At the Castel Sant’angelo in Rome at night

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Castel Sant'Angelo, is situated in the Parco Adriano, by the bridge of angels, and across from Saint Peters (from a distance) in Vatican City… and is one of the most fascinating attractions of Rome, Italy. It holds a link to Ancient Rome, and to the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque history of Rome. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The Borgias in particular have a rich history within the confines of this ancient structure, with a secret passageway built leading from the Vatican to the fortress for Pope Alexander himself. The views of the Tiber and of historic bridges and of St Peters from the rooftop and the cafe of the Castel Sant’angelo are sweeping and beautiful, especially at sunset and in the evening. It’s one of the must see iconic places of Rome to visit, whether you enjoy the exterior architecture or if you have time to stop inside as well. It’s one of those places that looks even more magical in person.

The Gods' eyed view of Rome (Altare della Patria, or Il Vittoriano) Rooftop of Rome - with views of the ruins

in 2012 we stood on the very high, clear-fenced in roof of the “wedding cake”, aka “Altare della Patria” (Altar of the Fatherland) or “Il Vittoriano“, to spy, for the first time, a bird’s eye view of Rome, a city I had only seen before from the vantage point of a mere mortal.

There is something about the view from the top of the layers of ruins, buildings, trees, cars, vespas and people one can’t capture quite like standing where the gods would have been watching in Caesar’s time.

It is really a beautiful experience. And down the elevator, rife with enviable views of the ruins from a closer perspective, is a cafe, selling delicious sandwiches and antipasti, wine and espressos. If you ever find yourself in Rome, it’s an experience you cannot miss.

Visit: in the heart of the historic city center of Rome, next to the Capitoline Museums, near to the Roman Forum, at the iconic Piazza Venezia.

What to see and photograph: Beautiful Renaissance villas and museums and church cupolas surrounding the exciting roundabout of Piazza Venezia, the Fori Imperiali, the Forum of Augustus, the Roman Forum, the Coliseum. the Arch of Titus, the Alban Hills, and many other fantastic spots in a full panorama.

Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II)

Take steps up to the elevator to the Panoramic Terrace.

Price: Panoramic lifts:

Adults: € 7 (US$ 8.30).

Youth (aged less than 18) and seniors (aged over 65): € 3.50 (US$ 4.10).

Transport:

Metro station: Colosseo, line B

Bus: 40 (you can take it from Termini station). Other buses: 44, 84, 780, 810.

Schedule:

Monday –Sunday: 9:30 am – 7:30 pm (last admission at 6:45 pm)

25 December and 1 January: closed

Unfortunately stairs are required before you can take the disabled access elevator to the rooftop.

THE BEAUTY OF TEMPORARY LIGHT

VENICE; I was a young fiancée of another century when we took a nighttime gondola ride in the pitch black sweetness of air passing under bridges with sounds of an oar splashing into water and an aria from our gondolier breaking the velvety waves. We had our whole lives before us. (Many moons ago)

We’d be in Sorrento right now, checked into our hotel, he’d go for a swim, and I’d check the view from our room. I’d see his flash of green eyes from the veranda, smiling up at me. We’d have buffalo mozzarella and bread for lunch, and go in search of a cafe.

If only he had lived.

Written in 2018

A Secret Garden To The Sea

There is an overgrown but perfect secret garden path behind an old villa in Sorrento we stumbled upon one day, and we followed down the rambling, winding trees and shrubbery and lemon and olive trees and blossoming flowers and into the shadows of green.

The further in we wandered, the thicker the growth grew. And yet everything was lush and cared for. Nothing dead, nothing abandoned.

We could smell the sea and the sun rays in the air, carried through cracks in the dense thicket. And so we followed the salt and the promise of blue until we reached the top of a cliff cut thousands of years ago, overlooking the crashing sea and rocks. The birds cried and dove for fish and soared the bright skies. We were alone in our own little paradise. It’ll be ours forever in memory.

Where is this enchanting place?

Sorrento, Italy, in Campania

At the Museo Correale Sorrento

https://www.museocorreale.it/museum/first-floor/

on the First Floor

In The Hall of Mirrors, on the first floor of the Museo Correale Art Museum of Sorrento, Italy, is the Baroque sitting room with the game of Biribisso and salon rooms dedicated to Flemish painting and Neapolitan decorative arts from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. To the bottom right side of the first room hangs the incredible painting by 17th Century artist Artemisia Gentileschi, The Pentinent Magdalene.

Sorrento is one of the few places in Italy where you can see paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi. Nearby city of Naples is another, boasting several paintings at the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte and Palazzo Zevallos, Naples. There are a few paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi in the Palazzo Pitti of Florence, and one in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and one in the Casa Buonarroti in Florence, and two paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi in Rome at the Spada Gallery and one at the Palazzo Barberini Rome.

Once you visit each sumptuous room of art in the little villa museum, (note the sea views from the museum terrazzo and windows on the top floors), and before you leave, exit out the back to the lovely Museum Correale Sorrento gardens. Wander the paths and find our small secret garden, which will lead you out to the sea. You can easily retrace your steps back to the museum and exit on the Main Street and Piazza of Sorrento,

The museum is currently closed due to the pandemic but check their website if you plan to visit Sorrento, because it could reopen anytime. Many museums in Italy have reopened. Some require proof of vaccination OR a negative COVID test that is not older than two days. You can obtain rapid COVID tests while abroad in Italy. Check with a medical Farmacia (Pharmacy) with a green or blue lit cross outside its store front, and ask someone for a doctor recommendation - most medical services are inexpensive in Italy and many can accommodate walk in service. You can also contact your hotel concierge for a hotel doctor (they are most convenient but expensive). Hospitals are also an option, but may be an inconvenience except in emergencies.

A Romantic Day and Sunset Night with drinks & dining & art in Rome: Galleria Borghese, Via Margutta, Villa Borghese Gardens, Spanish Steps

One of our favorite and most romantic things to do in Rome over the years was to stroll through the Villa Borghese parks and gardens to one of the most elegant and sensual villa art museums on earth: The Galleria Borghese. It is one of the most important art museums in the world, and its world renowned art collection is housed in such a pleasant series of gardens and parks, tucked away in a lovely palazzo.

The Renaissance and Baroque gardens of umbrella pines, cypresses, palm trees, flowers, hedges, and exquisite lemon, orange, and magnolia trees of the Villa Borghese parks surround the gorgeous Borghese Art Gallery, transporting visitors back into the past glories of Roman country estates. Fortunately for us, they are free and open to the public now for generations.

The parks were private gardens for the aristocrats of Roman society until they were opened for the 19th century Grand Tourists. In 1820 English Romantic poet John Keats himself strolled through these same hallowed grounds before he succumbed to tuberculosis in his rooms at the Piazza di Spagna. Goethe mused through the art collection of the Borghese’s a generation before that, recording his impressions of the palazzo and of the art in his grand book, Italian Journey.

The beautiful Galleria Borghese is home to part of the Borghese art collection curated by the Cardinal Scipione Borghese (nephew of Pope Paul V (reign 1605-1621).

The Villa was commissioned to be designed and built by the architect Flaminio Ponzi, partly based on sketches by Scipione, as a “villa suburbana” on the country edge of Rome. Scipione was one of the first patrons of Bernini and collected many pieces by Caravaggio, including The Sick Bacchus, Boy With a Basket of Fruit, and the poignant Saint Jerome Writing.

The Borghese collection also includes the breathtaking Bernini sculptures of David, Rape of Proserpine, and Apollo and Daphne, – and the Tiziano masterpiece, Sacred and Profane Love.

Other maestros are Raffaello “Lady With A Unicorn” (purported to be the Lady Giulia Farnese, commissioned by Pope Alexander aka Rodrigo Borgia), alongside countless pieces by Rubens, Barocci, Antonio Canova, Coreggio, Dosso Dossi, Domenichino, Veronese, Lorenzo Lotto, and Parmigianino.

Portrait of Young Woman with Unicorn is a painting by Raphael.

I love the gorgeous architectural details in stone and in fountains and statues lining the entrance of the Galleria Borghese. Remnants of the past play out as well in ancienne statue fragments and the fountains outside the museum’s grand entrance. The walk to the Galleria Borghese always has that lazy Sunday feeling, surrounded by Roman families and visitors enjoying the greenery and fresh air. Young and old lovers can be spied kissing under a tree or lying on a picnic blanket enjoying the sunshine and the sounds of songbirds above them.

There are homages to temples, gods and goddesses, Greek Tragedies and Comedies, and to Rome’s storied past in the “Romantic era ruins” among the pleasure walks and dreamy Umbrella pines. As you approach the museum you feel you are in for something really special… and are not disappointed in the great architectural reveal.

More architectural details by Flaminio Ponzi and Scipione Borghese create a feast for the eyes, before entering the villa with a ticket… for the Roman antiquities and Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces, … in room after sumptuously decorated room.

Tickets are recommended bought IN ADVANCE, online or at the ticket office down the stairs. To enter the museum, proceed up the stone stairs to the stunning Classical Antiquity portico where they will take your ticket.

You don’t want to miss this experience!

After an afternoon stroll and a few hours in the museum, head to the Pincio at the Golden Hour (an hour before dusk) and watch the sun set over the cupolas and ruins and houses behind the glittering Piazza del Popolo.

The golden and orange light eventually turns a deep violet, and there is an enchanting glow about Rome at its most magnificent! It is a heady, Romantic vision, and every one seems to be under a collective spell of beauty and the feeling of immortality in Éros in the Eternal City.

This is one of the best, most beautiful, and unforgettable days you could spend in Rome. It could be the most romantic Valentine’s Day of your lives. Rome seen and felt like this is truly writ on the heart for an eternity.

You can eat at the romantic nearby Casina Valadier for sweeping sunset views and aperitivos or an early dinner – they have a Valentine’s Day prix fixe menu for lovebirds.

Looking for something quicker? Walk a short distance to the late Renaissance church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, (French: La Trinité-des-Monts).

Pop into the sanctity and quiet beauty of the French Roman Catholic church and you may luck out with a choir of nuns singing en français classical songs of devotion while you peer at lush murals, sculptures, paintings, and the altar.

Light a candle together and head down the famed Spanish Steps just outside and whisper a snippet of a Keats ode into your beloved’s ear outside of the Keats Shelley (Byron) House Museum (worth a visit if you’re there earlier when it is open!).

Stop for a late tea at Babington’s and try their Rome in Love Tea inspired by the Paolina Borghese sculpture and Female Beauty at the Borghese, or enjoy some cocktails or champagne and light fare – offered in the luxurious comfort of their 125 year old tea room. It’s a cute British afternoon tea room with Italian flare.

Looking for something sexier? Cross the avenue and stop in at the nearby Romantics’ saucy hangout, the Antico Caffè Greco, decorated in 18th century red satin and marble decor, for drinks and desserts.

Don’t skip a look and a ponder in the beautiful Santissima Trinità dei Monti French Church, at the top of the Spanish Steps from the Via Condotti.

Gregory Peck’s apartment in Roman Holiday where he brings Audrey Hepburn in the film is found in the romantic and quiet street of Via Margutta.

If you’re still in the mood for a short early evening walk hand in hand past the glamorous shops and passersby, head to the most romantic street in Rome, the charmingly low-lit, ivy covered boutiques and artisan art shops, boutique hotels, and restaurants, Via Margutta (made famous by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday!) I love the vegetarian restaurant created by film director Federico Fellini, Il Margutta! They have many vegetable creations, handmade pasta and smoked cheeses, and a vegan and gluten free menu, with exceptional organic wines, mocktails, and delicious desserts, including house made gelato.

GALLERIA BORGHESE (english site)

https://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/en/visita/

Via del Collegio

Romano, 27

00186 Roma, Italia

tel. 39 06 67231

www.beniculturali.it

Antico Caffè Greco http://caffegreco.shop/index.php

Via dei Condotti, 86, 00187 Roma RM, Italy

Babington’s Tea Room https://www.babingtons.com/en

Piazza di Spagna, 23, 00187 Roma RM, Italy

Casino Valadier Restaurant https://casinavaladier.it/

La Grande Cucina S.p.A.

Piazza Bucarest, Villa Borghese

00187 Roma

P. I.V.A. 05901701002

Tel (+39) 06 69922090

Fax (+39) 06 6791280

info@casinavaladier.it

Il Margutta vegetarian food & art https://ilmargutta.bio/

Via Margutta, 118 – 00187 – Roma

Per informazioni e prenotazioni:

info@ilmargutta.bio

Tel : +39 06. 32650577

Fax : +39 06. 3218457

A hike and a wander around the Isle of Capri, Italy plus villa museums, ruins, art, and Covid Updates for 2021

Why did we return to Capri and Anacapri as often as we could over the years? Because it awakened something in us. Something old and something beautiful, something that spoke of the past and of the present. History mixed with the passion of good living now. Great weather, fresh sea air, an island of perfumed gardens and wildflower meadows, delicious local cuisine, great people, and a way of life that just slowed down enough to make beauty and happiness and health and a good spot of sunshine more important than anything else for awhile.

When you’re rambling around on Capri, you get to wander around sunny hills and winding walkways against a dramatic panoramic view of the sea, the jagged coastline of ancient rocks, and the subdued green outlines of the neighboring islands a boat ride away. The azure skies touch the jewel green blue waters of the Tyrrhenian sea surrounding the “Emperor’s isle”. There are so many ideal walks and hikes along this magical place, including wanders through ancient ruins and in beautiful small art villa museums. History is everywhere. Passions and the senses are awakened in such a paradiso.

Walking up old pathways from Capri to the top of the island, Anacapri, you find many lovely gardens and cozy homes tucked away behinds little gates and walls. In between modern Capri (that still feels like an old technicolor movie) and rambling meadows and soaring cliffs over patches of the sea and the odd boat twinkling in the water under the bright Campanian sun. La Nina garden and house, topped by a bright terracotta pinecone, is a private residence, as is the modern small villa tucked pristinely behind an elegant garden and promenade. A shy old dog watches over the vine tomatoes and lemon trees and mini private vineyards and small olive trees in another gated yard. His eyes the color of the vibrant pottery.

Along the way from the Villa Tiberius hike is the 1900s Villa Lysis, a Greek Revival palazzo designed by a troubled French aristocrat for his exile from scandal back in Paris. The house is now a museum, and one can wander to and from each beautifully designed room, and even spy the large pool like bathtub from where the count took his own life in the 1920s after the bacchanal years had lost their charm. The home is sparsely furnishes, however, and it really is the dazzling views from the house into the gardens and toward the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the islands stretching beyond it, that make the fairly arduous hike worth it.

The Greek Revival architecture and the gorgeous garden and columns of Villa Lysis are worth the visit alone, but this spot is even more attractive in its easy proximity to a MUST NOT MISS: Villa Jovis, the Roman ruins of the Emperor Tiberius. These attractions are higher up on the island. Lower on the island is a historical Monastery turned art museum, the Charterhouse of St. Giacomo, built in 1371 it is the oldest historic building on the Island of Capri.

The interestingly empty cloisters are easy to walk through, and lead to the small Diefenbach Museum, with great paintings depicted a German Romantic view of Capri. It is a quick visit and is a nice addition to a day or two trip. There is also a small modern art museum with interesting pieces, and fantastic local fine art photographs and films. In the summer (pre pandemic) there are cultural events held there in the quiet, pretty inner outside square of the former iconic monastery.

There is, along Via Giuseppe Orlandi, (“Anacapri's main street lined with whitewashed houses and local shops), sits the bright red facade of a building, architecturally unique among its plain-faced traditional island neighbors for its strange and fantastic decorations. This is Casa Rossa, built between 1886 and 1899 by the eccentric American colonel John Clay MacKowen (1842 - 1901) alongside an Aragonese tower dating from the end of the 1400's, and representing a perfect example of the typical eclectic residence-museum which was very much in fashion at the end of the 19th century.” - capri.net

Casa Rossa is a small villa art museum which can be a quick visit if you don’t have a lot of time, but is a definite must, and the convenience of its location near the OTHER cannot miss, the Villa San Michele Museum (and the most glorious garden and views of the sea on earth), - both on Anacapri (almost top of the island)

Villa Lysis

HOW TO GET THERE

Getting to Villa Lysis: from Capri's Piazzetta, there are two ways to get to the villa. Along Via Longano and Via Sopramonte, or along Via Le Botteghe, Via Fuorlovado, and Via Croce. Both routes take you to the "Cross" where you will take Via Tiberio to the intersection with Via Lo Capo.

Walking time: From the Piazzetta, it's about a 45 minute walk uphill, so make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes!

Hours: April-May-September- October 10 am -6 pm; June-July-August 10 am -7 pm; November-December 10 am-4 pm. Last admission 30 minutes before closing time

Closing day: Wednesday

Ticket: EUR 2 (free for children under 12)

Opening times and prices may change. Please check them at info-points in Marina Grande or in Piazzetta.

Events at Villa Lysis

In the summer (pre-pandemic times) Villa Lysis has hosted concerts, exhibitions, plays, small concerts, and ballets, as well as private events.

Web site: www.villalysiscapri.com - Email: info@villalysiscapri.com

From https://www.capri.net/en/s/villa-lysis-4

Suggestions: Nearby Sights to Visit

Near Mount Tiberius, not far from Villa Lysis, there are two other sights to visit which are equally interesting and make the walk up to the villa worth the effort!

Villa Jovis: the residence of the Roman emperor Tiberius, this is the most important archaeological site on Capri and is at the very top of Mount Tiberius. Villa Lysis and Villa Jovis are joined by a number of different walking trails through the countryside.

Opening & Hours: from June 1st to September 30th open every day from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm (last entrance 6:15 pm) - April - May - October from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (closed on Tuesday) - March, November and December from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm (closed on Tuesday) . Close in January and February. Entrance until 30 min. before closing time.

Tickets: EUR 6 (free for EU citizens under 18)

Parco Astarita: a small park right above the sea located next to Villa Jovis.

Hours: 10 am to 3 pm

Closed: Tuesday.

Free.

LATEST COVID UPDATE HOURS: (CHECK WHEN YOU GET TO ITALY AS THEY MAY CHANGE)

Opening Hours:

August: Every day from 10.00 to 19.00.

September - October: Every day from 10.00 to 18.00.

November - December - January from 10.00 to 16.00. Weekly closing on Wednesday

Last entrance 30 minutes before closing

Click here for the brochure in english.

Villa Lysis is a cultural heritage site, property of the City of Capri.

This wonderful location is used also to celebrate civil marriages, but not to host wedding receptions.

To organize private event at Villa Lysis, you should contact the offices of the City Hall at:

culturaturismo@cittadicapri.it

protocollo.cittadicapri@legalmail.it

ENGLISH SITE www.villalysiscapri.com/villalysis_en.html

SPANISH SITE www.villalysiscapri.com/villalysis_sp.html

——————————————————————————

Villa San Michele (HOUSE OF Axel Munthe)

WITH amazing gardens and sweeping views of Capri and Anacapri.

Villa San Michele is open but is subject to change due to the Delta Variant of Covid.

Many cultural sites and Museums in Italy require proof of vaccination OR a negative covid test within two days of visiting. You can be tested in Italy. It is often easy to see a doctor (and affordable, if you can’t contact a Hotel Doctor - which are expensive - visit a Medical Farmacia (supplies prescriptions, not just health, beauty or wellness supplies) with a CROSS LIGHT on the outside of the pharmacy… and ask for someone who speaks your language (preferably English or obviously Italian) to see how you can obtain a rapid covid test.

Please follow them on social media, Instagram: villasanmichele, Facebook: Villa San Michele - Isola di Capri,

The staff wishes to thank all visitors and friends of the Villa and hope to see you again soon.

www.villasanmichele.eu check the website when you arrive!

Instagram: @villasanmichele, @cafecasaoliv

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Hiking through Roman ruins on the Island of Capri (and Anacapri)

There are so many views of Capri, Italy I’ve enjoyed over the years. It's an island of Ancient Roman mystery and organic beauty: from the soaring cliffs from the Gardens of Augustus on Capri to the sweeping view of the exhausting but glamorous Via Krupp hike.

The beauty of Capri is difficult to convey, one must stand in its presence and breathe the sea air and smell the lemon trees, the flowers, and the herbs growing on the soaring cliffs and hike through wildflower meadows and climb between the rocks and trees to swim in its thick salty sea and mingle among its people, sleepily creating living memories among the dreamy Mediterranean island atmosphere.

Hiking up from Capri Town to Anacapri on the way to Villa Lysis or Villa Jovis (Tiberius' Roman ruins) you climb many winding stone and paved paths, meadows, forest trails, as the beauty of Capri unfolds in white against the blue, blue sea and azure sky.

One of my greatest pleasures on Capri and Anacapri is wandering off the beaten path and (quietly and respectfully) admiring the beautiful villas and homes and unique garden ornaments of the locals. The island still has many artisans designing and hand painting tiles and statues.

The quiet moments on Capri / Anacapri are my favorites: admiring the gorgeous blues, grays, browns, and whites of the surrounding islands and land near Capri... or beautiful remnants of the artisan trade on Capri / AnaCapri, everything still hand made and painted stone tiles on locals' homes and in their gardens.

The ruins of Tiberius' Roman villa are on the same cliffs and rocks and sea where he was writ to have had his enemies thrown or entertained, depending on their fates, or perhaps on his whims. The steep climb is worth the trek and climb to see the Villa Jovis and its panoramic views.

Supposedly you can even stand on the very spot of the grounds of the Villa Jovis where Emperor Tiberius had his enemies thrown down onto the rocks and washed away at sea. The only way to get to Villa Jovis is to hike a paved path or a more rugged 18th century wooded path, (I have done both many times)!

Plants and flowers and goats decorate the Villa Jovis Park, the goats’ ancestors were brought over in ancient times and their lines still thrive there today. Capri is also an island full of exotic birds and butterflies who stop on their way migrating south for the winter.

Capri is a getaway that has a little something for everyone.

The sun, the flora and fauna, the ruins, the little tiny art museums, the villas open for architectural luxuriating, the lush gardens, the long rambles, the boating and the swimming, the spas and quiet spots tucked away, the local cuisine and the shopping, the getaway that keeps on giving.

The sun rises and the sun sets, the stroll and the romance, the transporting feeling of going back 60, 70 years ago in time. The slice of paradise.

Capri makes you want to find your passions.

Rome at night

Old photographs of a walk through Rome at night. Mostly film photographs.

The colors of Pompeii

I always recommend visiting the ruins of the city of Pompeii, buried under the ash of the nearby volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD. Herculaneum is also recommended, but if you must choose for first time visitors I point you to Pompeii. Herculaneum, a smaller city buried under the molten lava, offers other fascinating looks into the devastating eruption which took thousands of lives and buried entire mini civilizations for thousands of years.

One can wander around countless ancient city cobble stone streets and move in and out of former abodes with mosaics and frescoes still intact, and taverns exposed to the elements left with impressions of ancient trade, and can ramble along statues of temples and ruins and columns against the backdrop of Vesuvio.

You can recapture the past in silent moments caught between tourists and birds and local cats and dogs. The stories frozen in time in the bodies of Pompeiians behind glass cases make one stop and reflect on one’s own mortality.

Make a day of it in Naples to visit the Archeological museum to see the treasures taken from Pompeii and laid out beautifully for museum visitors. Eat local seafood and roasted vegetables or the famous pizza and baba and have the best coffee you’ve ever tasted, and stand by the bay of Napoli and gaze as the glorious, ominous blue of a still living volcano across the sea, too close for comfort, and yet magnetically serene and beautiful.

Cloisters in the heart of the city of Naples, Italy

A quiet outdoor garden art oasis in the heart of the bustle and hustle.

You pay a small fee to the cloisters at a ticket booth, and then have (quiet, respectful) run of the place to stroll and contemplate nature and beauty.

This double monastic complex of Santa Chiara was built in 1313–1340 by Queen Sancha of Majorca and her husband King Robert of Naples, a mix of Provençal-Gothic style and 17th century Baroque.

Heart-Stealing baroque (Spacca -) Napoli

The sun finds it way through the velvet black shadows. Posters advertise operas I won’t get to see. Padre Pio forever in the background, his face found in taxi cabs, on walls, in churches, in caffes. Chiaroscuro lighting from sunlight mixed with shadows. My Rian, he’ll remain beautiful forever in the sun here.

Hanging bronze dye pasta, bufalo mozzarella from campania, rows of inviting rum-soaked baba cakes filled with rummy yellow cream, tiny wild strawberries, Sfogliatelle.

Stunning churches, colorful architecture, dark and ancient looking alleyways filled with street theatre and trash on the street… the extremes of modern Napoli.

A baroque awning, layers of brick from different centuries, buildings and façades built on top of each other, a neapolitan girl on her mobile, another caffe beckoning the passersby.

Hanging fruit and ripe red campania tomatoes and an early pasieggetta.

Ancient pillars in residential neighborhoods, forming millennia old foundations.

Another beautiful church front and a charming caffe.

Bursts of color and brightness and the scent of glorious coffee floating in the air at every turn.

I always seem to find the caffes… I always feel like I’m on some unspoken mission to drink the best coffee.

When the little girl walked by I knew I had to capture her in that moment of contrasts and colors.

There is so much to see, just to read on the walls.

I like when the graffiti becomes art.

Back to this fellow. I remember his likeness on other walls on other visits to Naples.

Mirrors and antiques and the scrawlings every where.

A delightful music shop.

Spaccanapoli, the old Greek section of Napoli, Italy is a recurring fascination of mine.

A closed boulangerie with a broom leaning against the store front. Painted pastoral scenes on plates. Rusted piping and peeling posters. Grafitti in bright colors.

Caffe chairs sprinkled throughout the back streets of Spaccanapoli.

Two “lovers” embracing in front of an iconic “second hand shop” full of Neapolitan treasures overseen by a curious little dog.

The simple cafe tables and chairs in front of artisan shops and caffes with a sculpture of an old man in the background.

Every day life in an alleyway; people, a truck delivering goods, empty vegetable and fruit crates, the golden mustard apartments and hanging laundry.

I love the corners and crevices and surprising bursts of yellow in between the rust.

The quintessential graffiti of Naples, as ancient as the tags and scribblings on Pompeiian walls.

The old guard and the ‘new art’.

More graffiti, and the vespas and cars and Neapolitans seem all the more nonchalant about it.

A whole street filled with beautiful second hand and rare book shops and musical instruments and conservatories. I never wanted to leave.

A gorgeously appointed restaurant, intimate, and romantic in a baroque neapolitan way. I could have lingered for hours with a glass of nero d’avola and flirted, but I had less than a day to shoot Naples because of all the rain prior to this day.

This is a wider shot of the restaurant. It looks like an opening to another, older world. I told you it was beautiful.

Even the scribbles are a crying out and bleed every color onto wood and stone and brick.

The priest or monk, graffiti iconography and protest.

I found this hollowed out frame and the lettering and font (name of the one time King) very delicate and beautiful looking.

I know Napoli isn’t for everyone. I know street grafitti on historical buildings can be a bit of a shock. But once you visit Naples a few times and fall into the rhythm of the city and of its people, the fright wears off and you begin to see the color is all the more bright in contrast to the shadows. If you are like me and find beauty in decaying things and centuries of history piled up on top of each other, you may just find yourself falling in love with the heart stealer of baroque Napoli.

All photographs shot on portra 400 and 800 – 35mm film. Shot in the Spring of 2013.

Beautiful bright colors and beauty in a historic cemetery on a sunny day on Capri

Capri is a world famous resort, the playground for jet setters. It’s an ancient Roman island in Southern Italy still peppered with the villas of Emperors. I’ve heard it called the Beverly Hills of Italy because of its luxury boutiques and grand dame hotels. To me, Capri is about the quiet moments, the local back streets, the flora and fauna and places like the beautiful, very off the beaten path 19th century non-catholic cemetery.

The cemetery is in a residential, slightly run down section between Capri town and the Marina Grande but it overlooks the sea and is incredibly charming. Artists, writers, Anglo Saxons, Nordics and French in love with Capri are all buried here. There are Jewish graves and non-religious tombs and plenty of Madonna statues. And in modern Capri, plenty of Catholic Italians choose this idyllic spot with a sweeping view of the Tyrrhenian Sea for their final resting places.

I walked to the cemetery on the rather harrowing, not very pedestrian “old road down to Marina Grande” and found the graveyard after a ten minute “stroll” sidestepping uncomfortably close vespas, cars and buses like a veteran Italian. When in Rome, eh?

You may want to take a taxi from the bus station in Capri Town. Ask for the Cimitero acattolico di Capri. On Capri – not the pretty, much smaller catholic cemetery on Ana Capri – though that is also lovely. This is the spot with character and history and angels.

I wandered around this lovely melancholy place on such a beautiful sunny day I couldn’t help but be moved by all the beauty, by the sea views, by the wild blue flowers, the statues, and the declarations of love for Italy, and the names, and sometimes images of the lost beloved.

I shot these lush unedited analog photographs on Portra 400 and Portra 800 fine art 35 mm films in 2013.

Chandeliers in Roman Churches, and on being and nothingness amid the Byzantine

In Rome there are so many beautiful churches that the ones that stand out are beyond magnificent. These gems of architecture were built upon layers of history, starting from the ruins of pagan temples thousands of years ago, with places of worship erected piece by piece like a mosaic throughout the first whispers of a Christian Rome through the middle ages to the Renaissance.

The Santa Maria in Ara coeli is on the Capitoline Hill with a foreboding, plain edifice hiding treasures of lights, stonework, faded marble, pillars from various eras, countless sarcophagi and dazzling chandeliers.

The Santi Giovanni e Paolo is built on the ruins of the Roman saints John and Paul’s houses… and their remains, martyred in the 4th century. It boasts Byzantine flourishes, a coffered ceiling, gorgeous frescoes and a hushed, ancient stillness that hangs in the air. It was the first church to be built in Rome and has seen many facelifts and stylistic touches over a millennia.

Pillars from different centuries in Santa Maria in Ara coeli.

Coffered ceiling and ornate interior in Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

The imposing, numerous chandeliers of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio.

Bright frescoes and peeling paint over faded stone and wood in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. The chandeliers appear even more elegant against a faded backdrop.

These chandelier churches are particularly breathtaking in person. They remind me of the somber prayers and cries heard in these walls over centuries of visiting pilgrims and faithful Romans alike. The splendor of the chandeliers and the art-work only add to the sense of contemplation I feel wash over me whenever I enter their doors. I am an outsider on the one hand and a strange, foreign, watered-down modernized product of Christian thought on the other, by my very life in the western world. In America. Because of my Catholic and Protestant émigré forbears, mostly, I suppose. As the daughter of lapsed catholics, I was not raised with church or with any religion, but with the talk of God, and conversely, the discussion of “no god” growing up.

There were stories of gods and theories of prime movers or nature or the impersonal universe as the sources of mankind. There was the appeal of ens causa sui, ‘being one’s own cause’. There was also the fear of that idea. So many ideas whirled around me in the conversations of adults. Mostly in countless old books I read, or watched in old existential 1950s - 1970s movies. Nothing was ever formed, nothing was concrete. Life was fluid. Beliefs were temporary lapses of judgement. The mystery of the unknown barred an anchor, yet my openness to all possibilities was also a kind of freedom. I resent this uncertainty some times. Especially after dealing with death and restarting my life in the middle of my existence (if I live another 40 years, anyway). Sometimes I appreciate my openness.

What a delicate balance in life we all lead. I still don’t know the answer to any of these big questions, or the Big Question, but I feel a subtle change, a quiet shift take over within me, in the quiet corners of Rome. In the buildings made of stone and marble, under the statues and paintings. When I enter into the symbolism of the stories, when I breathe in the heavy air of history, something fills my imagination whilst I am there and it’s hard to move away from it. It never really leaves me.

Old chapel or cathedral, broken temple, an all but vanished sacra, an altar of astronomy and science or art – they are all my churches.

Naples' Children / the sea / the sun

Written on a spring 2013 trip to Napoli with my husband, Rian, a man who could point out the brightest spark of life in the darkest corner with eagle eye precision. He had a penchant for passion and color and beauty unrivaled by anyone I’ve met in my life, yet he was soft spoken and bookish, content mostly to admire the masterpieces of life in quiet contemplation. When he imparted historical details to us it was always in a storyteller’s voice, transporting you back in time, until you almost felt as though you had experienced the battles or the love affairs or great triumphs and small defeats your self, centuries ago.

With Naples it was simply impossible for us to truly tire of the dark, craggy, cramped, decaying alleyways of Napoli. Because we found find them so beautiful. What is that expression? Life in the streets. But that’s not subtle enough. That has no emotion. No color. No fragrance. I’m just an American who falls in love with corners of places. Pages in books. The picture I see in everything. What do I know about it? Not much. But I loved it all the same. We loved it together. Without him I have yet to return, but I know in my heart I still love it because our love for it together could not burn away, not ever, not even in the deep void I hold within due to his earthly absence. I’m returning again soon I hope, because of love, because of him, and because of beauty. The hope of beauty, and the beauty of hope.

I photographed a little group of 11-13 year old Neapolitan boys smoking on the beach for the first time after they robbed a sweets cart of cigarettes like in some 1950s or 1960s Truffaut or Fellini film. The unofficial leader of the gang, a tall blond boy, taught the other boys how to smoke after they bummed cigarettes off a pair of kissing teenagers, and robbed a food cart and cafe of crisps and chocolates. Later we happened upon some typical boys playing football in the corner of a small piazza. The scent of coffee carried on the sea air, the salt so thick you can taste it on your tongue, and we searched for a restaurant in this gastronomical paradiso.

Saint Barbara of the Books / Rome

This small church, also known as Santa Barbara alla Regola, after the district in which it is situated, was founded, in the 11th century, in the ruins of the Theatre of Pompey. (It was in an annex in the gardens of the Theatre of Pompey that Julius Caesar was assassinated).

Saint Barbara of the Books, Rome, Italy. 186 Largo dei Librai

The church is just off Via dei Giubbonari between Campo de’Fiori and Piazza Cairoli.

Located at the edge of the Roman Ghetto, “Jewish Ghetto”, one of the most intact ancient neighborhoods of Rome, and one of the best and easiest places to grab a Mediterranean / Middle Eastern / Kosher mix of delicious lunch, enjoy dessert, strong coffee, or good wines for less, and also walk among Augustan Roman ruins and a real Mediaeval cemetery, with some of the best Middle Ages ruins in Rome. it is a tiny compact area perfect for packing a lot into a couple hours, and it is a short walk from the historic center of Rome and the Capitoline Hill and Trajan’s Column.

This is a small but absolutely stunning church. It’s definitely an off the beaten path one, too.

One minute you are walking through a charming neighborhood, the next moment you turn the corner and are stopped in your tracks by this glorious architecture. It looks surreal – a tiny church stuck between houses and a yogurt gelato shop. It’s worth a stop, a snapshot, and a walk up past the perfect olive trees into the doorway for a look around the interior.

At the MATTEI DI GIOVE, Caravaggio's old art-covered apartment in Rome

the ancient symbol of the eagle of Rome carries on…

The Palazzo Mattei di Giove

Via Michelangelo Caetani 32,

other entrance in Via dei Funari,

Ghetto, Rome, 00186

Back in 2012/2013 I decided on our two visits to Rome I wanted my husband and I to spend some time hunting for off the beaten path spots we’ve not yet visited. I picked up some new books on the subject, City Secrets of Rome by Robert Kahn and Quiet Corners of Rome by David Downie. Upon seeing photographs of this amazing place I had to see it for myself. We started out having a splendid lunch at the Campo di Fiori after picking up gifts and alla’arrabbiata and carciofi alla romana spices at the charming outdoor market.

We stopped, as is our custom, under the Bruno statue to pay respect and read the inscription, A BRUNO – IL SECOLO DA LUI DIVINATO – QUI DOVE IL ROGO ARSE

(English: To Bruno – the century predicted by him – here where the fire burned).

We walked to the Jewish Ghetto section of Rome (an ancient and fascinating section of the city with a complicated history, and a great place to eat lunch). We had to ask directions several times and still walked by the spot a few times. But, we found the Palazzo Mattei di Giove and it was worth the effort.

the upstairs

Mattei di Giove, designed by noted baroque architect Carlo Maderno—who also designed the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica—teems with busts, bas-reliefs, and sarcophagi collected by the palazzo’s namesake owner, Marchese Asdrubale Mattei. (Info source: National Geographic Traveler)

The House of Mattei was one of the most powerful noble families of Rome during the Middle Ages and early modern era, holding high positions in the papal curia and government office. The Palazzo Mattei di Giove is the most prominent among a group of Mattei houses that forms the insula Mattei in Rome, Italy, a block of buildings of many epochs. To distinguish this section from the others it carries the name of a Mattei fief, Giove. The Mattei owned a number of other palazzi that carried the family name including Palazzo Mattei di Trastevere across the Tiber as well as properties in Umbria, the Palazzo Mattei Paganica.

Carlo Maderno designed the palace at the beginning of the 17th century for Asdrubale Mattei, Marquis di Giove and father of Girolamo Mattei and Luigi Mattei. He was also the brother of Ciriaco Mattei and Cardinal Girolamo Mattei. It was Maderno who was responsible for the extravagantly enriched cornice on the otherwise rather plain stuccoed public façade, the piano nobile loggia in the courtyard and the rooftop loggia or altana. nyny1For the interior of the palazzo, Pietro da Cortona was commissioned to execute the pair of compositions on the ceiling of the gallery, dating before 1626. In the early 19th century, a group of paintings from the collection at the palazzo was purchased by William Hamilton Nisbet and removed to Scotland.

Like others of the Mattei family, Asdrubale Mattei was an enthusiastic patron of the arts. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (better known simply as Caravaggio) is recorded as living at the palazzo in 1601. (source: Wikipedia)

The loggia and architectural details are exquisite. This is the kind of place you see in sweeping vintage films set in Rome, the kind of place you read about in the Grand Old Tour by classically educated travelers from the 18th and 19th century. The students who spend time here are so lucky. There’s not a corner or ledge that is not interesting. If you visit make sure to view the whole courtyard and go upstairs to the top terrace (last time we were there in 2016 or 2017 it was closed to visitors, but with italy things and rules always change!) Go through the arched “doorway” in between the large statues, underneath the carved lamp. Across the small cobblestone road is an ancient fountain and face sun dial with beautifully carved in stone.

The Palazzo and the culinary delights and the ancient Roman ruins historical walk and the rare churches of the Ghetto are a part of my Roman Travel Itinerary on this website.

The art and architecture at the Villa Farnesina / Rome

The flowers of the Renaissance garden decorate the pretty country style lanes and the fountains.

The Villa Farnesina is an early 16th century Renaissance suburban villa on the Via della Lungara, in the district of Trastevere in Rome, central Italy. It has incredible frescoes by Raphäel, Sebastiano del Piombo, Giulio Romano, and Il Sodoma. The villa was built for Agostino Chigi, a rich Sienese banker and the treasurer of Pope Julius II. It was later purchased by Cardinale Farnese (future pope and brother to the Borgia mistress, Giulia Farnese).

I wrote about the architecture of the spot, and the surrounding neighborhood’s sights and dining in a recent photo and info blog entry here.

I had always missed visiting the lovely Villa Farnesina on earlier trips to Rome so I was delighted to finally see it in person in October 2012 with my late husband Rian. We were lucky enough to visit it a few times in the following years. This entry is from our first visit in 2012. I shot everything on vintage Ilford black and white film and vintage Portra color film on a vintage canon analog film.

I wrote about the garden in a recent photo & write up blog entry here.

The villa has a pretty little garden in the courtyard and larger gardens (fenced off) on one side. There is an understated elegance to the grounds and exterior architecture for a Renaissance palazzo. There are pink roses and pomegranate trees in clay pots and little lemon trees and stone lined pathways. Trastevere is a great neighborhood to visit when in Rome, and this villa is even more off the beaten path if you are looking for an alternative to the usual Roman Holiday Tour.

After the initial two or three visits to Rome we began to visit more of the quiet corners of the city and get to know our favorite spots better. It’s a “slow food” approach to travel that worked pretty well for us over many years visiting Italy, especially Rome and Campania and Florence.

The large grande dame museums of Rome are absolutely wonderful to visit, especially if you have limited time in the city. But if you have an extra day or the off the beaten path vacation is more your speed, I suggest visiting one, two or three small villa or palazzo art museums. Farnesina, Doria Pamphlij, Spada, Borghese (the Queen), and a few others.

The Loggia of Psyche by Raphaël and his workshop. It’s difficult to convey how astounding it is just standing on the marble floors, looking up at all the beautiful frescoes. Walking the same halls so many infamous and interesting figures had crossed centuries before. The museum is quiet and there were a few small groups moving in and out of the rooms at most when visiting. I always have time to view the work in complete silence and solitude, which rarely happens in a larger, more popular museum, even during the off seasons.

Venus, Ceres and Juno

I had run out of color film so I shot these magnificent frescoes in black and white. I think they at least capture the richness of the dark colors and the creaminess of the “skin”. The color in person was vibrant for such old masterpieces.

Cupid and The Three Graces, 1517-1518

A part of the great appeal Renaissance art has for me is it’s allusions to classical literature and mythology. In order to understand the works beyond my emotional response to them or my aesthetic pleasure in them, the allegorical works force me to learn the meaning behind them and catch a glimpse of the artist’s intention behind the work. What does the piece mean philosophically? Politically? What does it say about love? Man? And God? About life? And death? What historical event are they re-imagining? Beyond the beauty I am hungry for the history.

Raphael murals shot on vintage black and white Ilford film.

Venus on the Chariot Pulled by Doves, 1517-1518

The Council of the Gods, 1517-1518

Venus and Cupid, 1517-1518

When I was there I was amused to find graffiti carved into one of the walls in German! Well, normally I’d be less amused but it’s from a later “Barbarian Invasion” of Rome in the 16th century! At the time I couldn’t find anyone to translate it for me.

During recent restorations, an ancient “graffiti”, in German gothic, came to light between the columns. It marks the passage of the Lansquenets and states: “1528 – why shouldn’t I laugh: the Lansquenets have put the Pope to flight.”

From the windows on the first floor there is a beautiful view of the gardens.

Lemon trees are the quintessential jewels on the crown of Italy, even half ripened the golden yellow looks inviting, beckoning to be picked and savored.

Pomegranates grow in the lush green of bushes surrounding the historic property.

A pleasant stroll under the laurel bower leads to a marble plaque which bears the inscription:

Quisquis huc accedis: quod tibi horridum videtur mihi amoenum est; si placet, maneas, si taedet abeas, utrumque gratum.

[Trad.: Whoever enters here: what seems horrid to you is pleasant to me. If you like it, stay, if it bores you, go away; both are equally pleasing to me. ]

– Academia Nazionale die Lincei

The Villa Farnesina in Rome, Italy is open from

Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.,

Closed on Sundays and holidays.

Guided tours on Monday, Friday and Saturday at 12.30.

See color photographs of the art murals of the Villa Farnesina art museum in this blog entry here. Worth a look, the murals are absolutely splendid in color! They were shot at a later visit, and really bring out the soft and vibrant tones of the renaissance paintings.

Purgatory Lane in Naples, Italy / off the beaten path

Naples is the flower of paradise. The last adventure of my life. Alexandre Dumas

There is a residential “street”, an off the beaten path alleyway with the delightfully macabre name of Vico Purgatorio Ad Arco, “Purgatory Lane”. I had a love affair with alleyways, you see, and never have I been more sated than in Napoli.

Every narrow opening makes you stop and turn and take in the sights and sounds of Naples. There’s something very beautiful about an alley way, something personal and old, full of secrets and stories and the every day life of strangers. I love the alleys of Boston and New York and New Orleans. Naples alley ways are incomparable because they are places people live to catch sunlight in the darkest places. Neapolitans hang their laundry on little racks on tiny iron balconies. They stack pretty painted clay pots and urns full of flowers. They tie little flags and bunting. The alleys are dark and dank and should be places for trash and death and forgetting. But they are walk ways. They are corners to stop for a moment and discuss the weather with your neighbor. They are short cuts and open windows and the sounds of football playing on an unseen television. They are windows across from cousins and lovers looking at each other when their parents are busy cooking or cleaning. They are the sounds of getting ready for the evening pasieggeta. They are as I had always imagined them: gritty, velvet thick, enchanting, private glimpses of the real Napoli.

There is the foreboding sign which points in the direction of Purgatory Lane. Most people would cross the street to avoid it. But we were different, weren’t we, you and I, Rian? That made it all the more inviting to us all those years ago. Entering purgatory was like stepping back in time. Even in the midst of the buzz of modern life around us.

Kids played football in the streets, they ran through the alleys laughing and dodging each other. Vespas and motorcycles lined the private walks to the apartments. There were surprising flourishes of pinks and golds and soft blues among the blacks and browns. Colors and shadows mixed. We walked through unnoticed. Life was there, the good and the bad. We were just tourists.

Anaïs Nin once said, “I don’t want to be a tourist in the world of images.”

We wanted to step into the picture and become a part of it.

But until I am gone, I am always on the other side of the lens, watching, capturing, stealing images like the thief that I am. I stalk moments and feelings. I want trouble and grit to make something beautiful out of it. I am selfish, a little bit soulless, in my pursuit of another perfect shot. Perhaps the right kind of person for a purgatory?

I chase strangers with the cunning of a secret admirer. I photograph statues like living things and people like sculptures. I cannot tell the difference between the saints and the sinners on the streets.

a rainy afternoon art garden walk

A rainy afternoon walk around the Villa Borghese in Rome, Italy. On an overcast day it reminded me of Paris. I love the faded colors of the buildings and the urn-planted citrus fruit and olive trees. The gardens are leftover remnants of the Renaissance, and even of ancient Rome; namely the famed gardens of Lucullus. The park and gardens were once a private estate of the Borghese family. Fortunately now the “country” lanes of tidy gardens and statuary are open to everyone. The beauty of the grounds are immeasurable. No wonder I’ve grown to love it so much over the years. I love the colors of the stone architecture and the details of the buildings. I could hear a soft muddling of voices through an opened window.

The Villa Borghese museum is one of the loveliest and important collections of Italian Renaissance paintings in the world. It houses master works by Caravaggio, Titian, Dossi, Correggio, Veronese, Rubens, Barocci, Parmigianino, Lotto, Raphael, Bernini, Reni, Bellini, Barocci, Domenichino, Canova, and many other greats. If you find yourself in Rome make reservations a few days in advance to view the art in the beautiful Villa Borghese in two hour blocks. Give yourself time to wander around the gardens and the park. You should arrange a time with at least four hours of sunshine so you can enjoy a stroll around and leave two hours for the museum. Finish up an hour before sunset and find your way to the Pincio (Pincial Hill) for the most beautiful sunset of your life.

All photographs shot on a vintage camera with vintage analog film, 2010s.

the wild cats of Rome

The cats of Rome watching over the Theatre of Pompey. The Portra 400 and 800 35mm film really brings out the colors and tones of the beautiful cats. Through the looking glass one can imagine how far back into ancient Rome these cats ancestry lies. They roam free around the ruins all over Italy.