So we started the day in Pompeii which was a vacation home for rich Romans. It was buried under a huge pile of ash when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted over 700 years ago. About 15,000 people live in the town full-time but many of them left when they heard the mountain shaking and rambling. The eruption lasted for 3 days, with the big eruption that occured on the last two days. The majority of people are left behind were slaves and the stubborn few who wouldn't leave Pompeii. Throughout the tour we noticed that there were many copper statues that were erupted these weren't original, it's just a recent exhibit that were put on by an italian artist. The town was full of houses, temples as well as restaurants and eateries we even saw the equivalent of a Pompeii McDonald's which you could tell was a food place because it had a groove in the area of the front door for sliding door where the houses do not. Even this early age all of the houses that septic tanks and all of the rainwater was collected and two sisters. We even went into the remains of a house of a rich Roman family that had high ceilings instead of gates and had a roof that pitched in towards a hole in the middle of the living room, the rainwater would pour from the roof into a private sister that the family had. In the back of the house was a private gardens as well as the slave quarters which were upstairs, the family actually slept in bedrooms that were branched off from the main living room. They also had a private garden that was a close but was in the back of the house. You could tell which walls were redecorated a lot because they would have the coats of plaster and paint on them. The Romans were one of the first civilizations to develop the art of 3-D drawing and paintings this was lost in the coming dark ages afterwards. We even got to see some of the more illicit areas of ancient Roman life and got to walk through the old red light district.
 |
| A selfie with Mount Vesiuvus in the backgroung |
 |
| UL- The volcano, UM staris in one of the ampitheaters, UR- merchant stalls with holes for wine pots, BL- home, BR- sign |
 |
| UL- dried up fountain, UR- a home's interior garden centerpiece with frescos and tilework, ML- archway of a building, MM- a bed in the red light district, complete with pillo, MR- center of town with the large pillars ad sqaurw, BL figure from the eruption, BR- gouge in the original road from carts |
Around 4pm we made it to the outskirts of Rome and out hotel. Apparently in Italy legend and fantasy are one and the same, and we were told of Remus and Romulus the twins that were the founders of Rome and the inception of Rome, the eternal city. The hills where the twins were dropped were the palatino and the capitano hills, where the words for palace and capitol are derived from. Rome as we know it was started from 753BC but it has been around for over 5,000 years. Every 300-400 hundred years another ciliviliation would emerge and the old Rome would be buried. Although Rome is massive, it only has one subway line because every time they start digging, they have to wait for the archaeologists clearance to clear all the old artifacts. It only took 30 years for the one subway line to be built, so that's progress, right? Some of the most famous places in Rome could still hold massive crowds today, from the collesieum that could hold 50,000 to the circus Maximus that could hold 250,000. We drove around the city and were able to see some of the buikdings, including St. Peter's basiliica lit up at night. After that was an excellent, and funny, dinner. We had the antipasta, pasta, main/segundo and dessert. This while being serenaded and joked around with by the waters. At the end all the ladies had to pay with a kiss kiss on the cheek and got roses. One highlight was a halarious encounter where one guy switched plates with a girl who was aupposed to get a "special", aka fancy, plate for a "kiss kiss" on the cheek. So the waiter went with it and kissed the guy. Very funny. On top of that was an obo player and guitarist who sang songs and serendaded us. Great times. However, by the time we got back around 10:30 were ready to hit the bed.
 |
| Large- kiss kiss payment from the humorous waiter, from top to bottom : the musicians, and fresh food kitchen, selife, night lighting on the vatician's basicllica |
Jan 3- Rome
The day started super early, 5:45am wake up call. We were on our way by 7:15 am. We were pretty excited to get to it as today was a big day! We met our local guide and got our "holy headsets", Vatican approved headsets. It was the first day of rain but that's ok. The only real annoyance is we had bought an umbrella at the hotel but it didn't work. The morning sky was just a drizzled so it's ok. A lot of the items on the agenda were indoors. The Vatican itself is the smallest country in the world. It's a monarchy ruled by the pope. After clearing some security we went and looked at the giant gardens (it wasn't raining).
We then walked though the museum. The museum was a work of art with mosaic marble floors. Gold leaf and frescos dotted on the ceilings. The rule was that if it looked like it was gold, and you were in the Vatican, then it was gold. There were Roman copies of Greek works over 2,000 years ago. The only thing that was changed was fig leaves covering where the genitals used to be. It became an issue after Michelangelo died and all the genitalia were removed and covered in fig leaves. Apparently, before his death everyone was to afraid of him to do anything about the nude sculptures lol. I also learned that the sculptures were originally painted. The next gallery were very old tapestries. The ceiling was more impressive. They are technically flat but it looks sculpted because of the effect of shadows artfully placed. They are a 3D effect, like the Sistine chapel. The next gallery was a gallery of maps. They were beautifully pained and even had scales. Compared to google the scales were 81% accurate. The ceiling was relief and the whole thing was meant to show the wealthy, power and knowledge of the Vatican, it used to be part of the Pope's residence.
 |
| A |
 |
| Top- one needs to have a basillica selfie, BR- view of the scultptures in the museum, BR- no photos! |
 |
| UR- gardens, UM- showing the detailing in the cielings of the museum, BR- beautiful carvings, ML- papal symbol in marble on the floor, MM- tapestry gallery, MR- 3-D painting, yes that is flat, BR- tapastry showing the killing of the babies in the old testament, BM- gold leaf cielings, BR- map of venice from the 1800's. It even had a key and landmarks! |
Then we went to the Sistine chapel. This was originally built by Pope Sixtus IV, who wanted a private chapel to worship in. There were several artists that worked on it. Six stories of paintings representing Moses's life and six stories of Jesus's life. It is famous because of Michelangelo but there are plenty of famous artists. Originally the ceiling was blue with nothing on it. Then, Michaelangelo was assigned to pain the roof as a fresco. This is considered the most important fresco in the world. He was an unknown painter but considered to be the best in the world at that time. This was his first time as a painter! He used new techniques and ideas! He completed it on his own in 4 years (upside down)! He was trying to show how humans were the divine product and image of God. 30 years later, he was asked to decorate another part of the Sistine Chapel and painted the "Last Judgement". This time it showed how evil man is compared to God. When first painted all the figures were naked and he came under enormous pressure to clothe them by a certain bishop. But, this was Michaelangelo, and no one told him what to do. To show that he had a sense of humor, he painted that bishop as leader of the underworld with his penis covered, by having a snake bite it! Nothing was changed until after he died when a master was brought in to cover them. Everyone was to afraid of him before he died to do anything about it. We are lucky to see it cleaned. The Vatican left tiny holes showing the difference. Also, yes it is everything they say it is. Massive, colorful, beautiful, impressive and just plain "wow". It did seem like the entire ceiling was a huge sculpture looming above you. We also saw the place where the papal stove is placed when the new pope is elected. When they are voting they put paper in the stove. If they agree the smoke is white. If not they put coal in stove if they don't agree it is black. Oh and the current pope lives in a small apartment, not the normal place and drives a second hand Ford Focus. Pope Francis seems to be really well loved in the Vatican.
 |
| *All images from the internet showing the work of michalangello |
From there we went to St Peters Basilica. It is the second one as the original was torn town by a pope who didn't like the original one built by Constantine. This is the longest Catholic church in the world. In fact there is a rule in the Catholic Church that no other church can be longer (the length of the other churches are marked inside). This is also the tallest building in Rome. There is a rule that no building shall be taller than the basilica. There is a jubilee door that is only opened every 25 years and if you walk through all sins are forgiven (we had missed this by 3 days!). Inside the basilica it is about two football fields long. The letters along the ceiling are 7 feet high! The immense bronze canopy above the alter is 27 feet high/ 9 stories. It is meant to be huge and designed by Bernini. It also had the Michelangelo carving Pietta, aka Mary holding the newly deceased Jesus. It was carved out of the super hard Carerra Marble by Michelangelo at the age of 25. It was meant to show Mary's sadness at her son and lords death, and you could see it on her face. It was hard to get a great picture of it because in the early 70's a deranged australian thought he was Jesus and had smashed one of Mary's arms. So now it was behind bulletproof glass. Next we saw Saint John Paul II (former pope) grave. Then to the main chapel with the altar. The altar can only be used by the Pope for special occasions. This is because only the Pope is believed to be the descentant of Saint Peter. We also got to touch the right foot of the bronze St. Peter's likeness, a tradition of Catholics who pilgrimage to the basilica. Peter and the popes are buried in the Vatican crypt, which is marked on the floor. The altar is protected by huge bronze canopy designed by Bernini. Our guide said Michelangelo was the genius of the 15th century and Bernini the 16th. You can even be married in this huge church for free (although donations are gladly accepted), the waiting list averages 8 years! Outside was St Peters square, also designed by Bernini. The square is where St. Peter was supposed to be crucified upside down and is marked by an Egyptian obelisk. There we got to see the Swiss Guards who are basically the popes bodyguards. We had some time to souvenir shop and a toilet break before hitting the coach again to the colosseum.
 |
| UL- St. Peters Basillica, UL- rubbing the foot for good luck, BR- Mary cradeling jesus, BL- cec posing in front of the giant canopy/altar |
 |
| UL- St Peter's square, UM- swiss guard, UL- Karen standing in the vatican and itally at the same time, MR- the cathedral from the square, BR- selife! |
The drive showed us the Tiber river. It even still has a bridge in use that was created by the romans. We saw the hill where legends say that Romulus and Remus founded Rome and where all the empowers lived. In front of it was the chariot racing track, circus Maximus. We emptied out of the bus to sunny weather which was great. The first thing we saw was the leftovers of evaders palace, which is mostly just a resonant at this point. The ancients had rescued the valuable parts in other structures throughout the city. Then we saw the Constantine arch. It is still in original form from 1700 years ago and a major piece of sculptural art. Behind that was the colosseum and the Triumph arch which was the entrance to the city forum (cultural and economic center) at that time. We even walked on the original road. The arch had the oldest recorded menorah in an image showing the destruction and sacking of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. There were the ruins of the markets and other political buildings. The markets were large and the largest in the world at the time. Now they are stripped of the marble and decoration and 1/4 the size. The colosseum could hold 50,000 people when full. Fun fact for you the proper name is the Flavian Amphitheater. It was built in only 8 years! The floor is missing but you could imagine it, it also is perfectly sized to a football field. That was covered in sand and where the spectacles went on. They even had a retractable roof. Apparently the whole thing was covered in marble and the benches were also in marble… basically the whole thing would have been white. Underneath the floor were were the animals were kept. The morning were the hunting games and the bottom the gladiators. The more bloody the better. Normally they were to the death but occasionally a wounded gladiator would be kept alive if the crowd and emperor gave the thumbs up vs down.
 |
| Colloseum selfie! |
 |
| UL- more selfies, ER- archaway, ML- the outside detail of the colosseum, MR- the bronze support beams, BL- the markets ourside the colossum were in these massive archways, BR- colosseum overview |
After the amazing experience we got some lunch and continued to look at some more highlights. The trevy fountain was much larger than I expected. It is baroque style and gigantic. The fountain uses gravity fed wells. It is traditional to throw two coins into the well for luck and to return to Rome. It was crowded and we were hungry so we donated our tourist tax and found a place to get some food. We stopped at a tiny sandwich shop and then looked at stuff and bought some AMAZING gelatto. We even got to sample some spring water from one of the plentiful public fountains. From there we walked through the shopping area and to Spanish square. It is called Spanish square because it is where the Spanish embassy is. They are a beautiful state case connecting the town to the church on top of the hill. There is a nice boat sculpture using gravity fed well via an aqueduct created by the romans. You could see the apartments on the side streets from the expensive shopping district. They all were millions of dollars and had beautiful courtyards. The houses had many facades from the 1500-1700's including a funny inscription stating. It to leave trash on the corner. We passed one of the only Rocco style churches and then finally to the Pantheon.
 |
| Top: trevy fountain, bottom- us tossing coins in the foutain |
 |
| This thing is literally a work of art |
 |
| UL- Mary statue, UM- gelatto makes Karen happy, UL- building details, ML- fountain in front of the spanish steps, MM- another revy founrain, MR- more old churches and obelisks, BR- sign saying not to leave trash on the street, BM- cec trying the water, BR- the expensive shopping street |
The Pantheon is a Roman way temple from 2 AD (50 years after the colosseum and done in 4 years) and is in almost in perfect preservation. It was dedicated to all the gods in the pantheon then turned to a church. It is still a working church but with very very few changes. One of them was the removal of the God statues at the entrance. The gods were turned to devils and removed from the front. The floors, hole in the ceiling, walls, door, locks and architectural decoration (mostly geometrical) all is original. Notably the roof was poured as one piece of concrete. It also is still open and rain drops into an original drain in the floor. It was a surprising highlight for both of us.
 |
| Panthenon selfie |
 |
| UL- marble floor detailing with a drain in the middle, UM- selfie, UR- ceiling detail, BL- outside view, BM- view of the concete ceiling with skylight, BR- sign |
Our guide stopped at a gelato place and we all took a break before walking past saint Francesca church to piazza niovana. The fountain of the four rivers is in the center with the franscesco church in the background and is connected to the palace. Today it's the Brazilian embassy. We had some free time to nose around and shop before being escoreted back to the hotel. Cecil even picked up a pair of handmade leather shoes! We relaxed as both of us were super fatigued, then hit the restaurant beside the hotel for dinner at 7:00pm. After that it was back to bed. We wanted to get up the next morning to workout and the wake up call was 6:00am so it was going to be an early one.
 |
| Another fountain selfie |
 |
| UL- gelato makes cecil happy to, R- horse detail in fountain, BL- more building detail, BL- more selfies in impressive fountain |
Jan 4- Florence
It was a beautiful drive out of Rome, we passed through the countryside of Tuscany, and yes it's as beautiful as you have heard. Rolling hills full of vineyards and clusters of sandstone villages that seemed to be better placed in the Middle Ages than the year 2017. Some of the villages were right on top of a rocky outcropping with their foundations grabbing onto every inch of rock. With the blue sky and the endless fields, it was a scenic drive. We were on our way to Florence, or as the Italians say, Firenze which is the art capital of Italy. The towns name is derived from Latin and means "to flourish" because the emperor was convinced that the town would be successful. Florence is famous for starting the gold standard, because in the middle ages, people wanted to travel but they needed money to travel and so in order to travel with the security of having enough funds to do so. The gold stadard refered to 18K gold, which was a unit of measurement all people agreed on (including its value). Therefore, all of the gold in Florence was 18k gold. The first coin was called the floren, and then it was later called" the daugher" by the Dutch many years later (which is why we call it the dollar). The first trade unions also originated from Florence as well, because of the increase in wealth and the creation of a merchant class.
 |
| All pictures from the viewpoint overlooking the town, including a remake of the David statue |
We learned a lot of random fun facts in florence inclduing: 1. Macheivelli was stationed in Florence as well. His most famous line "the end justifies the means" seems to be popular today. 2. The city has always bridged either side of the Arno river. 3. The origin of Pinocchio, the novel, was actually written and published in Florence first. 4. Most of the bricks of Florence was made of sandstone like Tuscany as well. 5. The bell tower that was the oldest building in town from the 1350's. 6.In the same square was Gondi palace from the 1400's that was where Leonardo started to paint the Mona Lisa. He is apparently from a small town near Florence, called Vinci. So because he was "low born" and didn't come from a prominent family that's why his name was Leonardo Da Vinci.
 |
| UL- cecil is sad when gelatto is gone, UR- the Misuri factory sign, BL- palazza veccio, BR- an original roman bridge that used to be a meat market (it was sparred from bombing by hitler!) |
Santa Croce square was where we had lunch and some gelato. We had a demonstratipn at a local store called Misuri. They showed us how to buy gold and leather goods. We splurged and got ourselves a set of lambskin coats and Karen a necklace and earring set. We then went to the palazzo veccio which was a square that had a large bronze of one of the Medichi's. This family ruled Florence for close to 300 years. They were initially merchants, but soon rose to power after starting one of the earliest banks in Florence. There was a ton of art in that square including an amazing 20 foot statues in the square was Neptune riding 4 horses. We also saw the flag of Florence, which was the red iris on a white background, it looks remarkably similiar to the fleur des lis from France, but it is it's own symbl called the Giglio. Tucked away in a corner of the square was one of the world seminal pieces of artwork. It was a copy of michaelangelos David. It was the first colossal free standing piece of sculpture as well and the level of anatomical precision. It showed the biblical David with his slingshot across his neck. The hands, feet and head are a bit oversized, but that is to compensate for the viewers perception down on the ground. This was made of the same type of Carrera marble that the Pieta was carved from, very hard to carve but prized because of its pure white color. This saved the romans from painting the statue like they did with other types of statues that were made from duller marble. This square was packed with more amazing scenes from mythology, from Hercules to a decapitated medusa, it was like walking through a picture book.
 |
| UL- galileo statue outide the national museum, UR- decapitated medusa, BL- cec posing in front of the neptune fountain, BM- florence symbol, BR- hercules killing a minotour |
Right next to the square was a impressive looking museum that had some of the works of the Italian masters, Botticelli and Carevaglio. On the museum steps there were sculptures of famous tuscans (area around Florence) like Leonardo, as well as Michelangelo, and Dante. Michelangelo's face was actually made from his death mask and is considered to be the most accurate. There were other names of note, like Amerigo Vespucci and gallileo and Donatello. The statues were so detailed that you could see the stitching on their shoes.
 |
| Top- selfies, bttom- a view of the square from the statues pov |
We then walked past the square to the ponto vechhio "old bridge" which was a bridge crowded with houses and butcher shops on it. So the butchers would have a hole in their shop and then just sweep their waste into the river. It even was spared by the nazis because Hitler's specifically ordered that bridge spared as well.
The patron Saint of Florence is John the Baptist. There is a big celebration every June 24th. There was a bronze in a church nearby. The most famous work in this church was that of Saint Thomas investigating Jesus's wounds. As we kept on walking down the street we saw another triumphant arch in the middle of town that was constructed by the romans.
Santa Maria del fiora or duomo which means house. (pictures of the bridge are above)
The main church in town is the house and heart of the city. This was the fourth largest church in all of Europe but was built before any of the top three in the 1300's.
Was a really impressive church that was made from green, white and red marble. It was built so long ago that the techniques to build it have been lost. From 1296 to 1498, over 150 years of construction and many generations of architects
Near the church was the gates of paradise. Bronze casting gilded with gold that showed three dimensions for the first time. There were biblical references in the panels in the door, one of the most unique was Noah's ark that had a ark that was a pyramid and took Ghiberti 27 years to make! So tradition hold that you would have to be baptized in the smaller churches that the gates of paradise held, and only then would you be allowed in the cathedral of Florence. After the tour in Florence we drove to a nearby town and then had dinner at the hotel
No comments:
Post a Comment