Geneva

We are on our way home from a short but delightful visit which brought us into both Switzerland and France. Happily, we have enough time in Geneva to have a brisk walk around. We start at the Place du Molard which has a delightful tower on the corner: Molard Tower, built in 1591 and reconstructed several times The last renovation took place in 1906-1907.

 Looking back we spot this rather wonderful creature.

 

At the far end of the Place is a fascinating slender obelisk. A closer look reveals that the obelisk appears to be standing on four round balls - and there is a further larger one at the top.

In nearby Rue de la Croix D'Or there are some impressive buildings in an unfamiliar, but imposing, style. I suppose they are 19th century.

 

 

We head now towards the celebrated Cathedral, passing this lovely fountain ...

 

... and the covered passageway up to St Peter's Cathedral.

St Peter's Cathedral is a former Catholic Church built in the late 12th century, but later modified. It became a Protestant church during the Reformation. 

 

 

At the rear of the church are a surprising white tower and a fleche.

 

 

We couldn't resist climbing to the roof, which gave us a wonderful view over part of Lake Geneva and the famous Jet d'Eau

 

 

Also from the tower there was a great view down of the nearby roof tiles. I thought that the colours in this one were especially appealing.

 

We then passed an intriguing group of three cannons with three descriptive panels behind them. They were captured by the Austrians in 1814 and moved to Vienna, but later restored to their original position in 1815.

 

 

We continued along the Treille Promenade. It is famous for having the the longest wooden bench in the world: 120m! It is also where “Geneva official chestnut tree” (le “marronnier officiel” in french) is located. Each year, Its first leaf announce the arrival of spring in Geneva .

 

 

 At the end you emerge into a busy square dominated by the imposing Grand Theatre of Geneva.

 

 

We continued, passing this interesting building, now dealing in wealth management ...

 ... to reach the final building on our route which is the Statue of Philibert Berthelier at the bottom of this impressive tower. Berthelier was a Genevan patriot and an uncompromising enemy of the Duke of Savoy in his ambition to control Geneva. Berthelier was arrested in August 23, 1519, and was tried for treason.  After a summary trial, Berthelier was found guilty and was sentenced to death by beheading. The sentence was carried out on the same day.

Polignano a Mare

We decided to have an excursion from Conversano to the seaside. The first places we tried were not very inspiring, but eventually we happened upon Polignano a Mare. We parked near the centre of the town and headed towards the pretty, small bay. The picture below gives a view looking towards the beach, while the one above, taken from the road bridge gives a more realistic sense of how popular - and crowded - it was.

We continued across the bridge - after having a disastrous encounter with a melting chocolate ice cream  - and were delighted to find this imposing gateway leading into the old town.

Quite soon on the left was this intriguing building with a bell tower, apparently a church but attached to the Osteria dei Mulini. It turns out to be the Chiesa del Purgatorio - the Church of Purgatory!

 

  

 

We carried on to enter the main square, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. Here we found the Clock Tower, the Palazzo dell'Orologio.  It dates from the 19th century and surprisingly is still wound up by means of ropes.

 

 

To the right was the imposing Church of Santa Maria Asunta (the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary). There was a nice bar opposite, so we adjourned for a refreshing Peroni.

 

 

Here is the interior of the church.

 

 

 

 We may well have missed other delights, but this was a very pleasant short exploration..