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Catacombs & Sightseeing in Rome

30 Sep 08: Finally, some kind soul told me that this place is called Cappuccini. I googled about it and I am pretty sure that the full name is Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini.

Hi Friends! This is one of the 3 posts that is submitted for the nomination of Best Photo Blog category by OMY Singapore Blog Awards. I must hereby THANK the panel of judges from OMY’s editorial team for selecting TravelerFolio.com as one of the top ten finalists in the Photo Blog category.

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A more relaxing sightseeing day for us, after the mad cow rush the day before. It was very hot, seemed hotter than Singapore, on 29 May. It’s always good to start Europe first from the South like Italy, as it is warmer; then move to colder regions so that by the time, those colder regions should be nearer to Summer and turn warmer.

We visited the Catacombs, which are the underground burial places under Rome. It was a mind boggling experience, seeing human bones being arranged artistically with shivers down the spine.

I only saw scenes of skeletons in an upright position while watching some adventurous Hollywood movies, never did I expect that I could see these kind of bizarre bone displays right in front of my eyes!

These bones are all arranged artistically above us! Frankly speaking, it was rather eerie to walk through the catacombs, as there were not many people around us too. And a little secret here, no one is allowed to take photos of these bones, so the photos were not very clear as I snapped them quietly.

The cylindrical Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle St. Angelo) used to be a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. There were some peddlers selling fake branded bags like Prada nearby. ~The Illuminati Lair in Angels & Demons by Dan Brown!

Ponte Sant’Angelo, the mesmerising Roman bridge with an artistic reflection in the placid water. The tinted photos were taken with my shades as the photo filter.

Walking along the street, we passed by this bizzare looking garden with many headless sculptures, pillars, etc.

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major) is an ancient Catholic basilica of Rome, located on the summit of the Esquiline Hill and is considered by many to be the second most beautiful church beside St. Peter’s in Rome.

Restoration work on the floor being done by skillful hands.

San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) is a basilica famous for housing Michelangelo’s statue Moses and the relic of the chains that bound Saint Peter while imprisoned in Jerusalem.

A Pyramid in Rome? Yup, the Pyramid of Cestius, located near Porta San Paolo, a gate that looks like a castle.

Porta San Paolo, the castle-like gate.

San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls), a patriarchal basilica dedicated to Saint Paul, near the site of his tomb. It is one of the four churches considered to be the great basilicas of Rome. The three others are St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter’s.

Rome is not built in a day; we combed it in a day! [part 1]

Rome is not built in a day; we combed it in a day! [part 2]

Rome is a fine city… we got fined!!!

Posted by eunice Posted in Europe, Italy, Rome Comments (47)

Magical Venice

We disembarked the night train at Venezia Mestre station at the Italian mainland and took another train to cross the Venetian Lagoon to central Venice.

The Grand Canal is the most important canal in Venice that forms a major water-traffic corridor to the city. A canoeing competition was going on, so it was not possible for us to take a boat ride to Piazza San Marco or St Mark’s Square in English. We had to walked through the mysterious alleyways to find our way there, giving us the opportunity to explore every nook and canny.

The alleys are brimming with small artisan shops for every visitor to shop for the exquisite souvenirs like the Venetian masks. We entered one such shop and had some fun trying out the Venetian masks.

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Florence is a great beauty

The next morning, we headed to Ponte Vecchio. Our tents were nestled among the olive trees in the campsite.

On the hill overlooking Florence in the daylight is mysteriously enchanting; it was like being brought back by a time machine to centuries ago.

We passed by Piazza Michelangelo, a statue of David on the hill on the south bank of the Arno River. The site was designed in 1869, with a great view of the city to offer.

Ponte Vecchio is a Medieval bridge with three segmental arches over the Arno River. There are shops built along the bridge. The striking orange and yellow colours of the bridge certainly certainly also contribute to its unique characteristic.

The reflection of Ponte Vecchio and the buildings on the placid water surface added another mesmeric effect that had intrigued us to capture the magical moment. After all, this famous bridge in Europe is so popularly painted by artists for centuries.

Beware of the string puppet trickster near Ponte Vecchio.

We explored the Piazza on the other side of Ponte Vecchio, soaking up the historic atmosphere of enchanting Florence, a totally different world from the one we had left behind in Singapore.

In the Loggia dei Lanzi gallery on the edge of the Piazza della Signoria, beautiful historic statues are openly showcased to the public, making me wonder if I was literally in a museum.

Perseus holding the head of Medusa, one of the most famous statues in the world. The sculpture is original and is the first to place under the Loggia in 1554. Rape of the Sabine women – carved from a single block of marble and is under the Loggia since 1583.

Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus – a Roman sculpture, copied from a Greek original from 240-230 BC and the discovery in Rome in 1541. There is a replica in Pitti Palace and no one can tell which is the original!

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the Duomo (a generic Italian term of a cathedral church) of Florence, notable for it’s dome design and its polychrome of marble panels bordered by white. The Duomo is so big that we could not capture the whole of it at near distance. No wonder almost all postcards of Florence have the Duomo as a centrepiece.

The interior of the huge dome has beautiful frescoes depicting scenes from the Last Judgement.

There is always a beautiful piece of art in any corner of this fascinating historic city. Too bad, the Accademia Gallery was closed for restoration work, so we missed Michelangelo’s David and the rest of the masterpieces.

(pic-Jewish synonogue)

There is so much to see in Florence, and we had tasted the best Italian food in a restaurant crowded with the locals too! Yes, the local restaurant also threw us the challenge of understanding the Italian menu. (And having the tasted the authentic Italian food in this restaurant, I am motivated to cook my own spaghetti at home.)

We only had less than a day in Florence as we left for Pisa in the afternoon.

The string puppet trickster!

Posted by eunice Posted in Europe, Florence, Italy Comments (3)

Pisa, the leaning tower that tilts heads

We left Florence to Pisa by train. It was a short ride of about one and a half hour.

We walked into yet another famous postcard scene again – the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), one of the main centres for Medieval art in the world. The square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is dominated by four great religious edifices namely the Duomo (cathedral church), the Leaning Tower, the Baptistery and the Camposanto.

This shot was taken while standing at the Field of Miracle, where all three great buildings can be shot nicely in a picture. It’s a courtesy photo from my pretty buddy, Wendy, who went there in 2007.

The leaning tower is awe-inspiring! How could it lean at such a dangerous yet seductive angle? We spent almost two hours in the square, virtually trying to support the leaning tower, to create our own postcards!

Leaving Pisa for Rome, our last league in Europe.

Next: to ROME!

Posted by eunice Posted in Europe, Italy, Pisa Comments (0)

Rome is not built in a day; we combed it in a day! [part 1]

In Rome, we stayed in Pensione Ottaviano Hostel, which is only a short walk to St Peter’s Square. We got ourselves a six-bedder dorm in this pleasant hostel occupied by youths from all over the world. An American youth told us she worked in the hostel to make some money to tour in Europe. Perhaps we should try that too, so that we could continue our next league in Europe immediately!

One of our friends had to depart two days earlier. She wanted to visit as many attractions as possible in the day; thus, we had to squeeze our three days’ itineraries into a one-day tour! Our marathon for the day included Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and Pantheon. All in a day! Phew!

The weather had turned very warm. We were perspiring while walking to Vatican City / the Holy See. It happened to be a Wednesday when Pope John Paul II would give his weekly Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

The Obelisk in the centre. (oops, the photo is truncated.)

It was still early when we were there, so we went into the Vatican Museums first.

The art of frescoes. Vatican city is the smallest city-state in the world, yet overflowing with treasures.

Adam and Eve painting.

The mummy is so well-preserved that the hair is still clearly visible.

It was so crowded in the Sistine Chapel. The chapel is very small and a part of it was closed at when we were there. The guards were very strict and they shouted across the chapel to stop visitors from taking photos. We were being warned a few times too when trying to snap photos of the world famous paintings. My friend escaped the vigilant eyes by putting his arms at the sides and at the same time, holding his camera facing the ceiling of the chapel and snapping the paintings on the ceiling, and one of them was the famous God Creates Adam by Michelangelo.

Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world with 110 acres and a population of around 800. It is a landlocked sovereign city-state within Rome. I sent a postcard home with the Vatican stamp adhered on it as a souvenir for myself.

St. Peter’s Basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Catholic tradition holds that Peter’s tomb is below the altar of the basilica.

Is this a real corpse? If so, it’s definitely very well-preserved!

This golden skeleton caught my eyes. It has a pair of wings (I supposed), and “blindfolded”. But why…

The Transfiguration. Saw this painting in the Vatican Museums too. Don’t know which is the original. Guess it should be the one in the museum.

Saw this sculpture in the museum too; not sure which one is the original.

The guards of Vatican City wearing striking-coloured uniform.

A nun and a priest walking down the slope, both adjusting their garments… ^^

We felt safer in Rome as there were more policemen on patrol. And Italian policemen seemed to be taller. We met many friendly and helpful Italians too. Rome is fascinating!

Leaning Tower is to Pisa as Colosseum is to Rome… [Part 2]

Posted by eunice Posted in Europe, Italy, Rome Comments (0)

Rome is not built in a day; we combed it in a day! [part 2]

Leaning Tower is to Pisa as Colosseum is to Rome. The mighty Colosseum is the largest elliptical amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire and one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. When we think of Colosseum, we think of the brave gladiators who fought for their lives.

Admission to Colosseum is not free and we did not enter it as we thought we could just peep through the gaps to see its interior.

We headed to the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum near the Colosseum. The forum was closing when we entered and there was hardly anyone in the forum which is now left with ruins of the past. But from a historical perspective, it’s much more interesting than Colosseum.

The Roman Forum was the political, legal and religious centre of the mighty Roman Empire. Imagine standing in the Roman Forum which was once a centre of splendour and glory during the mighty Roman Empire is like stepping into the biggest film set ever.

To take a better picture of the Roman Forum, we climbed up a pillar and jumped dangerously from one pillar to another.

The National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II is behind the Roman Forum. Not many people around that area and we had a quick bite there on the steps later on.

We all read about gypsy women carrying drugged babies to beg for money and some even pick pocket. The most atrocious story I had read was about a gypsy woman throwing baby doll to the victim and snatched away the victim’s belongings. Then, when we were in the metro, we really saw a gypsy woman carrying a sleeping baby walking through the crowded metro. When she was walking toward us, the four of us stayed close together and ignored her.

The night fell when we reached the Trevi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in Rome. Remember to throw a coin into the fountain so that you will be brought back to Rome!

At the Spanish Steps, it was too dimmed for us to take a clear photo anymore. An important note here: be careful of the drunk sitting on the step above you as he or she might drop the bottle down the steps.

It was really getting very late – another five minutes to twelve! We headed to catch a glimpse of the Pantheon. On the way there, we witnessed a young man who dashed across the road and was nearly hit by an oncoming taxi driving at a fast speed. Luckily the taxi driver could react fast enough to brake, if not the young man would be hit and thrown to some where far down the road. What a close shave! We had seen many cars in Rome driving very fast and never give way to pedestrians. So when we need to cross a road, we had to walk across carefully to cut their path at a distance that was enough for them to stop before us!

The dimly lit Pantheon at midnight.

It is not advisable to stay out late at night, especially in a foreign land where we are not familiar with the place. Nonetheless, we felt safe walking around at night in Rome. When we reached our hostel, the two other dorm mates were not back yet so we could switch on the light; if not we had to fumble in the dark. The dorm mate returned and was thankful that we still kept the light on and he didn’t need to stumble around.

Forgot where this photo was taken, but the site exhibits models of buildings and structures of Rome in showcases on a hilltop.