The Morris County chronicle., 1907-05-21
NOTES OF
TRAV Ell,
Hon. Norman Fox Writes Of
Interesting Scenes and Incl
dents in Foreign Countries.
ALONG THE BEAUTIFUL RIVIERA

leaning bell-toWer, but which in earlier
centuries was one of the great sea-
ports of Italy, a city which carried on
naval wars, and on the walls of some
of it's old churches still hang banners
captured from the Turks. 1t also
waged bloody conflicts with Genoa,
Florence, Venice and others Of the It
allan republics Of the ancient days.
From Pisa, westward the railway
Iline runs upon the Riviera the shore
of the Mediterranean district of the
Igreatest natural beauty. The mount
Iains-tne foothills of the Alps come
down to the sea, so that the coast is
one long line Of majestic cliffs. Strung
Ialong the shore, wedged in between
1.-THE precipitous bluffs and the sea, are
lquaint villages, some of them mere
settlements of fishermen while others
are fashionable as watering places. On
| the headlands rise ancient castles and
elegant modern villas, while on ter
races along the hillsides are groves of
orange and lemon and other trees,
palms lifting their stately heads in the
air, while the ground beneath them is
tinted with flowers of every hue. The
view from the railway is not entirely
satisfactory, as the line runs through
miles and miles of tunnels, the train
hardly emerging from one before it
plunges into the darkness of another,
but the glimpses caught in the few
hundred feet of clear space reveal won
drous beauties.
The mountains of Italy are famous
for their marbles of different colors,
and on this stretch of railway is passed
Carrara, noted for its pure white, close
grained statuary marble, with its hun
dreds of quarries employing thousands
of workmen. and the piles of great
white beautiful blocks awaiting trans
portation give picture to be remem-
bered.
Genoa is city =" beautiful for situa-
tion." lying in amphitheatre of hills.
The higher slopes of the mountain
are covered by the modern city made
up of broad and elegant avenues lined
with new and stately edifices, while
while the old town on the shores of
the harbor is a huddle of tall buildings
with streets oil uut Jen feet or So in
Width, reminding one of the crowded
oriental ciJieS With which Genoa in it's
earlier days had such extensive deal
ings. AS in Sc many European towns,
one tinds here the Twentieth Century
and The Middle Ages III striking juxta-
position. 1t is hardly necessary to re-
mind the reader that noted man was
bora in Genoa.
We came from Genoa to Nice by
steamer, and it would be hard to inn
agine more interesting days sail.
The ragged cliffs paisaded the shore,
while further back mountains rose to
heights that were covered with snow.
Well-known towns like San Reno,
Mentone and Monaco were passed while
medieval hamlets and modern bath
ing resorts. commanded constant at-
tention.
Our three-weeks' stay at Nice might
with pleasure have been prolonged to
an indefinite extent. Nice is one of
the noted resorts of Europe and pos
sesses abundant attractions Ii has
raciIapf t,ort,lo iop cf n b,,,,1roJ +ho,,
sand and in the season " it would
be difficult to estimate the additional
multitude, the horGes of strangers
quartered in it's hundreds of hotels and
boarding-houses. Its hostelries are,
some of them, of great elegance, and
naturally the shops of the town are of
exceeding abtractiveness. Along the
sea front runs for three or four miles a
broad promenade laid in smooth con-
crete, not board walk" but a
structure of solid masonry. 1t may be
remarked that each building or other
work in this region is done in the finest
manner. The houses are all of brick
and stone, so that one can go to sleep
with no fear of being awakened by a
tire-alarm. The bridges are all of stone
and the towers on the cliffs are walls
Of solid masonry. Work is done in a
way to endure.
The stretch of country about Nice,
La Cote Azur 1.-THE Blue Shore), is
of beauty which is equaled in but
few places in the world. The tint of
the waters of the Mediterranean is a
deep cerulean, while the varied col
ors in the rock OF the cliffs add to
the beauty of the prospect. The ex-
cursions about Nice offer the most va
ried enjoyment. shall never forget
the ride of party OF four of us, ride
of some forty miles, to Mentone and
back. We went by the road built by
Napoleon high up along the face OF The
mountains, the Corniche road they cali
il, and it is indeed like creeping along
the cornice OF house. On one Slue we
surveyed the confused mOuntain-tops,
some of them snow-capped shining in
the brilliant sunlight, while far below
us was the blue sea in its charming
beauty Quaint villages and peasants
cottages gave life to the scene, while
the blossoming trees and buds of brill
/ ...x& f3...,o~cs - pr<,..<1 I,-flIiotooa to tno