I’ll share with you a tourist secret that I learned from my daughter: when you want to visit the Colosseum, go and visit Palatine Hill first. The line there is shorter, and the pass you buy will get you into the whole area. When you do make your way down to the Colosseum, you’ll be able to get in the shorter line :-)

And Palatine Hill is well-worth the visit anyway! It’s gorgeous. You can see the ruins of all the Caesar’s houses, and there are some rooms that have just opened up for public viewing recently with frescoes on the walls. Amazing! You can’t take pictures of the rooms, but the outside area is all fair game, and very picturesque. Mike and Dani pose so you can see the scale:

From one of the walls of the hill, you can look down into the Forum. We didn’t go down that day because Rome was having a heatwave, and the temperature had soared over 100F by 10am. Here’s the Forum with all the “modern” buildings in the background:

In one of the corners as we went to leave Palatine Hill, we came across this many-breasted sphinx:

The Arch of Titus is one of the large show-off pieces that were built by different rulers. I thought this one was moving, because it shows the sacking of Jerusalem and the Romans making off with the Temple items. However, they didn’t seem to know how many arms the candlestick should have…

Finally we made it to the Colosseum. I am so annoyed with myself, because I took a sweeping panoramic video of the entire structure inside, but I did it in vertical format, so it doesn’t load to YouTube properly!! Oh well, I’ll just have to go back and try again ;-)

Here’s another shot of the Colosseum for you!!

A lovely woman has passed from this life, and all of us who were acquainted with her online were blessed by her life. Vera Lucia was an upbeat, loving, and giving person: an artist of many skills, a beautiful crazy woman, a sharing member of the Altered Books yahoo group and others. She was quick with a compliment, never had a negative word to say. That we could all learn from her. Vera Lucia’s work can still be seen on her wonderful blog, Altered Dreams.

One of the most moving sites we visited in Vatican City was St Peter’s Basilica. Again, as a church, picture taking is limited, although it’s allowed in most areas without flash. Being extremely phobic about heights (and averse to two-hour long lines), I declined to go up into the dome.

In the picture below, which I took from the floor, I’ve marked two little orange dots that you might be able to just barely make out. They are near the bottom of the shot, above the “O” in the lettering. Those dots are on top of the heads of two people who are looking out over the railing…that’s how high the thing is! There are people all the way around the dome, but you can’t see them in my photo. Dani tells me that the “O” is wider and taller than a person!

I was heartbroken that my very favorite statue in the entire world now has to be kept behind bullet-proof glass, quite far from where you stand to see it. La Pieta, by Michelangelo. Some idiot took a hammer to it a number of years ago, so now it is kept protected. Even from a distance it is very moving.

Also very moving is the statue of St Veronica. She was supposed to have taken a cloth and wiped the blood from Jesus’s face as he made his way to be crucified. She is holding the cloth in this statue, and a blurred image of Christ’s face, which you really can’t see in this photo.

By far the most moving sight I saw, though, was the tomb of Pope John Paul II. You’re going down long hallways filled with the tombs of popes past. Most are ornate, and beautiful, to the point of being overwhelming. Then you turn the corner, and there is a plain white marble slab with his name. That’s it. No other decoration. I cried, and I’m not even Catholic! He tombstone said it all…what a man of the people.

Art Attack Thursday!

For a plethora of projects, all the resources and all the steps detailed, visit Mel Stampz! Mel describes herself as “totally shamelessly addicted to stamping and my favourite way to share that is blogging. I love reading about stamping on the blogs of the many talented people who share. I wanted to be a part of that, so I started blogging too.”

Good on you! Mel’s blog is beautiful, and brimming over with sharing :-)

Rowan University Art Gallery
April 20-May 29 2009

Decorative Resurgence is a juried exhibition focused on contemporary metalwork and jewelry inspired by historical ornamentation and decoration. Artists are encouraged to submit work that references historical decorative metalwork, jewelry, functional and non-functional objects, architecture, textile patterns, and/or processes.

Deadline December 1, 2008