The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-05-27
737a--79--7779 . 77---77--777-
NOTES FROM EUROPE.
NUMBER ELEyEN.


morning of April 9th, by rail in company
with Mr.. Prendergast, a young English civil
engineer, for Bologna, Padua and Venice.
Our route lay in the valley of the Arno for the
first hour. to Pstoia, pleasant looking
CITY of about 10000 inhabitants, at the foot
OF the Appenines, but at that place we COM
menced the ascent of the Apprentices. The
summit is only seventeen miles from Pistoia,
but as the ascent is about thirty-tive hundred
feet. the distance by the railway is about
twice as great. Plunging through the noun
tain in a tunnel, mile and half long, we
emerge upon the head waters of branch of
the 20, on the Eastern or Northern side Of
the mountains. and by noon are at Bologna.
The railway from Pistoia to Bologna was
more expensive in construction, and also gave
more scope for the exercise of engineering tai
ent than any other completed railway in the
world about so miles oft being almost entire
" composed of bridges and tunnels and this,
too on short and reverse curves and heavy
grades The mountains are not very high nor
SO perceptions as others have seen, but they
were very interesting, heavy rain of the
preceding night having filled all the streams,
and the eye could trace many silver thread
of water far up the.mountain side. We re-
mained at Bologna over night, visiting in the
afternoon, the various places of interest in
the city. Most Of the cities of Italy which
had visited, have been, to certain extent,
modernized Bologna, believe. wears about
the same appearance it did three or four hun
dred years ago. It's great peculiarly to me
was the long arched sidewalks, the houses
being built, almost without exception, with
the second stories projecting over the side
walk, the front of the building being support
ed by stone columns. All European houses
are built of stone or brick. and in Italy where
timber is excessively scarce, the different
stories are arched over and the floors made OF
tiles. The churches and gallery of paintings
did not interest me very much, we having just
come from the so much finer ones of Rome
and Florence, but we gazed from all sides at
two great brick towers which seemed to be
irving to fall against each other They are
only about a hundred feet apart, and the
smaller and thicker one looks as though its
centre of gravity was certainly outside of It's
base, though | suppose that cannot be. The
other one is very tall and slender, and does
not incline very much from the perpendicu-
l. Owing to the insecurity Of the foundation
of the first one, it was given up, and the
second was built on a smaller scale Bologna
is situated on the southern edge of the great
plain of I.ombardy and Venice which ex-
tends from Venice to Milan, and from the
Anpenines to the Alps. It is g very level,
fertile PLAN, protected from the sea and the
various rivers which traverse it, by dikes, but
i Is said to be very unhealthy aud it certainly
is not good place to build tall towers, as not
only those at Bologna, but also almost all we
saw until reaching Milan, seemed to have a
decided inclination to lean over.
We were of at seven O'Clock the next
morning by rail through the ancient city OF
Te.rara where We saw from the cars the RUNS
&c an immense Roman amptheater, to Pom
telagoscura, where we crossed the river 70
in q rope ferry that would have looked per
5ecty natural on any OF our Western rivers,
and entered the Austrian Empire. As usual,
the baggage had to be examined, which de-
tanned us for some time, although it did not
trouble me. as | had shipped my trunk 10
Milan from Florence, and was travelling as OF
old in the army, with my luggage in my over
e5,at pocke,a. Al tne ianotng opposite to the
town viii. the long name, we took the dill
renee for Padua. A diligence being like sla-
eery. a peculiar institution, | will try to
describe ii to you, but fear shall not succeed
very WELL 1t is q coach, the body OF which
is very like our own without the middle seat
This Is called the interior" and will contain
six persons. Directly in front of the ''inte-
rior'' i the "coupe," and in front OF that the
tpanouette." eael Of which Lolas three per
persons, aud in front of that, and a little ele-
waited. Il the driver seat. In the rear OF the
s.interlor'' is is the domo,' with side seats
like an American omnibus for four persons.
On the top is the " banquette courier, with
cover like buggy. which seats three more.
Imagine all this on four wheels much smaller
than is customary in our country, packed iull,
with half a ton of baggage on top behind the
banuuette courier, ana drawn by three
chunky, medium sized horses, hiiched abreast,
with collars that would weigh more than an
ordinary set of harness, and you may have
some idea of what the diligence looked like
the morning we left the Po. The road was
as hard and smooth as care and time, with
, nlentv Of McAdam could make it, being
raised from ten to fifteen feet above the plain,
and swept every day. vas m the 8 BAN
ouette courier with Canadian and his
wife. and it being beautiful day, and the
road running through we'll settled and cul-
tivated country through rows OF Lombardy
poplars with the mountains In SIGHT ana oc-
casiouallv an old Italian village to pass, |
enjoyed the ride very much. never tire OF
looking at the we'll cultivated fields OF this
country, divided by rows of fig, Give, orange
and other fruit trees, and all cared for Ike q
garden in our country. The pear, plum and
cherry trees, and lilacs, popnies and tulips
the two latter indigenous and plentiful-were
in full bloom, and the wheat and rice several
inches high Parties are seen at various
nlaces at work in the fields, generally ten to
twenty together, and of about as many women
as men. They spade the ground almost en-.
tirev, ploughs being very little used. Their
spade is made very much like our "long-
handled shoyels,' bur with larger and longer
blade. and | should think they turned up the
erou.d to the depth OF fifteen ortwenty inches,
and that ground has been so turned up TOR the
last twenty five hundred years.
We arrived at Padua about four o'clock,
and having ordered dinner for six and half
o'clock. walked around the city, in the mean
time. visiting two fine churches and the boz
tanieal gardens. In one of the churches
saw, think, the most beautiful stained glass
windows have seen IN Europe. fadna Is
built like Bologna, with sidewalks inside the
houses, to certain extent We left Padua
that night, and arriving at Venice about ten
.o1 III l,