Ann Arbor Emergency Anti-War Action

In front of the Federal Building on Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan.






It started raining.

意大利的鞋跟 Lecce, Italy

Lecce in the sunset. Lecce is a small city situated in the south of Italy, in Apulia.
意大利南部的莱切，从城外望来，夕阳下


Roman amphitheater in Lecce. The Roman Amphitheatre was built in the 2nd century and situated near to the Sant'Oronzo square. In its time, the Amphitheatre was able to host more than 25.000 people and now it is still half-buried because other important monuments were built above.
莱切的古罗马遗址


Details of the "Holy Cross" church in Lecce. Lecce is known for its important Baroque monuments such as the Holy Cross church situated in the center of the old town. "I think the only word I’ve heard that can correctly describe the Basilica della Santa Croce (16th century) is opulent. It’s unbelievably ornate, delicate — beautiful. Inside the style is Renaissance — simple."


Baroque decoration on a random building in Lecce, southern Italy. Lecce is called "La Firenze delle Puglie" (The Apulia's Florence) thanks to the quantity of its important monuments.


Decoration of a random building in Lecce.


Narrow street of Lecce.
城里的小巷


A grocery store in Lecce.


A very small car!


Evening antique market in the courtyard of a church, Lecce, Italy.
周末晚上的古董市场，在教堂的院子里


Anit-war demonstration on the streets of Lecce. Everywhere in the city we could see PACE flag--flag of peace. The demonstration is in the evening, as most activities are in the southern Italy.

作者：拓哉

还在佛罗伦萨时，同住的一个美国小个子已经开始向我推荐Lecce，你一定要去，他几乎是语无伦次，去了你才知道什么叫黄金城市Golden city。

Golden city？也像托斯卡这种金色？我问。

不不，他反驳说，和Lecce比，托斯卡那不叫金色，那叫黄铜，简直是大便。

终于，有天在Uffizi Gallary排了三个小时队还买不到一张入场券时，我想起了我的朋友的这个比喻。

在从Taranto 到Lecce的火车上，窗外是成片成片的葡萄园和碧油油的橄榄树，我手里翻着Lonely Planet，心想，这地方真是不错，全欧洲十分之一的葡萄酒都是这里酿造的，但他们酒的出口量只占意大利总出口量的不到二十分之一。他们几乎喝光了自己 所酿的全部葡萄酒。

意大利人常常自比成欧洲的一只脚，因为他们国家的形状看起来就像一只靴子，Lecce所在的Apulia，就是这只脚的足后跟。意大利人也说这里是西方的最后一个角落，从这里坐船向东，就是希腊，那里你可以看到熙熙攘攘的人群、苍蝇乱飞的集贸市场和脚力惊人的走鬼小贩。

Lecce是个小城，人口不足十万。Lecce美称有很多，比较通用且为众人接受的有“意大利的雅典”、“南方佛罗伦萨”等，极盛时期它甚至是“亚平宁的 凡尔赛”，意大利人叫它“巴洛克的莱切”。听上去就暖洋洋的甜美。意大利人称呼巴洛克是建筑中的杏仁蛋白糊Architectural Marzipan，对于阿尔卑斯以北地区盛行的哥特式建筑，意大利人的普遍反应是不屑一顾，是啊，怎么看上去都像自慰的工具，视觉自慰。

巴洛克的莱切最热门的工作是石匠与雕刻匠。要辨别是否土著很简单，只要伸出中指，看是否有钎子印就行了。我在当地人家里看见过手雕的Hello Kitty版圣母像，很可爱，睫毛长得像猫，院子里是一大块山上开采下来的石材，旁边放着凿子斧子，这是全家大小的主要休闲活动。起因是当地优质的石材。

这是一种类似于石灰石的沙岩，上有淡褐色的斑纹，很柔软，适合雕刻，年深月久，沙岩反而变硬。巴洛克式建筑都不高，老的Lecce城天际线相当柔和，又因 为近海边，海风吹得尘灰全无，走在古城中，街上干净得没有一粒沙，人口又少，听不到一丝噪音，远近都是那些圆圆的穹顶与蜿蜒的墙，太阳明晃晃地当头照着， 那些可爱的巴洛克房子黄澄澄的。到处是风化的痕迹，圣母像常常少了一只胳臂，天使的脑壳是镂空的，一阵风吹过，如果有黄沙，你会想是不是吹落了哪座圣母的 一只耳朵。走着走着，人不由自主地脚步开始混乱，思维开始发晕、犯困，连招呼都懒得打，像喝醉了酒，或者情不自禁地想坐下饮一杯。

历史上莱切人一直受海盗之苦而颠沛流离，东方部族也一次次呼啸而来，席卷而去。这里先后被希腊人、罗马人、日耳曼人、土耳其人统治过，源自中国的丝绸之路触角也曾延伸到这里。莱切人也算是见过大世面，碰到少许杂色人种，也会像大城市人一样淡定。

1571年，Apulia人在海上彻底击溃了土耳其人，并在如今的Lecce城定居，此后，Lecce人坐拥200年的繁荣。渔民们知道了定居的好处后， 开始花心思雕琢自己的房屋。而巴洛克是当时最流行的建筑样式。当然漂亮的建筑都是奉献给上帝的，最著名的Basilica Di Santa Croce，光装饰就花了工匠们150年时间。

去Lecce最适宜的时间是下午三四点，季节是夏秋之交，气候不热，又有新鲜瓜果供应。或者是喝下午茶，或者是喝点酒，去Lecce，除非你对酒精过敏， 否则真应该把买水的钱来买当地的葡萄酒喝，因为两者的价钱几乎是一样的。也可以找瓜果贩子讨酒喝，他们几乎人手一只2升的葡萄酒瓶，没事就抿一小口。

意大利的鞋跟 Adriatic Coast, Italy

Adriatic Coast of Mediterranian, near San Cataldo, Southern Italy. It was a sunny day in Southern Italy. We decided to borrow bikes from the Lecce hotel and bike to the sea--none of us had seen the Adriatic Coast before. We had to bike with highway traffic (SS543) for hours. Finally we are here! Mare Adriatico.


A pleasant bike ride through olive tree farms in southern Italy.


Olive tree farm in southern Italy.


Olive tree farm in southern Italy.


Map of Acaya, a little town we passed through in southern Italy.


Gate of Acaya, a small town in southern Italy.


Fortress of Acaya and cactus, southern Italy.


Siesta time. This old man was the only one on the street of Acaya when we biked through in the afternoon.

意大利的鞋跟 Gallipoli, Italy

The bridge leading to Gallipoli old town and fortress.


Southern Italy seen from the train going from Lecce to Gallipoli. We took a train to the southern tip of Italy.


We missed the connection. A group of school kids tried to explain to us how to get to Gallipoli. They didn't speak English and we didn't speak Italian. They indicated us to get off here and check with the schedule.



An old man in the new town of Gallipoli, outside the train station.


A church and plaza in new town of Gallipoli, Southern Italy.


Ancient Greek fountain outside Gallipoli.


Greek fountain, details.


Ancient Greek sculpture from a Greek Fountain outside Gallipoli. Details.


A church in Gallipoli old town, Italy.


I saw some fishermen cleaning and eating some sea urchin off the dock of Gallipoli. They waved at me and asked me to join them. One fisherman cut open a sea urchin using a knife, and handed it to me. They showed me how to eat it. I tasted two. Very salty from the sea, but very delicious!