by Valerie | Jun 11, 2014 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
Then the Sistine Chapel. Such is the forced direction that one enters on the wall with Michelangelo’s Last Judgement; it is the way the priests entered under Jonah, a prototype of Christ. We, the lay visitors, should have entered at the other end, to meet under those... by Valerie | Jun 7, 2014 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
There was nothing for it. We had to join the relentless one-way traffic to end up in the Sistine Chapel, the goal of the masses. People are said to turn up at the museum pointing one index finger towards the other and almost shouting, ‘Where? Where?’ We could,... by Valerie | Jun 4, 2014 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, travel
Sarah and I had discussed whether to spend the last night in Rome. Fortunately that plan was abandoned because of the lack of accommodation available and the sky-high prices. Two popes were to be canonised. The journey into Rome proved quicker and easier than... by Valerie | Jun 2, 2014 | art, Italy, museums, people
We travelled north towards the Lake of Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Europe and the town where the miracle of Corpus Christi took place in 1263. Bolsena is on the Roman Via Cassia, often called Via Francigena (the road of the Franks) or Via Romea, the route... by Valerie | May 28, 2014 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
Tuscania is off the beaten track, almost a forgotten city. Not too long ago we discovered it by chance when seeking a different route from Rome to Tuscany from the usual one by Lake Bolsena. The name suggested it had been founded by the Etruscans. Inhabited since the... by Valerie | May 24, 2014 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
When I first started looking at Italian gardens, the monsters at Bomarzo were hidden in undergrowth and known only by word of mouth. They were difficult to find, neglected and lost in oblivion; visited only if you managed to find out where they were. The same could...
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