that remained was another ninety minutes of more Sherlockian conversation. One can never get enough of this fine thing. After a long final round of good-byes and photographs, Mattias drove us back to the train station, where once again our buses were four minutes apart.


During the course of the afternoon, I discovered that I was the first member of the BSI to have visited Mattias. He thanked me several times for coming but in reality, it was me that was honored. I am very thankful being a Sherlockian and having the ability to visit great people around the world. The world is such a large place and because of the world’s first consulting detective it makes nearly every place 221b Baker Street.
Three amigo, Mattias, moi and Morgan


Happy Blogging!!