The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-06-09
European Correspondence.
the Editor of the Press:


From the orange and lemon gardens of Sor-
repto to the snow-clad ravines and gorges OF
the Alps seems great contrast, yet 1t Is much
larger in the reading of it than in the reality.
indeed in passing over fhe Alps by the Drummer
pass which is now done by rail, we found 1t as
warm as it usually is in Maine in midsummer.
You know the barbarous way they have of con-
structing cars in Europe. A car will hold
twenty-four persons, and these passengers are
boxed up in three compartments by putting
two partitions across the car at equal distances
from the ends. The compartments are en-
tered by doors at the side of the cars, just as in
an old time stage coach. The top of the car is
made like that of freight car, and IS but
few inches higher than the head of very tall
man. OF course there is no ventilation from
the top. There are no blinds to the WINDOWS
but curtains instead, and these cover the glass
imperfectly. Now imagine eight human pe-
ings boxed up in this little place, win oiaz-
irg sun pouring down on the top and SIDES OF
the box, and you will have tolerable idea OF
how tourists in Europe enjoy locomotlon. IL Is
well for those who stay at home from necessity
to know, what discomfort they experience who
have the pleasure of seeing the beautiful in art
and nature in foreign lands.
To make the tour of Europe now, is very
different affair from what it was dozen years
ago. Now, nearly all places one cares to Visit
can be reached by rail. One can take the cars
at Marseilles and go all along the shores of the
Mediterranean, around the Gulf of Genoa,
down to Civita Vecchia. This route was
completed last fall; and will now speak OF
Of xyI oh we recently
travelled.
Our first stopping place going north from
Florence was Pisa, city once famous ior us
commerce but more known of from its leaning
tower, structure that is as remarkable Tor its
height as its leaning position. 1t is circular
eight stories high, the upper story overhang
ing the base about fifteen feet Close by the
town is the Cathedral, fine old building OF
the 18th century. There are many beautiful
things in the interior both in painting and
sculpture. A bronze lamp that is suspended
rom the ceiling is famous from tho fact that
ia swinging suggested to Calico the theory OF
the pendulum. A short distance from the ca
thedral is the baptstory, very handsome
building of marble, circular in form, 16O feet
high and 450 in circumference.
1t used to be the custom in all this part of
I tally 10 DapUlse by immersing the child, and
the font in this baptistry was constructed when
that wa ) the mode. The echo in this baptis-
Try is the most wonderful imaginable, not only
for its long continuance, but more from the
fact that it transforms the human voice into
sounds such as one may fancy the shepherds
heard on the plain of Bethlehem when our
Saviour was born. The cemetery, called
Campo Santo, is close by the baptstry, and is
famous from being the first burial place OF mat
style in Italy, and also from the fact that
large quantity of earth was brought from Jeru-
salem and placed in the enclosure that the
faithful might be buried in holy land.
Pisa is good specimen of decayed city
1t is as silent almost as graveyard; but at
one time was a bustling city of one hundred
and fifty thousand people. Our objective
point being Genoa, it was our intention to give
day or two to Spezza, the place of repair for
auy European squadron, the flagship of which
was then in that harbor. But we are bound
for the North Cape and have good deal OF
work laid out to do on our way, and can't stop
for social pleasure.
A word lust here in compliment of the en-
cheering of Italians. L doubt if there is at
present anywhere in the world such piece of
work as they have done between Spezzia and
Genoa. Between those two places there are
more than eight tunnels through the rocks OF
the Apprentices, some of them of considerable
length, and it seems to me as il we were more
than quarter of the time out of sight of land
The gmpses we get of the Mediterranean
along the route are very beautiful
Genoa has fine artificial harbor, which was
we'll filled with shipping, though there were no
large ships The city looks a little like Ma
pies being built on land that rises rapidly from
the shore and to the height of five or six hum
died feet. The streets that run straight up
the hillside are like similar ones in Naples,
assembled by steps. The wide streets on which
are the famous palaces, run around the base OF
the hills; but wide streets are few. Narrow
streets prevail in all the cities OF Italy, and
they detract very much from the beauty,
though they add to the comfort OF the cities In
summer when the sun shines so fiercely. Some
of the streets are SO narrow that neIghbors llv-
ing on opposite sides, can shake hands
across Of course few people will crowd
such narrow thoroughfares; and as the houses
are many stories high, the occupants lind
little open space When they go out OF doors.
For rich city of 25O,00 inhabitants, Genoa
makes show in the line of carriages and has
only a very small place to display them. The
Park to which the rich and poor alike resort for
riding and walking, is in one OF the higher
parts of the city and is we'll shaded with large
horse chestnut trees which at tnis writing are
in full blossom. From one side OF the park
Acqua Sofa, we look down on streets that are
one hundred feet below us; but unfortunately
the view is inland and not on the bay.
All tourists visiting Genoa are expected to
make an excursion to Pezli, where is famous
villa, the property of the Marquis Palloviclnl;;
This little town il on the shore of the sea and
we reach it by the railroad to Nice. There is
little shipbuiding on the road where counted
within a mile nineteen vessels on the stocks.
most of them barques of four or five hundred
tons. They rig the vessels on the stocks and in
the absence of loft, fit the rigging on the
beach. Italians are not afraid of the sun. and
do as much of their work out of doors as posi-
BILE. Ope day in Naples I counted nine cob
blers in row. at work in the streets. A pleas
ant ride of half an hour, coastlng along the
shore of the sea, brought us to Pezii. FROM
the grounds of the famous villa there are many
fine views of the Mediterranean and OF pretty
bays along its shores. The Marquis has placed
in his grounds many rare trees OF the tropics;
But nature has supplied him with a grotto OF
remarkable beauty. 1t Is in limited extent, but
furnishes as fine specimens OF stalactites and
stalagmttes as the Mammoth cave OF Ken
lucky: and has this advantage that we can sail
in boat through greater part of the grotto
and have no need of artificial light. Through
the grounds, which lie on hillside, there are
summer houses, here and there; and elegant
boats on the lakelets and all Sorts oflthings
that aid in the enjoyment of sylvan life
Tourists who have not seen Milan within the
last ten years, will he surprised to know how
Greatly that city has improved, especially
around Cathedral. All the poorest OF the
buildings facing the square have been torn
down, and their places have been erected stores
match in Europe. When the improvements
are completed the cathedral square will be
faced by as elegant rows of storos as can be
found in the continent. Milan is the prettiest
CITY In Italy; and its marble cathedral is uu-
ouestonabiy the most beautiful Gothic struct-
nre in the world. Think of building that is
ornamented with five Thousand statues in mar
BILE. in addition to hundreds of illustrations of
scri plural subjects wrought in indstructabe
MATERIAL
Verona, where Shakspear's Juliet lived and
loved, is a very old aud intetestingtown, and
we gave it two days. Our first visit was to the
amphitheater, which is the best preserved spec
linen Of that style of Roman building in exis-
fence All the seats are there, just as the Romans
left them. They are of granite, a foot and a
half high, and wide enough for the feet OF
those who sit in the next row to be placed be-
hind the person occupying the seat in front OF
them. The building is eliptical in form. The
arenas floor is 225 ieet by 1873, and from that
arena forty five tiers Of seats rise one above the
other, widening the building out to 573 feet by
412 and furnishing seats for twenty-seven
thousand persons. When the French occupied
Verona, they built small theatre in the arena
where the soldiers were amused with plays, and
the rude structure still stands. When we en-
tered the phitheater( about 8 p. m.,) they
were performing a pantomime in the little
theatre, the spectators sitting in the open air,
lust as the Romans sat there eighteen hundred