While I didn’t quite squeak out a full year of doors, I was still lucky enough to be introduced to Norm’s Thursday Doors challenge by my magnificent friend (and Italy compadre) Manja. Many of the doors, not surprisingly, were ones I strolled by, entered, or just plain adored whilst in my Italy travels this past summer. It’s a challenge to keep my post brief, so I’ll have to dig not so deep to try to pick my ultimate favs.
Rome. Bananas!
The street art was incredible – though only a bit of it was on doors – this a fav.
Looking out to the small piazza from the Chiesa di San Donato, Civita di Bagnoregio
Civita di Bagnoregio. Here, you can see thru its sole ancient entryway.
I can’t imagine a better group of women to chill out with (literally, it was a hot 90+ degrees in Civita!) Oh, and our pal Fonzie too. Amazing day in our two lovely towns
Orvieto, the Duomo reflection.
Delightful Volterra. A fav for sure.
Cinque Terre: Vernazza
Trastevere, Rome
Gelato! Friends! What a day in Trastevere and all over Rome.
Perpsective! Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome. My bestie Manja snapped this photo!
At the Bargello in Florence, greeted by some lovely lions in crowns!
Closer to home – well, kind of! Seems these doors actually span coast to coast 🙂
So given the small world that it is, it only makes sense that both The Daily Post ‘s own Michelle and The Mexi Movie ‘s Manja both share in this weeks collage challenge – like, exactly share! Seems this spot in Trastevere had a way to lure in three lovely photographers 🙂
A popular WPC Collage!
Before the shot – lots to look at (photo by Manja Mexi Movie)
Another eclectic mix…
A collage of two. And a personal fav of mine.
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Collage
When in Rome – wind your way on whichever path you happen to be, to the Trastevere neighborhood. Our new friends Manja and Marco hit it spot on in sharing this crunchy, eclectic, and always on neighborhood with us – with plenty of history, food, friendship – and oh yes – many delightful doors mixed in!
Even before traveling to Italy and meeting Manja in person, I pretty much knew we were kindred spirits in our love for photography. Who knew we’d go gaga over shooting doors together?
Manja’s lovely photographic art can be found here, The Mexi Movie.
Pink offsetting a typical look to Trastevere. Grungy version of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ hanging out in the basket.You could almost swing from the vine in the doorway!Always ducking under fragrant jasmine.I like the green reveal under the mottled beige/brown.Does this mean someone’s home?All sorts of goings on here.I gather Gizmo gets mail.Bussi Chapel, Basilica di Santa MariaSpooky corner door, Basilica di Santa MariaGhost door?The door and window pair well in their discord.Door within a door.A bit fancy, and atypical, for the doors in my Trastevere travels.Broken tread.
One could spend days scouring Rome and Florence for street art; graffiti – I suppose it depends on ones definition of the two. But I sought out street art; defined by that which intrigues, interests and moves me in viewing it. And it was plentiful, uninhibited, and scattered all around me in my travels. Continue reading “Arte di Strada”→
…but just be sure to speak it in Italian, not American…
I had read about Trastevere before we left for our trip – so when Marco and Manja suggested it part of our day long trek around Rome, I knew it wouldn’t disappoint.
I should mention, all of the places we I visited had scrumptuous street art – including doors and windows, that qualify as art to me. I’ve decided to post most street art, door, and window captures separately. They each deserve their own.
However, a good bit of it speaks to the flair and verve of each of the neighborhoods, towns, and cities we visited. So I’ll include ones that were standouts.
Street art.Trastevere.All over Italy, water fountains run freely (some, have a spigot), which you can rinse your hands off, fill your water bottle, or water your dog. The water in Italy – not surprising as they know how to do water, historically – was delicious.Charming Trastevere (if you find me using the word “charm” in any form on Italy posts too much, well, get over it. 🙂Piazza di Santa MariaI sure wish hanging laundry out windows to dry looked like this at home!
Trastevere also has a spectacular church – you’d never know it by it’s relatively plain Jane exterior: The Basilica of Santa Maria, stunning. After seeing St Paul’s huge glorious-ness, we shifted gears to a more modest (well, not really) size. The basic floor plan and structure dates back to the 340’s. Yes. That’s the year three hundred forty.
Basilica di Santa MariaBasilica di Santa MariaBasilica di Santa Maria
We ate gelato. I should mention that. By the end of our trip, we had a ranking for our top five places.
Oh Gelato, we love you so.
Manja snuck in a picture of me doing my thing. It was a treat having a fellow photographer with us!
Emily, Me, Manja and Marco (Shawn behind the camera). Can you tell we loved our gelato? Marco is the only one taking his time 🙂
Who’d have thought we’d get the royal treatment from two people we’d never met in person? And yet, here were Manja and Marco (now our good friends, I should add) spending a delightful day by driving us all around to some off the beaten path, and amazing, sites in Rome.
First up was the Protestant, or Non-Catholic, cemetery (“Cimitero Acattolico”)…
The “Angel of Grief” is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story which serves as the grave stone of the artist and his wife.John Keats is one of the more well-known people buried here, though his tombstone, paired with this nearby plaque, is a riddle that requires both to identify him.Very lush with trees, shrubs, flowers; tiered with eclectic nooks and crannies all around the grave sites.
The cemetery is also a cat sanctuary.
After the cemetery, Marco using his mad Rome driving skills, we headed for Gianicolo Hill, as every day at noon a cannon fires. We didn’t make it in time, so instead went to Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls. The 25 or so churches we saw were phenomenal – there are more than 900 in Rome alone!
Girls with cameras rock!Entering St Paul’s thru a gorgeous, massive marble columned walkway.The Basilica, built around the 4th century AD (finished ~1800)Small font – most baptismal fonts we saw were large and elaborate.Beautiful art and architecture.Basilica selfies 😉
I almost forgot – the most important highlight of the day (and every day): FOOD!
We ate at a yummy Sicilian restaurant (serious dining here, can’t you tell), Marco’s work lunch digs!And conveniently, where we ate lunch was a pasticceria too (pastry shop!)Macchiato. I broke the golden rule of having milk in my coffee in the afternoon. It’s all about digestion in Italy (espresso/alcohol after a meal) Aside from a cappuccino or the like at breakfast, it’s espresso or bust after that! Also, there is a very clear reason why Starbucks doesn’t exist in Italy. I’ll speak more about Italian coffee in a future post, as it clearly deserves its own accolades!Granita for Emily and me – Shawn – fancy iced coffee I think!Chillin’ with the best world travelers one could find.We ate gelato. Oh, did we eat gelato. But walking 7-10 miles a day warranted it!We finished a long and awesome day with pizza. It was delish!
Fetching the World 