GLORIOUS ITALY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 28, 28 October 1907, Page 3

GLORIOUS ITALY.

A NEW "ZEALAND GIRL'S IMPRESSIONS. LKITJGR FROM iiISS JOAN HISLOP. In a private letter i reciyed by the last mail Miss Joan Hislop sends the following interesting account 'of her tour in Italy: i'never seem to write to you twice from the same place,- and when I think of all the places .I've, been to, it seems hard to.believe i'.vo only been settled on land for six weeks. We have been here for two .whole days arid we will not go on till to-morrow. I was very sorry to leave Lucerne; ■ It is a beautiful place/ I think 1. told you about our first uay there,-.but it )vas the second'one that 1 loved. most.. I. went for a day's outing by ■myself., in Switzerland a girl can go about alone quite:safely. i''irst'-l went by. steamer across the lake that took over an hour, but it was beautiful-the whole way,, glorious blue sky : . and water, and' the lake without a ripple, and the Alps, all round about wer.» hazy and softened, by; mist. Behind k;> Lucerne- with' its whitd builSings'and background of mountains. On the Jeft side.'tho accent of.'.,the mountains gradual: the banks' wore' green ■<and wooded down to : tho water, and there were castles and quaint Swiss- houses jn the little bays; but on the other, sido tho-mountains were much '.higher','' often snow-clad; and rose more abruptly from the wator. They really wero splendid. in the Alps. ; ..'.Wβ,.went..up to the summit in a funicular railway. The grade is very, steep, and it takes about two hours to gut up. l'Vom the top tho view is beautiful beyond words. Looking one way you see below you Lucerne and twelve other lakes of different -sizes, the enormous stretch of country dotted with villages, and the Alps in the background; hhd you see the baby clouds form and float, up and■-gradually spread over the lakes in u white mist, aud then break and there is tho blue again.. Oii the other side you .sec mountain range "after mountain range, all coloured and shaded from piiro white to deep-est-blue and purple, stretching far away into the distance, and from across the hills you can. hear the sound of the cow bells and the call of the peasants. I did love it nil, and it was horrid, to leave. That night was lovely too. On account of the races the town-was very full, and so .the lake was air lit up with hundreds of little boats. hung with coloured lanterns, while from four, larger boats the most boaiitiful fireworks were sent off, and the buildings on the edge of the water/wore all illuminated. Wo sat in a' boat and saw it all and could hear bands playing across tho lake. v Wo left 'the -next day, but instead of.going the first part.of the way by train.our tickets enabled us to go down to the very end of tho lake by boat,,so wo saw the whole of it, and the last part was prottior than the first. The journey to Milan was awful, such blazing sun'and endless tunnels, including of course the great St. Gothard; and in the carriage wore some filthy Italians who.simply r.mlet. We thought we'd never get horo. Some of the country was pretty. Wo passed Lugano and Como and through some lovely Italian valleys. : . Milan's Wondorful Cathedral. On Sunday we went to tho.Milan Cathedral. I expected a lot, but nothing half so beautiful:- I couldn't possibly' describo it, bu'o it is so huge, and. you look up and into the wonderful ceiling, and the only light

comes in shafts through enormous stained glass windows. We sat under those windows for hours studying the different pictures, and you cannot imagino such colours in anything. The pillars are wonderful and so are the altars—such perfect work and beauty in ovory little detail. Except for the pillars and altars,; nnd one or two beautiful pictures and statue's thoro is liono of the decoration often scon in Roman Catholic Churches, but thoro is a life-sized brass ligure of the Crucifixion hanging away up d)r»- and shadowy over tho altar.' Wu used to just sit still and enjoy it all. The outside you have seen pictures of, and it is very beautiful ,and each little part you study is perfect. There must bo thousands of statues and carving, and tho whole thing looks so light and graceful, 1 should say one of our gales would do for it. I'.wont right up to the top and had a wonderful view round about, iam finishing this in-Venice, as. 1 didn't have time in Milan, but l.must continue our doings there. Awful Americans. ..Another day wo went by train to a wonderful mduostery, the Artosa du i'avia, about half an hour from Milan. It. is now shown as a national show place and all the monks are gone it seemed a pity when one saw the lovely old-fashioned courtyard garden, with old time flowers and little lizards crawling lazily up tho white walls of tho little cells, if was all so very peaceful, and you could hoar the bells ringing for prayers; and then, instead of monks, tno place was filled with awful Americans. Really tho. Americans are endless and, so horrid; all twanging and just doing Europe and summing it up in local phrases, d can't Lear, tho travelling ones at all. The interior of the monastery is filled with carving and beautiful, ornamentations. iiv.cn the door handles are works ■'of art. ■ i ; Another day wo went to a house left by its. latb owner to the public, such a beautiful ojd place ..with a fountain in the courtyard and lovely woodwork and pictures and china and armour,-- all very old and very lovely, iho picture gallery also was very good, much better than Brussels; all old masters, Rubens' and Titian, and a wonderful' Raphaol, and many others; crowds of Madonnas of course , , and some, of them aro glorious. Wo also went to .see "Tlio Last Supper," by Leonardo di Vinci. ; It is very famous, but Unfortunately it is only painted on the wall of a church, and it is fading away. We, were spoken to a g'ood deal in Milan. One man Mine right up to iis and looked. I did got a shock. The people arc so lazy, but rather good-looking 'and picturesquo, and the town is beautiful in parts, but dirty, and of course cobble stones.'

Vonice , end St. , MarK's. I haven't tiinc:,to tell you nbout this place, ojcopt that Jt is as nice as wo hoped it would bo. \Vo came from the station to the hotel in-.a gondola, and it was simply ripping; and sp pretty--very tall houses on each sido of the water. Some of the canals are very narrow, and before you turn tho corner the* men call with queer weird cries. The bows of the gondolas rcurlaip, andifor light a little lantern is..carried on the end. It is all simply fascinating. This 'morning' we' wont to St. Mark's. It is considered so splendid, and we bought,a copy of' Riiskin's Stones'of Venice, and he thinks it is Unsurpassed, and writes yc.ry beautifully of it. So we went on expecting^'another Milani'and were thoroughly disappointed. It is all gold and mosaic, and tho nltar is gold, with ■ wonderful gems and precious stonos, but it is so barbaric, I thought. He writes of it in the "twilight, and wo , saw it in the blazing sun, so wo are going off again now, but Ruskinor'no Ruskin give, mo Milan. , This hotel is on the' Grand Canal.-' It is-'lovely. , 1 was so excited I etayed awake nearly all' night—what with th;nt and the mosquitoes." I had an exciting battle; with thorn. They aro the only blot.