A friend for a day

Dear Marmite

As I have said before, every day is different. Yesterday was no exception. It started off in the usual way but by the time I had stepped out onto the top part of the St. Domnius Bell Tower 60 meters off the ground; I was greeted with a friendly hello.

The view from the tower is breathtaking and despite the steep stairs, I had enough breath left to be taken. It was at this point the other person struck up a conversation and as if it was meant to be we spent the day from then on exploring the nether parts of the small town.

The next stop was the Cathedral, a domed simple building with exquisite carvings. This was far less decorated than other churches I had previously visited, but no less impressive. As this is not the tourist season, the place was deserted and calm and so much the better for being so. Next to the cathedral is the Temple of Jupiter that was later transformed in the 7th century into St. John's Bapistry. The carvings into the marble look Celtic. It was small, dark and dingy but one to tick off on the tourist list.

The arched roof has faces looking down and each face is supposed to represent an emotion. Some faces have been worn away with time but a few looked quite agonised. Curiously, the order of these reminded me of the phonemic script. In a line the bottom face looks as if it is saying, "arghhh" in fear; the one above looks as if it is shocked, "ooooh", and the one above that is clearly making an "eeek" type face.

We went from this off the beaten track and up a hill to the oldest church, St. Nicholas'. This is just north of the main area and on a route frequented by dog walkers and joggers. The walk was well worth it just for the views.

Kim, my new Australian friend, is also a lone traveller and yesterday was her birthday. So when there's a birthday, there has to be cake! Sitting out and sharing a drink at a table makes such a difference. The biggest downer about travelling alone is eating alone. I don't enjoy restaurants when I am by myself so this was a treat for me as well. Thank you, Kim. May our paths cross again!!!

All this joy and glorious sunshine, Marms, this day - especially with the walk - would have been fun.

Love you, Marmite. Be good and don't eat too many treats.

XXX