From Rome to Venice

This short trip to Italy was to visit relatives which live in Rome and the Veneto region. We are so grateful for all those families which gave us a place to sleep and everyone who spent time with us. Our trip started in Rome. Our host cooked delicious dinners every night. We were very spoilt.

We have seen many famous tourist sites in previous trips to Rome. So we examined the not so famous must sees. One of these are Il Borghese Gardens. Wonderfully relaxing and great place to get out of the sun. The forest police were out exercising their horses.

We visited some local churches dedicated to other countries such as the Chiesa Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi. Absolutely beautiful church which holds exhibitions and performances from Portuguese artists.

Something I have never done in before was visit a palace. One of the Italian Royal families have a palace in Rome which is partly open to the public. It is called Galleria Doria Pamphilj. The rooms of the palace were splendidly furnished and their own painting and sculptures lines the walls.

We also saw a photographic exhibition by William Klein (1956 to 1960) at Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali. It was great to see Romans in the late 1950's in everyday life on the street and high fashion shots. This museum contains artifacts of ancient Rome.

As always we walked Rome to absorb the atmosphere and encounter treasures such as Fountain of Trevi. We cannot go to Rome and not visit this fountain. We went to an exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci at Piazza D. Cancelleria. A true genius!http://www.mostradileonardo.com/ 

As we were there on a Sunday we could not miss the opportunity to go the Vatican Square for the Papal blessing. The atmosphere was inspiring and the faithful were waiting with upbeat temperaments and in national colours. Totally a party atmsophere! The Pope appeared and his message was about the Holy Trinity.

When we left Rome we drove to Assisi to have lunch in my most favourite city in Italy. While eating regional dishes we tried to think how we could live in this paradise. We soon realised it was still apart of Italy so not a good idea (politics, Italians ect.) We sat and reflected in the Basilica of St. Francis and the Basilica of St. Clare. We spent time in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. Within this Basilica is a little rustic chapel which dates back to the 10th century.

We stopped at Ravenna to have family time on our own and to see what remained from the time it was the capital of the Western Roman Empire in the Byzantine time. Most of the buildings we saw of this time are recognised by UNESCO as world heritage. Ravenna is famous for its mosaics of ancient time and preserving this art. We also saw the same mosaics of this ancient time in Cirencester, UK showing the Roman occupation. After Rome we were so impressed with how this city protects the past and puts it to good use. The Museo Arcivescovile displays a variety of materials from early Christian and Byzantine times such as a throne made out of ivory with the stories of the old testament carved into it.

Dante (the poet) has a museum in Ravenna in his dedication kept by the Franciscan order. His tomb can be visited with a small garden next to it for reflection. It is easy to walk around this town and even easier to cycle. There is a short drive to the Marina di Ravenna, which has seaside resorts and long wide beach with dirty yellow fine sand. At the Museo d'Arte della citta di Ravenna there was an exhibition called "Pre-Raphaelites and the Italian dream" where we learnt about a group of English artists ( John Ruskin, Boyce, Brett and Randall)and their Italian passion. Remember Dante Gabriel Rossetti is the founding member of the Pre-Raphaelites and produced some of my favourite paintings.

We left Ravenna and drove towards Veneto, stopping at Chioggoa (left) for lunch. It is a city south of the Laguna Veneta. The fried vegetables and prawns were fantastic. Then we continued the journey to an aunt's place in Gaiarine. The next town, Codogne was where my Daddy was born. From here we visited family from the same town or near by such as Sacile and Murano. These areas would be lovely to get more time to explore but difficult when there is family comittments. Murano is so beautiful like all of Venice but it is so tranquil. We also had a drive up towards the Dolomites. Heaven! I love mountainous terrain. Lake Croce was so busy with windsurfers and campers. Before coming home we bought cheese from this region.

We loved our short trip to Italy. We loved the regional dishes, our hosts, our company and learning about our family history.