Introduction This year marks the 700th anniversary of the death of the medieval poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri, known as the Father of the Italian language. Throughout Italy there is a dense calendar of commemorative online events. In his life Dante travelled and lived in different places. Florence, which exiled him; Verona which first hosted him and then let him go; and Ravenna, who welcomed him until the end of his days. With in-between stops in Rome, Arezzo, Pisa, Bologna, Forli... ![]() The first date to mark on the agenda is March 25: from 2019 this day has officially become the “DanteDay”. According to scholars, in fact, on March 25th 1300 Dante began his descent into the underworld “In the middle of the journey of our life”. And on March 25 various events are scheduled to remember him: conferences, web directives, concerts. DanteDay joins ShakespeareDay, celebrated every year throughout the United Kingdom and around the world on April 23, the presumed date of birth (1564) of the poet of Hamlet and of Romeo and Juliet; and after that, a Bloomsday, which since 1950 is celebrated every year in Dublin and elsewhere on June 16, the birth day (in 1904) of the Irish writer James Joyce, commemorating his masterpiece, Ulysses, through the figure of the protagonist, Leopold Bloom. Florence’s Uffizi Gallery has initiated the Dante anniversary by making available, for the first time on line on its website, 88 rarely displayed drawings of Dante’s masterpiece, “Divine Comedy”. The virtual show of high-resolution images of works by the 16th-Century Renaissance artist Federico Zuccari (1539-1609) (famous for having frescoed the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore), is accessible “for free, any hour of the day, for everyone,’’ said Uffizi director Eike Schmidt. Schmidt said the drawings are a “great resource” for Dante scholars and students, as well as “anyone who likes to be inspired by Dante’s pursuit of knowledge and virtue.” https://www.uffizi.it/en/online-exhibitions-series/to-rebehold-the-stars “The Divine Comedy” is an epic poem in three parts recounting a pilgrim’s travels through hell, purgatory and heaven. ACT welcomes fellow blogger Patrizia Poggi. She is a writer and Ambassador of Knowledge and Flavors of Italy & Friends, the Diplomatic Representative Network of Knowledge and Flavors of Italy, based in Florence, which helps to raise awareness of the wonders of Italy. https://italiaefriends.wordpress.com/ Patrizia recounts her story which is fascinating, mysterious and immersive. Marysia Zipser Please Click on the photo images to enlarge, and hover over to read any captions. **** A 700 year-long mystery : In September 1321 Dante Alighieri died. |
After going through the Gatehouse entrance and submitting our digital ticketing receipts we entered into the courtyard terrace. Several EH staff were promoting their outside group talks at certain times of the day so we booked one at 12.30 to attend. I also asked whether there were any specific places or ancient stone walls we could do section graphite rubbings of, as we had come armed with an A3 sketch pad of white 100gsm paper sheets which John had given us together with two graphite sticks. One said he didn’t know particularly but he’d go and find out, and a minute later Caroline appeared and helped answer our questions. She asked us to follow her up one of the tower steps to the first and second levels. I loved the first floor studying all the educational EH banners telling the story of why and how the Abbey was built on this historic site. I could see a wonderful example to make a graphite rubbing showing the original 13th century herringbone stone pattern at the back of the fireplace. |
Our 12.30pm talk was ready so the young EH historian gathered us and several families inviting us to sit down on the lawn by the Abbots House where he related to us the story of Harold Godwinson during his last twenty years leading up to that fateful day in October 1066. I must applaud this young man who enthralled us all so much, so many facts we learned understanding Harold’s character and pathway to becoming successor to King William the Confessor, his brother-in-law, in January 1066.
You can discover more about him on this Wikipedia link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Godwinson

Afterwards we walked back to the gatehouse and entered into the Shop which I was very impressed with, treating myself to a tapestry ceramic coaster (£5.00), greeting card (£2.50) and National Portrait Gallery Kings & Queens lined notebook (£2.50). You can buy online products from the shop too via the EH website. Caroline saw us exiting and called out how our tour went and what rubbings we managed to glean so we showed her and thanked her for her great help. We then wandered to explore the pretty village of Battle in front of us and sat down in one of the street’s bistros and relished some cool fruity drinks.
More useful links below.
https://www.battlesussex.co.uk/
https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/eastsussex/abbeys/battle.htm
Rye is a beautiful town that must be on everyone’s tour of East Sussex. It is full of history, ancient buildings, cobbled lanes, inns and enticing shops of all kinds. In medieval times, it was an important member of the Cinque Ports confederation and almost entirely surrounded by the sea. Read more about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rye,_East_Sussex and https://www.visit1066country.com/destinations/rye
We had a great time exploring the streets, the beautiful and peaceful churchyard of St Mary’s high on the hill (below) and the castle, or Ypres Tower, built to defend the town from the French, now part of the Rye Museum. https://www.ryeparishchurch.org.uk/history.htm
After Marcus and I treated ourselves to takeaways, John and Christine cooked supper for their invited Bexhill friend and author, John V. Watson, who was a very entertaining raconteur of all things cinematic. John is an expert researcher and writer of cinema history and classic films with several books published and applauded by university academia. Most of his books are available to purchase on Amazon, his latest ones entitled “Paradise Lost: The History of the Regal Cinema, Swaffham, Norfolk: 1919-60. The history of a rural picture house long since vanished.” (2020) and “Julius Hagen: “The Czar of Twickenham” Film Studios. The Complete Filmography: Book One” (2019).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=John+V+Watson&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
I hope you enjoyed our Day Five and if so please click the blue ‘Like’ button below and write me any comments if you so wish. Many thanks.
Marysia Zipser
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Day Three - A Journey of Discovery in East Sussex
As we’re in 1066 Country, we decided to keep local and delve into Hastings heritage. One of John’s favoured concise tourism-history references to Sussex is by F R Banks from the 1957 Penguin Guides.
On 28 September 1066 William of Normandy landed at Pevensey but soon transferred to a more defended position on West Hill at Hastings. After the battle of Hastings, fought 6 miles north west on the site of Battle Abbey, William made Hastings his principal fort. It became one of the Cinque Ports.
Hastings remained a fishing and boat building centre until the second half of the 18th century, where the fashion for sea bathing first came in.
Please Click on the photo images to enlarge, and hover over to read captions. All photos are credited to Marysia Zipser unless otherwise captioned.
Marysia Zipser
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Day Two - A Journey of Discovery in East Sussex
“Christine!” I shouted up, “you’ve got a visitor at the front door”.
“Oh, that’s Horace, he’s a regular here at food times. I’m coming down.”
He tapped again, so I opened the door and said, “Hello, nice to meet you Horace. Christine’s coming to give you breakfast.”
Christine rustled up some food in the kitchen for him which was a bowl of dried cat food with fishy flavours, and placed it outside on a mat for him. He duly ate it up, and then waddled off. She said he comes at regular meal times but if Alba, a neighbouring cat, is lurking around, he’ll stay away. “We have foxes and badgers who come for food at night times, so there’s always something here to eat and water to drink to satisfy them.”
So today we decided to venture out to Pevensey Castle and explore all things Norman and medieval.
We parked our car in the shade and walked to the entrance gateway to the open grounds of Pevensey Castle. A mighty stronghold I thought as I looked up and studied its impressive stone walls. An English Heritage site which illustrates a great history lesson to all ages. To quote from EH website Welcome to Pevensey Castle “Evolving from Roman fort to Norman Castle, and even put back into action during the Second World War, Pevensey Castle is most famous as the landing place for William the Conqueror’s army in 1066. Today, it is a great family day out in East Sussex. Enjoy the open grounds and space to roam and explore. Admire the remains of the great square keep and towering gatehouse, or climb the walls and gaze over glorious Sussex countryside.” “A conservation project is currently underway at Pevensey Castle. Discover how we're preserving the castle for future generations to enjoy, and see our progress for yourselves.” It was such a fascinating walking trail and we snapped a few pics here and there through the beautiful sweeping grounds. Then we passed through one main gateway into Westham village. |
What a delightful and well kept parish community of ancient houses, buildings, village green and open spaces. Apparently Westham is recorded in the Domesday Book, its name deriving from being a hamlet to the west of Pevensey Castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westham |
We ambled back along the road pathways around the outer castle walls and to our car which thankfully had kept quite cool in the shade.
I hope you enjoyed our Day Two and if so please click the blue ‘Like’ button and write any comments below if you wish. See you tomorrow for our next day’s adventure in East Sussex!
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Below are some photos of Christine and John’s beautiful garden back and front.
Day One - Beeston-Nottingham to Bexhill-on-Sea - Great Expectations
Things were packed in my car, garden instructions left with my son Marcus (who was joining us Wednesday afternoon by train) and consecutive neighbours George and Harry. My first staycation foray into our beautiful British countryside on the East Sussex coast. Memories came flooding back of my visit when my sons were younger going to stay with Uncle John and enjoying the steam train journey to bewitching Bodium Castle and then an awesome afternoon at Bateman’s, Rudyard Kipling’s family home. This time, I had my prepared wish list of places to visit but knew we’d consult at breakfast time depending on what venues were COVID safely open to the public and then booking our entry tickets online. Strange yet memorable times we are encountering so planning daily routes were key.
Please Click on the photo images to enlarge, and hover over to read captions.
As I walked towards the front of the pavilion De La Warr Pavilion - Bexhill On Sea, East Sussex and admired more of this stunning sea front, my ears pricked up to hear an eloquent voice from on high. I know those dulcet ones I thought. I strolled to the entrance and then saw a What’s On poster. Ah, of course...it belonged to Eddie Izzard! I sat down at the patio cafe/bar, listened intently to Eddie and took a few photographs. From my photo, you can just see him in his red dress and ponytail swishing on the roof terrace relating his work-in-progress solo reading / performance of Charles Dickens’ classic epic Great Expectations. |
For those of you due here this week, please book your tickets as quick as you can, a real treat! His show continues until Sunday 23rd August so go onto https://www.dlwp.com/event/eddie-izzard-greatexpectations20/ or https://eddieizzard.com/en/shows
Now I’ve got you hooked and booked, please enjoy my next instalment of East Sussex journey of discovery blogs over the following seven days...
To close my Day One, here is a pertinent extract from ‘Great Expectations’
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Marysia Zipser
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Below are some example paperback covers of Great Expectations.
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