I'm on a break

I'm going to take a break from blogging for a little while, a couple of weeks to a month probably. I'm starting to repeat myself, I find, and am not very interesting at the moment, feeling very tired and lacklustre, due to some health problem that has to be sorted out. I've consulted Doctor Google and come up with anaemia, diabetes 2, bladder infection and worse, of course. Thankfully, I probably do not have bilharzia, yaws or kuru. Hopefully will see a real doctor tomorrow and get some answers. It will probably come down to somatized depression ie. it's all in my head. Still, it should be investigated.
  I'll leave you with some pictures from my very first visit to Italy in 2002, when I walked part of Tuscany with a group. These are photos of photos, taken with an old film camera (digital cameras were beyond my budget then), so they look a little olde-worlde.

Church of San Giovanni Battista, Pernina. I had not noted the name or location of this church, so searched for it last night on Google Maps. I knew it was near the Villa Cetinale, so googled Cetinale and google came up with the precise site I was looking for. Very synchronicitous. We had lunch here, overlooking Siena in the distance.

The front of the church - pure Piero della Francesca. The little dove didn't move away, but sat there quite happily.

Tower of the church. Built originally in 1074.

Lunch spot in front of old buildings next to the church

A view from the Romitorio or Hermitage, a little further on. It was  inhabited by monks whose vocation was to tend the dying...

...after the dying had crawled up these steps in penance. (The hermitage can just be seen on the hill). If you weren't dying at the bottom of the steps, you'd be pretty near it when you got to the top.

A back view of the famous Villa Cetinale, the gardens built on a strong axial plan that embraces the steps up to the Romitorio. I think it was used as the location for the movie "Up at the villa".

       Yes, I would like to go to Italy again.