Every Picture Tells A Story

I hope to post a picture every day.  No comment, no title just a picture.  After all this blog is Every Picture Tells A Story so I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Atrani was, I imagine, a pretty little town until a mud slide occurred a week before we were to leave for Italy. Amalfi, where we stayed is a about a mile up the road. We walked to Atrani and took some pictures. A young girl, a barister in a coffee shop, was swept away in the flood right from the coffee shop. A week after our return her body was found off the Aeolian Islands.  So sad. This car was the only remaining car

Limoncello is the golden treasure of Amalfi. Locals affectionately call it sunshine wine, as if they had harvested all the joy and golden glory of the coastline, corked it, before serving it, chilled, like summer champagne. A national drink of Italy, limoncello is served either before a meal to cleanse the palate, or as a light and refreshing after-dinner beverage. It is made from fermented lemons, which are steeped in a mixture of sugar and alcohol for at least 20 days. Connoisseurs agree that the best limoncello comes from the Amalfi Coast. The region’s unique soil leads to the finest quality lemons, which are sweet and citrusy, with nary a trace of sourness. Some chefs even call the Amalfi lemons “bread”, because they can be cut into slices and then eaten as a dessert or a snack: tart, juicy, and as goldeny sweet as the sunshine spilling over the beaches outside. The lemons of the Amalfi coast also have very few seeds, minimising the bitterness, while the pulp is so rich with f...

The Amalfi Coast has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.  The town of Amalfi was the capital of the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.  In the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a popular holiday destination for the British upper class and aristocracy.

Lido di Ostia is the closest beach to the city of Rome and is well worth a visit.   Stop off at the ruins at Ostia Antica a large archeological site that was the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) northeast of the site and close to the modern town of Ostia. "Ostia" in Latin means "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but, due to silting and a drop in sea level, the site now lies 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the sea.  The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics. Ostia may have been Rome's first colonia. An inscription says that Ostia was founded by Ancus Marcius, the semi-legendary fourth king of Rome, in the 7th century BC. The oldest archaeological remains so far discovered date only the 4th century BC." The most ancient buildings currently visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the Castrum (mi...

Vatican City was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of the Holy See and by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy. Vatican City State is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the main episcopal see of 1.166 billion Latin and Eastern Catholic adherents around the globe. Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin.

Not many of the visitors to Rome, who pose for a photograph in front of the Swiss soldiers on guard at the gates of Vatican City, are familiar with the history of these troops who take an oath of loyalty to the Pope. To know more we must go back to the period of the Renaissance and discover the motives that in 1506 caused Pope Julius II to invite to Rome the Helvetian soldiers, renowned for their courage, noble sentiments and loyalty. Many centuries earlier the great Latin historian, Tacitus, had said: "The Helvetians are a people of warriors, famous for the valour of their soldiers." This is why the Swiss Cantons, as allies first with one side and then with another, played such an important role in the history of European politics. In fact as allies of Pope Julius II in 1512 they helped to shape Italy's destiny and were granted by the Pope the title of "Defenders of the Church's freedom". In those times, when to be a mercenary soldier was a commonplace occu...

The Roman Forum was the political and economical centre of Rome during the Republic. It emerged as such in the 7th century BCE and maintained this position well into the Imperial period, when it was reduced to a monumental area. It was mostly abandoned at the end of the 4th century.

The Roman Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, was commisioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian. It was completed by his son, Titus, in 80, with later improvements by Domitian. Vespesian ordered the Colosseum to be build on the site of Nero's palace, the Domus Aurea, to dissociate himself from the hated tyrant.  His aim was to gain popularity by staging deadly combats of gladiators and wild animal fights for public viewing. Massacre was on a huge scale: at inaugural games in AD 80, over 9,000 wild animals were killed. Roman gladiators were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals. Most were men, but there were a few female gladiators. These combats were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience around the Roman Colosseum. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with bloo...

 Day 3 we are off to Rome via train from Venice.  We were able to order online our tickets at a steal at 19 euros each.  Not bad, seats were comfortable.  Actually better than the airplane.  We arrived in Rome 4 hours later and then went out siteseeing.  Santa Maria Maggiore stands on the site of a temple to the goddess Cybele. According to a 13th-century legend, the first church was built here by Pope Liberius (352-66), on the site of an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The legend has it that the Virgin appeared to Pope Liberius and the patrician Giovanni Patrizio on August 4, 352 (or 358), instructing them to build a church on the Esquiline Hill. That night, the floor plan was outlined by a miraculous snowfall. Archaeological evidence, on the other hand, indicates that the church was probably first built in the early 400s and completed under Pope Sixtus III (432-440). This was a time when churches dedicated to Mary were begi...