Hardly anyone notices the large statue in the centre of Campo d’Fiori. Maybe it’s the cape, and the way the man being depicted seems to be almost hiding under it. Maybe it’s just that it doesn’t fit in with all the surrounding spectacle. Regardless, in a modern world where science is still often ridiculed, this brooding presence deserves to be far better known.
Category: Italy
A Day Like Any Other
While Amalfi is over-run by visitors in summer, there’s at least one event that brings out the locals from all the surrounding districts, even though it occurs just when winter begins. And the whole thing has to do with a pirate named Red Beard, and St. Andrew, the town’s patron saint.
Vatican Flocks
Climbing to the top of Saint Peter’s, you could get lucky. If it’s right on dusk in the autumn, and you look out along the wide curves of the Tiber, you might just focus on a natural sight that will take your breath away.
Pedalling to Venice
Yes, you really can cycle to Venice, the “Floating City” that has far more canals than streets. It’s just a matter of using all the public transit options at your disposal, and deciding to go for a ride.
Sunday with Maurizio
The movie Wings of Desire was very much on my mind in Italy, after spending an improbable Sunday with Maurizio. And it wasn’t just because he never seemed to take off his very well-worn three-quarter length jacket (made of black leather, of course).
Eternal Graffiti
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nowhere is that adage truer than at Pompeii. it isn’t a coincidence that “graffiti” is an Italian word. You only need to ride the trains in Naples to realise that. It’s just that when you visit Pompeii it becomes obvious that decorating walls with cheeky self-expression has an exceptionally long pedigree.
Hippie-Peacenik-Greenie-Saint
It’s been years since I’d even thought of Saint Francis, although he was once an important source of inspiration back in the days of Flower Power. However, his life, especially as it was portrayed in the early 70’s movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon, came back to me when we decided to visit his home town of Assisi, high up a hill in Umbria.
A Tuscan Serendipity
The sky was vividly blue and cloudless, the air smelled of autumn oak leaves and freshly pressed grapes, and the little piazza echoed with Gina’s voice as she sang out “buon-GIOR-no”. It was all so perfect, it hardly seemed real…