In a pickle

Dear Marmite

I ended up in a pickle this morning. I missed the stop and went onto Dijon on my overnight trip. So it was more mustard than pickle but I kicked myself nonetheless, turned around a few times to get my bearings and caught a train back to Lyon. This time I looked out at the white landscape shrouded in heavy fog, determined not to miss my stop a second time.

Suffice to say, I am here safe and sound in Lyon which is a pretty remarkable place on first encounter and another city dedicated to cyclists and scooter riders; none of whom wear helmets. Everything is quite orderly and once again the buildings are evidence of a very wealthy history and good town planning. Nice as it is, it is so different from Bologna. The Rhone is central to this city and the main part is on an island in the middle of the river. The Romans got here too.

I was very cautious as I left the station. So cautious of getting on the wrong transport was I, that I walked to my rather down at heel hotel which is well situated for sightseeing.

Famous me in Bologna

I have said goodbye to Bologna. My last day there was spent looking at art. I went to the Pinacoteca Nazionale. It contains a large amount of medieval religious art painted with gold on wood, a large collection of overlarge paintings from the 15th to 18th century mostly depicting bible stories. Apparently these were paintings to make the bible accessible to the non-reader. They contained lots of contorted, semi-nude bodies often surrounded by little cherubs. I could see a theme here, regardless of the painter. It definitely made the bible appear an interesting read, I must say.

In each room in the gallery is a man with a surly expression who is surgically attached to a mobile phone. Each man barely twitches when you walk into the room. I didn't realise I had gone into a temporarily out-of-bounds room when I walked past one such man until he came after me. If he had been in a race to reach me, a tortoise could have won hands down. All this leads me to wonder whether this is a paid job or an opportunity to stay off the streets. Interesting.

The Rhone on a dull day

The Rhone

It is Chinese New Year so Gong Xi Fa Cai to all my Chinese friends. This year I won't be going on a long walk with friends of Marmite. I will miss that greatly. I wonder if you are smugly sitting watching the world go by, Marms and thanking your luck stars that you have beem spared a CNY trek. I remember the stress you bore trying to make sure the group stayed together. That in itself must have been a bit tiring for you.

I'll be thinking of you. Don't indulge in too many CNY treats. Welcome to the Year of the Rat.

I love you!

XXX