Day 31 - Top and Bottom

We're still in the Panteon, but now we're looking up and down. The crown jewel of the dome is its open window. The cool thing about it is that it actually enhances the structural integrity of the building and there's not even a glass in it. The old romans knew what they were doing... They also thought of the plumbing of course, and since it rains in to the building through that top hole they naturally made proper drains in the flor. It also slopes ever so slightly towards those drain holes which sort of makes you think of it like the world's largest shower haha - it's got its water source on top and its clever plumbing at the bottom. Pretty neat, huh?

/MrsHjort

Day 30 - The Old Gods and the New

The Pantheon - now devoted the Christian god, but it was not built for that god originally. When you get inside, the architecture very clearly indicates that it was not built for a single god, but many. Its name, actually means "temple of all the gods" meaning the Roman ones, naturally. It's got many alcoves, arches and pedestals where the Roman gods once were depicted that are now occupied by statues of Christian saints (right picture). Another thing that gives it away is the fact that it's round - a shape that is extremely unusual in Christian architecture. The top section is a half sphere that is 43.3 m in diameter. It's quite an achievement with its early construction in mind. The material used to construct it was varied in order to make it strong - if homogeneous concrete had been used it would not have been able to support the load and a cave-in would most likely have happened. It’s a very interesting building, not only with architecture in mind but also when it comes to engineering.

/MrsHjort

Day 29 - Pantheon

On to the next major attraction - the Pantheon, once a Roman temple, now a church. It was built in 113-125 AD on the order of Emperor Hadrian. It's considered to be the one of the best preserved Ancient roman buildings and it's still in good condition thanks to the fact that it has been in use ever since it was built.

As you can see, this is another place where you'll find an Egyptian obelisk, though I don't know the story behind this one. The building itself is impressively large and you can't help but feel a sense of wonderment as you enter inside through its huge gates. At least I did - like when I was a child and walked inside a gymnastics hall for the fist time. It's not a thing worthy of comparison with the pantheon of course (not by a long shot, and it wan't even a particularly large hall) but that feeling of seeing something huge for the very first time, the one when you feel really small, that's the feeling I got going inside the Pantheon :)

/MrsHjort

Day 26, 27 and 28 - Fontana di Trevi

So, I missed a few days again. But don't worry, I'm fine! I am still doing well on my medication. It's just that I overexerted myself a bit one day, had to rest the next one and now I'm back! That's the thing you see, even on medication I have my limits but it's no way near as limiting as it used to be. It's simply that I went a bit overboard since I felt invincible one day and had to pay for it the next. That's just the way the cookie crumbles, but now at least I think we're getting close to a name. So many things have been crossed off my list that there are only so many things left that it could be and I'm growing more and more sure of which one of those things is my thing, and that's a great thing :).

This is the Trevi fountain, named after the district in which it is placed. It was designed by Nicola Salvi. Construction started in 1732 and it was finished after Nicloa's death by Panninni in 1762. The theme of the fountain is "the taming of waters" and it depicts the taming of sea horses, as you can see on the left in the middle pic.

This is another of my favorite places in Rome. I came here not expecting anything really. I'd heard the fountain was pretty but I had also heard that the crowds were pretty bad so I didn't expect to enjoy it really. I am one of those people who hates being in large groups of people. But the area around the fountain was not that bad, and the crowds were calmer than I expected. Lots of people sure, but people chilling out marveling at the beautiful pieces of art enjoying the sun. The fountain was more beautiful that I expected too... A wonderful spot to stop and just enjoy the view.

Mr couldn't leave the fountain without tossing in a coin. Actually he tossed several since I'm a picky photographer who want things a certain way. I'm so glad I managed to get this clean shot of him at just the right time. If you look closely, you'll see a "coin". That's fake though as I have no idea where the real one went. I edited in a replacement in post ed just for fun. It wasn't until right this moment, when I researched the fountain, that I learned he had tossed the coin the wrong way. You see, traditionally you're supposed to toss the coin with the right hand over the left shoulder. Oh well, it's the thought that counts and I still love the picture :)

/MrsHjort

Day 25 - Piazza San Pedro

This is from just outside St Peter's Church. Here at St Peter's square you'll find another Egyptian obelisk (find it in the top picture) as well as the Doric colonnades, four columns deep, which embrace visitors in "the maternal arms of Mother Church". On top of the colonnades and the buildings are statues of  140 saints that watch over the square (bottom picture, of course).

This was our last stop in the Vatican and we left of a rather late lunch, or would it be dinner? "Lunner" perhaps haha, yeah lets go for that, we went for Lunner, quite famished from walking around for hours on end, but very satisfied with our experience. The Vatican was easily the high point of our trip to Rome and nobody who travels to the city should miss it.

/MrsHjort 

Day 23 and 24 - Tranquility

You didn't think I'd only have one post for the largest church in the world did you? Definitely not!

The top shot is of the inside of the dome I wrote about as I showed the first pictures of the Vatican. It's in the middle right above the huge wooden altar in the bottom shot.

The bottom shot is only a shot a short distance away from the other wide angle shot I showed you yesterday, but it also shows how the basilica stretches out to the sides.

Walking in the basilica, we were very lucky to get to hear the choir practice. I don't need to tell you that the acoustics made it sound even more beautiful. Let's just say I got goose bumps...

/MrsHjort 

Day 21 and 22 - St Peter's Basilica

Ok, you knew this was coming... This is another must see - the world's largest Christian church, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano. And wow is it grand! You could fit my two story house with a basement and an attic inside it many times over. It's hard to imagine anything being so large, and it's even hard to grasp its size when you're inside it. Man was not made to make sense of vast spaces like that. It covers an area of 2.3 hectares (or 5,7 acres). You could fit over 80 000 people inside it.

They started building the basilica in 1506 and it took a whopping 120 years to finish! Can you imagine! Several of the architects didn't even live to see it finished!

In the middle, underneath the altar you'll find what is considered to be the tomb of St Peter himself, as well as tombs of many popes. We went down there but, just like at the Sistine Chapel, photography was prohibited. 

/MrsHjort

Day 20 - Sensory Overload

Here is a good example of what I meant a couple of days ago when I said that you easily get lost in all the things there are to look at in the Vatican Museum. There are several rooms like this where art is all around you - the floors, the walls and the ceilings - and very rich at that.

This corridor is called the Gallery of Maps. The maps, 40 of them in total, were painted between 1580-1583 by Ignazio Danti, a famous geographer of the time. Danti wasn't only a cartographer though, he was a man of many talents and was also a priest (a bishop in fact), a mathematics professor and an astronomer.

As you can see the maps are quite large - 15 by 16 feet in size - and quite detailed. They're all of regions of Italy. The towns, villages (and even hamlets) are painted with great accuracy and upon close inspection you can even see historical incidents occurring in each area, or find important characters like Christopher Columbus.

/MrsHjort

Day 19 - Marble and Stone

Continuing on with the Vatican Museum theme, here is another example of what the interior looked like. I find rooms like these quite tasteful - discrete natural colors and nothing too excessive. I absolutely love the classical style and I also like the subtle differences in the colors of the stone. (We'll save some examples of "sensory overload rooms" for tomorrow). 

The statues in the museum are beautiful, but it was not easy getting a clean shot of them as there are a lot of visitors in the museum every day. This was one of the very few clean ones that I managed to get, and the one that I like the most personally. It was the angle he angle that caught my eye, and the lighting, though admittedly statues like these look great in just about any lighting. The interplay between background and foreground was interesting as well but I wish I had brought my 55-300 mm lens so that the background would have become a bit softer. That's the price you pay for convenience I guess, but I doubt that I would have been able to get the composition right with it, since it would have required me to stand farther away (I don't think there was room for that). Also there's the light issue. More zoom requires more light or you'll get a slight motion blur, so I guess it was for the best in the end... you can't have everything, and lugging around gear is not that practical in a museum like this where there are a lot of people - the smaller you are the easier it is to make your way through the crowds.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the top statues, but the bottom one is of Laocoön - a figure in Greek and Roman mythology - a Trojan priest who was attacked, with his two sons, by giant serpents sent by the gods. The statue is larger but I really like this close-up of only Laocoön. It makes you notice some really nice details like the veins in the arms and torso. The statue was made somewhere around 200 BC but it's likely a copy of a bronze original. In turn, this marble version may not be completely original, as it shows signs of heavy restoration. Nonetheless, it's
considered a masterwork.

/MrsHjort

Day 18 - Vatican Museum

So, as I mentioned an earlier day we took a guided tour of the Vatican Museum. It's something I highly recommend, since you get a lot of interesting info that way and you get all the best pieces pointed out to you. Had I walked around in there willy-nilly I would never have appreciated it as much as I did with a guide. Also, the place is grand, in more ways than one. It's large, sure, but there are also so many pieces to look at and the interiors themselves are gorgeous too. As you walk here you get a sensory overload I've seldom experienced, and if you don't have someone to guide you through it you'll get lost in it. Even with the guide, I got totally engulfed by some of the paintings at times... The museum is a wonderful experience.

/MrsHjort

Day 17 - Serenity

This is that same dome - the St Peter's Dome - that I shot yesterday, but this is shot from inside the Vatican. The dome was designed my Michelangelo himself who started the project when he was 71 years old. After he died, his student completed the work and it was finished in 26 years later, in 1590. The dome is 136 m high and 42 m in diameter. If you want to climb to the top, it's a whopping 491 steps to the top. Sadly, we didn't do that though. We ended up going the other way, climbing down to the tombs of the popes beneath the cathedral, and after that we were utterly famished, so we left the country to go get a bite to eat... 

What a strange thing to say eh? Leaving a country to go eat something... There are actually a few restaurants inside, but we're a picky couple when it gets to food. We travel as much for the food as for anything else and we carefully pick the restaurants we go to beforehand to avoid tourist traps and mediocre places. Apps like TripAdvisor is a great way to achieve that - it helped turn our trip into a wonderful food experience :)

/MrsHjort

Day 16 - The Vatican

The Vatican... the world's smallest country... does it need an introduction? Not really I'd say. We went here on our second day. We had planned for it in advance and bought tickets to skip the long waiting lines and get a guided tour to the highlights of the Vatican Museum - a thing I highly recommend if you plan on going there (the lines were looooooong). You can get them on the official homepage for a modest fee, or buy them for considerably more from people who make a living off selling them on the street outside. If I had a nickel for every time someone tried their routine on us I'd afford a whole bundle of tickets. Must have been something I carried with me... hehe... my bulky DSLR wasn't exactly screaming local signorina. I'd never trade it for a compact camera though, but sometimes I wish it was more discreet.

/MrsHjort

Day 13, 14 and 15 - The View

Sorry again, it's been... I guess "hard" is the right word... these past few days and I haven't had the time or energy to do my daily shots. Like I said when I started this; I've been on medication during our trip. Coming home I had to taper it down, since my doctors don't want me on it, and as a good compliant patient I tried my hardest to do so...

Going to Rome and realizing what I am supposed to feel like - having the energy I used to have before I got sick, being able to take walks again etcetera... spoiled me... is that the right word? I don't know... I don't really have a word for it but tapering back down to zero meds became extremely hard once I had a reference to what I should feel like. My health has declined so slowly over so long a time I hadn't really noticed how bad it had gotten. Going from being an ordinary person, to a person that feels super tired and confused all the time no matter how much I sleep, to being short of breath again, to having aching joints and super dry skin... I just couldn't... how could anyone? When you know that one little pill can make you feel so much better?

Anyway I contacted my doctor and he made me promise to try to go back to a minimal dose, so that's what I've been trying to do these past weeks, but it just didn't do it for me. I felt a tad better than before, sure, but feeling a tad less like something the cat dragged in is was way short of being on an acceptable level. Yesterday I gave up and went back up a dose, and now I feel like a human being again. A wonderful feeling, something you only understand if you've been chronically ill yourself. A healthy person can endure much when they fall ill because they know that it will pass, but imagine it being never ending... Anyway, I just wanted to explain why I've been missing a few days lately, and wow did it turn out way longer than I planned...

So... these shots are of the view from Terrazza delle Quadrighe. In the first picture you'll see the roof of the Panteon, and behind it to the right the Supreme Court. The second picture shows the Roman Forum and the third is of the Colosseum of course.

You also get a bonus shot today. It's of a seagull that landed right on top of the telescope that Mr was looking through. He I didn't even realize it was sitting there until I told him to look up haha. Boy did he freak out! I didn't get a shot of it actually sitting there though, that would have been too funny. 

/MrsHjort

Day 12 - Winged Victory

I had trouble finding facts about the statues on the roof of Altare della Patria beyond their names and who made them. This is Quadriga della Libertà by Paolo Bartolini and on the opposite side of the roof terrace you'll find its counterpart Quadriga dell'Unità by Carlo Fontana. The terrace itself is named for them - Terrazza delle Quadrighe. The statues were completed in 1911 - the 50th anniversary of unified Italia - but they were not placed on the monument's roof until the year of 1930. As you may have guessed, Quadriga has something to do with the number four - it's what you call a chariot pulled by four horses.

As I went up on the terrace, the first thing that hit me, smack in the eye, was of course the gorgeous view. The next thing was the wonderful camera angle you get of these statues, contrasted against the sky. But how to make the shot different and even more bold? Break one of the basic photography "rules" and shoot straight into the sun of course. So I went to a spot that placed the sun in a way that made it look like a halo over the angel's head, and then waited for the clouds to move into a nice looking position. I hoped for the best and thought I'd worry about the lens flare later. It turned out to be an easier fix than I thought though, and I actually only got one green hued circle (with a tiny yellow one inside it). A few tweaks and some cloning later, and I dare you to guess where it was ;).

/MrsHjort

Day 11 - Altar of the Fatherland

If you go from Piazza del Popolo and follow Via del Corso south you'll end up in front of this magnificent building. Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, also known as Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy. It was designed in 1885 and completed 50 years later, in 1935. It was a bit of a controversy when it was built, mainly because it destroyed a large area of the Capitoline Hill where a medieval neighborhood was situated, but it was also regarded as unnecessarily large and pompous.

At the monument you'll find the tomb of an unknown world war one soldier. It's right below a statue of the goddess Roma (the yellow part in the lower center), and beside it you'll find an eternal flame. Inside are various national relics like flags, weapons, decorated chests. For a fee you can get to the top terrace with a stunning view of the city below. 

As you may have gathered, we first came here on our first day. At that time I had not yet started taking my medicine, so naturally I was exhausted from the walking. Therefore, we didn't really "see" the monument that day. We wandered up the bottom stairs and went inside for a quick look, but since I was quite tired, we quickly went on our way to find a nice place to sit down, have a bite, and recharge a bit before heading "home". We went back another day though. But in the interest of not mucking up the most logical photo order too much, more shots from this place will follow shortly.

/MrsHjort

Day 9 and 10 - Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso

Sorry, I missed a day there, but I'll make up for it with two shots today.

This is a basilica church called "Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso" or "San Carlo al Corso" for short. It's dedicated to two saints from Milan - St. Ambrose and St. Charles Borromeo. If you go back to my post on day two, you can actually see the dome in the picture of our view from the balcony of the suite where we stayed. It's the big one right in the middle of the picture. I didn't actually think about that until I researched it (I do that each day as I post these pictures).

Anyway, St Ambrose (c. 340–397) was the governor of Liguria and Emilia before he became a bishop and became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He is considered one of the Latin Doctors of the Church and apparently he was a flexible fellow who wasn't rigid about religious customs; "[w]hen I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are.".

St. Charles Borromeo was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal. He had a leading role in the counter-reformation movement against the protestant reformation and was responsible for several significant resforms including the founding of seminaries for the education of priests.

To move the subject over to photography, I tend to find shooting places like these a bit challenging. There are the standard shots of course, but the ceilings... It's tricky to compose all those curved lines and circles. Not to mention the lighting... Thank goodness for Raw!

/MrsHjort

Day 8 - Baroque Beauty

This is the Chiesa dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e Maria ("Church of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary"). It was built in baroque style starting in 1633 and it was "finished" 41 years later, in 1674, though that's not counting the interior paintwork and decoration. The vault and the main altarpiece, depicting a Coronation of the Virgin were painted by Giacinto Brandi, and it wasn't entirely finished until 1690.

Buildings like these really makes you think of the quality work and care that was put into them. There is almost nothing like them being constructed nowadays - everything has to be as fast, and cheap as possible. I can see why we don't spend as much time and money on single buildings anymore, but at the same time, it's a bit of a shame that most modern architecture is so minimalist. I much prefer old buildings with a bit of decoration on them. But who knows, after this era of clean facades and huge blank windows, architectural "fashion" will take a u-turn and bring back the ornamentation... if only a little. One can only hope... :)

/MrsHjort

Day 7 - Founders and Gods

This is the final picture from Piazza del Popolo that I will show you. It's of the fountain called Rome between the Tiber and the Aniene, you'll find it on the east side of the square by the steep slope of the Pincian hill. The goddess Roma, who personified the city of Rome, is armed with lance and helmet, beside her are the river gods Tiber and Aniene, and beneath her, the Capitoline Wolf feeding Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

After this, the very first stop on our holiday, we strolled down the shopping street I mentioned a few days ago. Nuhuh, we didn't buy a thing! So there! All who know me know I hate shopping, so nope, instead we just looked at the beautiful buildings and went inside every church on the way down the street, each more beautiful than the next... But more about that tomorrow.

/MrsHjort

Day 6 - The Unexpected Obelisk

I admit, I'm no expert on Rome but I never expected to find a huge obelisk full of hieroglyphs, and I even less expected to find several of them spread over the city. This, apparently, is the obelisk of Ramses the second. It is the second oldest and the largest of the ones found in Rome. The obelisk was brought to Rome in 10 BC by order of Augustus and it was originally set up at Circus Maximus. The obelisk was lost at some point, but it was rediscovered in 1587. They then broke it into three pieces and re-erected it at Piazza del Popolo as part of the urban plan of pope Sixtus V.

I shot the obelisk from the sunny side at first - it was the viewpoint from where I came towards it - but immediately realized it would look much greater with a shadowy side visible to contrast a sunny one. I always love how the sun enhances outdoors shots. It brings out depth and colors so nicely. Some gloomy shots can be really nice though, but I've never really gotten comfortable taking them myself. I always find myself wishing for the sun to come out.

/MrsHjort

Day 5 - Stone King

It was quite tricky getting a clean shot of the fountain lions in Piazza del Popolo (as a crazy cat lady I just had to get at least one right). Even in the morning, there are just enough people to make it a thing you achieve through a zooming, timing and luck. The lighting was marvelous though.

/MrsHjort

Day 4 - Piazza del Popolo

This was our first stop the very first day - a huge square with several interesting things to look at.

Here you can find the twin churches of Santa Maria in Montesanto (left, built 1662-75) and Santa Maria dei Miracoli (right, built 1675-79). Between them is Via del Corso - the main shopping street that runs all the way to Piazza Venezia - the central hub of Rome, and Altare della Patria - a monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy. 

There are also some beautiful statues and an obelisk at this piazza, but I'll show you those another day :).

/MrsHjort

Day 3 - A Bridge with a View

As I was looking of pictures of Rome before my trip, this was one of the spots I knew I had to find. There are many beautiful photos shot from this bridge. I chose one of them - a twilight shot - as a desktop background before we left, and now it has been replaced by this shot. As soon as I found the spot I knew I had to come back. It was late in the afternoon you see, and a quick orientation of the sun's path told me the lighting would be gorgeous in the morning. So the very next day, I went there first thing and snapped away.

/MrsHjort

Day 1 and 2 - Welcome to Rome!

Oops! I totally forgot that I was gonna start yesterday, so I'll post two shots today instead. :)

To start off, some of you know I have some health Issues - I'm undiagnosed but I've had some kind of chronic condition for two years now. This trip was wonderful in many ways. I made sure to call my doctor before hand, and he let me go back on a medication that worked well before (I usually don't take it since I am undiagnosed and taking it slows down the progress of finding out what's up with me). So, that meant that I was able to cope with the physical strain that the trip involved (Rome is a place where you usually do a lot of walking) and have more energy in general. So, not only was it lovely to get to see so many lovely things, but I got to feel better than I have been feeling since what feels like an eternity, and it made me feel like me again, if that makes sense. But this isn't a cryfest, I'm not complaining and I'm not looking for sympathy. I want to celebrate life and share the beauty I found in Rome, so here goes.

Day 1: 

I thought you might want to have a look at the person behind the camera. This is me, with the Vatican in the background. Mr actually took the shot for me, so it's cheating a bit, but this isn't a formal challenge, I set up the camera for him and I did the editing... and besides that's the only way you'll get to see me anyway, unless I brought a tripod, but who wants to lug around that in Rome? Anyway... we wanted a silly emo picture where I started into the distance. A real cliche to poke fun at me to show to a coworker as an inside joke (we're silly like that, we did a similar thing with a picture of Mr in front of the Colosseum but I'll show you that one another day). It actually turned out quite nice though. As good as I'll get on camera anyway - I'm way more comfortable behind it haha.

Day 2: 

This is the view from our balcony with the Tiber in front and the city center in the background. A lovely tiny bed and breakfast with walking distance to the Rome highlights.


/MrsHjort