You know that we have long been set on visiting Ravenna, capital of the Western Roman Empire from 5th-8th centuries CE. Our 4 day visit to this lovely and unspoiled small city was even more wonderful than we hoped.

With an excellent and thoughtful introduction by our local guide,  Angela, we fell into a comfortable relationship with the city. Ed chose a fantastic Hotel Gironda — not really a hotel but a stunningly restored medieval townhouse as a B&B — which is in the historical center.

On our second day, we decided to trek to an important site,  Sant’ Apollinaire in Classe, 6 km away. Partly we are still into the rhythm of walking 15,000 steps a day on average,  and partly because there was a local, one -day strike by government employees and students (so no bus service.)

While we were in Classe, which was a quiet place because away from Ravenna, Ed suffered an attack from a woman in her 30’s who tried to aggressively pick Ed’s pocket. She was under the supervision of an older woman who stood nearby. This was an unpleasant and so far, once in a lifetime experience for Ed and me.

In our last full day in Ravenna, we walked to the Mausoleum of Theodoric, Museo Nazionale, and revisited our favorite sites in the different light,  morning versus afternoon, of our first visit. We went to mass in the Church of St Francis (October 4) at the Church of St Francis, an ancient structure with a crypt full of water due to Ravenna’s high water table.

Overall our visit to Ravenna revealed a place of ancient beauty created by artists sponsored by imperial rulers of deep and subtle belief. Thanks to the challenges of a watery landscape, Ravenna escaped destructive conquest, flowered brilliantly for 500 years and then fell into a quiet sleep so that we can visit today