Rome!

[fumobici]

I've been to Rome quite a number of times but don't really have many photos of it. I'm usually either coming or going somewhere else and not in tourist mode there. That said I did do the tourist thing for a few days in 2008 and these are a small sampling of the photos I took then. I've got both older and newer ones but frankly these are better.

We'll start at the Colosseum.



And over to the nearby Foro di Cesare...









The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which my mother called Mussolini's Typewriter,



...then stroll through central Rome up to the Spanish Steps.









Here we are at the Steps:













...and on towards the Pantheon,









Here we are at the Pantheon.




Detail of the fountain in front.



Inside.





A little video inside:





Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, the tower from without,



and from within the courtyard.



Nearby Piazza Navona,















And down to the Tevere (Tiber) as it grows dark.





Castel Sant'Angelo.



And the Trevi Fountain by night.







We'll do another lap tomorrow morning, I need pizza and beer before bed

[Deleted]

Fabulous pictures! I absolutely love Rome and am sure that I will have more to say about it soon.

[fumobici]

OK, up bright and early in spite of too much pizza and beer. Well too much beer at the Irish pub at any rate.

The Foro Romano.













Campidoglio.





Repurposed ancientness.



And over to Trastevere via the Isola Tiberina.



Ponte rotto.





Police station on the island. High water can be waaaay up there as it was last year.



The island is built for such occurrences though.



Up the hill in Trastevere,




Looking across the river at central Rome (didn't find a great view).



Typical Trastevere street.



Almost done. A glimpse of the very nice market in Campo de'Fiori.







And close this out at a rather spooky and dim 5th century Santa Maria Maggiore since it's right next to my hotel.











And so to bed. Early flight to Amsterdam in the morning.

[fumobici]

Nov 25, 2011 23:40:29 GMT kerouac2 said:

Fabulous pictures! I absolutely love Rome and am sure that I will have more to say about it soon.

Excellent and thanks. If you have photos of your own please feel free to add them, I really don't have a lot of good ones to post of Rome.

[bixaorellana]

"...didn't really have a lot of good ones..."         I beg to differ! This was a real treat. One thing I've noticed in your reports on various places in Italy is that I always feel happy looking at the pictures. I'm thinking because so many of the buildings seem to be yellow, one of my very favorite colors. You do such an incredible job of capturing light, as well.

I loved everything, but it was those first several pictures in Reply #2 that really conveyed to my how Rome has called travelers to itself through so many centuries.

Is the "repurposed ancientness" a high end apt. building?

Just great -- thanks!

[bjd]

We spent a week in Rome in October 2009. I can add some photos, since they are quite different. Your ruin ones are better, Fumobici, so I won't add mine.

Going down towards Piazza del Populo from the Borghese Gardens


The Spanish steps seen from below


Beside the church


Detail of one of the emperor's columns (Trajan?)

[bjd]

Piazza Navona fountain detail


Musicians at the Piazza Navona
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Centre of Rome




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[bjd]

Frescoes on a wall and other architectural details in the centre of the city

[bjd]

Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tiber river by day


Sta Maria in Cosmedin church


Fresco inside the church


Mosaics in the apse of Sant'Agnese church


In fact, I have lots of church pictures, but mostly of the mosaics. Rome had lots of churches destroyed, so they seem to fall into two categories -- either quite old, with beautiful mosaics, or else Renaissance and later. Nothing medieval.

[fumobici]

Those are wonderful bjd, thank you. Anyone else?

[bixaorellana]

Just went through the whole thread again. It's remarkable in so many ways. It was really cool of Fumobici to invite others to add to his pictures and amazing how well Bjd's complement his.

Questions about visiting Rome -- is it over-run by tourists every summer? Is there an optimum time to visit?

[bjd]

It's over-run by tourists all year round, but like all such cities that draw huge numbers of visitors, it's not that difficult to get away from the main sights and just wander around. Of course, if you want to see the Colosseum, the Vatican museums, the Trevi fountain, then you will be in a crowd. This said, I would think June-September are the busiest.

I don't know whether these guys work all year round.


Trevi fountain in October

[bixaorellana]

Gad! That last photo tells a tale. I'm not one of those people who always has to be off the beaten path, but there are some major sights in well-visited cities that should be seen. It would be weird to go to Rome and not see the Colisseum, for instance.

Speaking of which, Fumobici's opening picture of that monument is really striking.

Bjd, I particularly love yours of the emperor's monument and also the ones of the odd little architectural touches.

[Deleted]

So, so beautiful the way you captured the light in so many of the pics Fumobici. I can't help but agree with Bixa about the yellow,in some, a faint golden hue, and then, mixed with some of the blues,just breathtaking!
I don't know that I've seen quite this many pics at one time that capture such a particular feel of a city I've so longed to visit.
BJD's complimentary photos feel so welcome in here as well.

Thank you both.
I've already looked at these several times and see something equally as beautiful with each viewing.
Thank you so much for this,again.
(I had to chuckle at the "off duty" gladiators or Centurions, whatever they are, standing around so casually...too funny!!)

[bjd]

Casi, tourists pay to have their pictures taken with the "Romans". So they are never off-duty.

I'll post a few of Trastevere, which was the area we preferred. There were tourists as well, but since there is no one really well-known monument there, there aren't the same busloads and crowds.

[bjd]

Inside Santa Maria in Trastevere Church, which has beautiful old mosaics




The streets of Trastevere

[bjd]

[nycgirl]

Wonderful photos! I've never been to Rome, although it's always been high on my list and these photos make me want to hop on a plane right now.

Love all the interesting details on the fountains. Rome certainly seems to be a city of grand fountains, doesn't it?

Fumobici, I'm enjoying all of your photos, as always. I especially love the nighttime shots of the Tiber and the soft, fuzzy light of the Ponte rotto photos. So beautiful.

Bjd, I love the shimmering gold mosaics you captured, as well as the intimate portraits of people going about their daily lives. The shot of the clothing line is neat.

[auntieannie]

I have crappy pictures of my two stays in Rome (yippie, it means I'll at least visit another time!) They are all out of my reach anyway. Less shame.

Am I the only one to have found peace just beside the very centre of Rome? The first time I visited, I camped on the football grounds of a school monastery on Monte Aventino. well.. it was all a bit hush hush. but perfect. Except it was July or August and even I lost my appetite to the heat.
It was so perfect that the second time I found a hotel at the bottom of that hill and it was fantastic. You can hop on the metro from there, or simply walk to many areas of the town centre - that's if you're used to walk lots. It was November and we left Switzerland under the snow to find ourselves in Rome with 27C and stormy. It got cooler afterwards, but still fantastic. And that was when I discovered panini caldi. You can find them anywhere now. shame.

[Deleted]

I am a long way off from posting my own Rome photos, most of which must be scanned from prehistoric slides.

My own favourite peaceful place was the Forum in the old days, because I could wander around and have it almost to myself. I very much doubt that that is the case now.

[bixaorellana]

Oh, I missed this latest batch from Bjd. Not to embarrass you, Bjd, but every time I look at groups of your pictures I feel grateful that we have such an amazing photographer in our midst. You not only have an incredible eye, but your pictures are so successful in wordlessly telling a story.

[fumobici]

Nov 30, 2011 20:55:45 GMT kerouac2 said:

I am a long way off from posting my own Rome photos, most of which must be scanned from prehistoric slides.

My own favourite peaceful place was the Forum in the old days, because I could wander around and have it almost to myself. I very much doubt that that is the case now.

Look at my photos, the forum was pretty much deserted. Of course it was early and probably late October but the weather was glorious. what we'd call t-shirt weather here.

[bjd]

I think that Rome, like all other cities that attract lots of tourists, have areas where it is quite easy to escape from the crowds. Not necessarily in the suburbs, but just a few streets away from whatever the chief attraction in the area is. You just have to be prepared to walk and go down small streets to discover quiet areas where the tour groups and people following the route set out in their guidebooks won't go.

Thanks for the compliments, Bixa. But I do think that my photos often are a bit crooked, like the last one in #15. I try to align them with something straight, but they still come out an an angle.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks for that advice, Bjd. I makes a trip to Italy seem all the more tempting.

And it's true that I noticed your shots, Fumobici, weren't absolutely overrun with people.

In the 2nd photo in the OP, I took particular note of the detailing inside the half dome of the Foro di Cesare. The detailing in the half dome in the 2nd photo of the Trevi fountain at night (penultimate pic in the OP) is very similar. What I'm wondering is if the configuration of the details & the fact of the half dome in the Foro were for acoustical reasons.

(I'm also wondering if there is a correct architectural term for "half dome".)

[bjd]

(I'm also wondering if there is a correct architectural term for "half dome".)

It's called a semidome.

[frenchmystiquetour]

I believe the Italians also call Mussolini's Typewriter The Wedding Cake. It's been 17 years since I've been there so thanks for taking me back, both fumo and bjd. And like Paris, it's always easy to find a quiet street just a block or two away from any major tourist site. I love that it's such a walkable city. I don't think I even took a bus or métro when I was there and just walked and covered most of what you photographed. Excellent photo report.

[ssander]

One of my favorite churches in Rome is Santa Sabina, which dates from 422. The oldest sections are in the style of a Roman Basilica (govt. building).


Below are pix from our 2007 trip.





The doors are said to have the oldest known depiction of Christ on the cross (though it was too dark to get a good photo).





The grounds include a lovely orange grove - these photos were taken in late November/early December.





You really get a feel for what Roman Christianity was like.





Mosaic tomb on the floor:





This is very different than the medieval and renaissance churches we are used to seeing in Europe.

[ssander]

My other favorite small church in Rome is Santa Prassade -- just a couple of blocks from Santa Maria Maggiore and not easy to spot on the street, it has the finest mosaics in Rome (IMHO, and you can get really close to them.

I believe they were created by artisans brought to Rome from Constantinople in the 9th century.













SS

[Deleted]

I can tell that you will be a valuable addition to our travel threads, ssander! I particularly enjoy how that last mosaic begins to return to its original pixels as you close in on it.

[bjd]

I agree that the most beautiful churches in Rome are those with mosaics. There are very few medieval churches, but many 17th/18th c ones, which I find much less interesting.