Raving about Ravenna

My regret in deciding to join the cruise in Rome was missing the stopover in Ravenna we had planned.  Having a rather stubborn nature, I decided that on Sunday we should rent a car and drive to Ravenna, about 2 hours away.  Renting a car on Sunday in vehicle-free Venice is not an easy proposition, but we managed to get it done and headed down the coastal road in an angry little red Italian/Korean car.

Ravenna was worth the trouble, and it was a lot of trouble.  We drove into town without a clue where to go.  We had passed a Holiday Inn on the outskirts of town, so we went back to them to see if we could pick up a map.  We thought about having lunch there as payment, but since the entrées started at 25 Euros, we decided the map was not worth that much.  Holiday Inn—I owe you one.   It was Sunday and everything in town appeared to be shut down, but we finally found a little café still serving lunch.  What a nice lunch it was:  fresh pasta and red wine, the best we’d had in Italy.  Sitting there looking at the deserted square, I panicked thinking the monuments might be closed, but fortunately such was not the case.  There are eight World Heritage sights in Ravenna; we were only able to visit 3.
 
I have shown slides of the mosaics in Ravenna in all the classes of Western Civ and Humanities I’ve ever taught.  They are even more impressive in person.  Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire ruled by the Visigoth Theodoric in the 5^th century.  The mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Basilica of St. Apollinare Nuovo all brought tears to my eyes they were so beautiful.  Photos can never do justice.  

As icing on the cake, we visited the grave of Dante—may he always rest in peace in Ravenna and may the dusty, dirty, noisy city of Florence never get him back.  Ravenna itself is a lovely little town.  Put it on your next travel itinerary.