The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-03-03
DAILY PRESS.
ND
Thursday Morning, March 8, 1870.
A Eeamble in Italy.
Florence, Fiesola, Valambrosa,
Pisa and LeghOrn.

Correspondence of the Pressl
LEGHoRN, Jan. 25, 1870.
To the Editor fthe Press:
My last believe, left me in Rome. The
railway thence to Florence via Foligno passes
mostly through mountainous region, abound
ing with romantic scenery.
Among the numerous attractions of Flor
ence are its extensive collection of paintings
and statuary, which are so arranged as to
comprise one grand exhibition. Here, among
many other fine works, is the celebrated statue
OF Venus de Medici, and Raphaeps world-re-
nowned painting of the " Madonna in a chair,
which has been so often copied and by repre-
sentation sent over the world. From the man.
ner in which the .hef d 0uures are distribut
ed to the different centres of art, one would
think it was by special arrangement.
The position of Florence makes it most de-
| sirable place for residence, excepting for two
months in mid winter, when the rains and
mountain winds prevail, and the correspond
ing season in summer, when the winds indi-
Gated are perversely not prevalent. 1t is al
most surrounded by hills and mountains and
you can hardly proceed mile in any direction
beyond the gates, without coming to some ac-
clivity that gives charming views of the city
and the opposite steeps-the loftier and more
distant peaks, shattered and heaved up into
singular forms, the haunts of the clouds, often
glowing with beautiful hues at sunset.
One of the nearest of the hills is FIesola,
which Milton has rendered famous in his ref
erence to Calico, where he speaks of
"The moon, whose orb
With optic glass the Tuscan artist views
AT evening from the tops OF Fisola,
Or, in Valdarno to descry new lands,
Rivers and mountains on her spOtty globe"
And the Tuscan artist was undoubtedly
wise in selecting these positions for such a
purpose; for in the narrow streets of the city
during the present month, the moon went
through all her changes, entirely unobserved
by myself.
Another locality in this region, immortaliz-
ed by Milton, is Valambrosa, which has so
frequently done duty as an illustration of nu-
merical prominence!
''Thick as the leaves in Valambrosa,'
The monastery of Valambrosa is in a ravne
high up the mountain where the snow fakes
Va
ever were the leaves, although not one has
descended in the immediate neighborhood of
the city.
I will not, however, pretend to say it is any
thing like summer here at present; indeed,
owing to the lack of liberal fires, have fire.
quently suffered severely from the cold. But
the vegetation seems to be harder than in our
climate. The veronicas, panses, and crysan-
themums are still in bloom in the open grounds
and the sweet little lilies of the valley have
continued to bloom in secluded places for the
last fortnight notwithstanding the strong re-
monstrances of the tramontane Winds"
Another feature in Italy to cheat one into
idea that winter has no dominion here, is the
continuous verdure of the trees-for most of
them are evergreens, as the cypress, the will
low oak, the olive, the magnolia, the umbrel-
lapine, there or four species of cedar, the rho
dodendron and other laurels, &c. And then,
to strengthen this idea, occasionally comes
along SOFT mild day, when the wind is hush-
ed, and the clouds sumber in the sky, and
| delicate haze gives additional beauty to the
landscapes
The buildings in Florence, with here and
there an execution, as also in Rome, Naples
might say all over the count,y,-are built of
rough stone, coated with common mortar, and
are coarse and unsainly in their exterior. 1t
is only when you hive become familiar with
their interior arrangements, that you compre-
hend the elegance anl adaptation to comfort
which characterize many of them, and not
few arc palatial in size and costliness. And
their wealthy owners c,n afford to be thus
elaborate and tasteful, for suilding material is
cheap, and labor is scarcely one third so costly
as with us, the common hodcarrier receiving
but about sixty cents per day, and the expe.
rienced mason and carpenter oily about one
dollar.
En- passant it will not seem OFT of place
here to state the fact that these rates for wa
ges rule generally with artizans and laborers,
excepting in the country districts, where the
pay is considerably less. But the Italians in
general are extremely moderate in their living
expenses. 1t must cost most of them more
| for their smoking-tobacco than their food, for
| they are continually with pipe or cigar in
their mouths; and the young swell of the city,
have no doubt, would pinch his stomach in
order to sport his pipe or cigar-holder manu-
factured Of the true spuma di mare!
Clothing is also proportionally cheap. The
best heavy outside coats, with Innings elabo-
rately wrought, may be had for 500 a piece.
Fashionable frock and dress coats $12 to SIS !;
pantaloons and vests at from Sc to 8; and
garments of more ordinary material and style
much cheaper. And you may Judge of the
cheapness of silk, when state that bought
first quality umbrella covered with this ma
terial, including an oil cloth case, for 1920.
have alluded to the narrowness of the
streets in Florence. In some of them carriages
cannot pass each other; but since it became
the seat of Government for the Kingdom of
Italy, there has been disposition to remedy
defects, where practicable; and the demoli.
tion of the city walls now going on, will leave
splendid boulevard nearly two hundred feet
wide, which, in connection with its Cascene
pleasure grounds, will make drive equal in
extent to any in Europe. The work of mac
| adamizing and draining this broad through
| fare proceeds as fast as the walls come down,
and in the course of three or four months it is
expected that nearly half of it will be complet-
ed and planted with trees.
The mountains which join hands about
Florence, very obligingly retire to give the
Arno passage through the city to the sea /;
and the railway finds its way out by this pas
sage, traversing the bank of the river through
fertile intervales, where the morus multicau-
lis upon the leaves of which the silk worm is
fed) is everywhere cultivated, while the more
sterile soil of the contiguous mountain sides.
is devoted almost exclusively to the olive.
By this road yesterday was transported to
Pisa. This is city of some 5000 inhabi-
tants, on the banks of the Arno, two miles
from the sea. 1t dates its origin in the re-
mote ages OF the past, and was once rival of
Genoa and Venice; and still retains many of
the relics of its greatness. -1
| Of course one of the first objects to which
| the tourist pays his attention here is the
campanile, or leaning tower, with the form OF
which everybody has been made familiar by
prints and engravings. I ascended to its top,
and while looking down its interior, where no
floor or obstruction of any kind intercepts the
view to its foundation, the perspective made
the base seem much smaller than the top, and