The original is in Florence

Many visitors to Copenhagen is amazed to see the statue of David in copper on the harbour. There are many full-sized replicas of the statue around the world, perhaps the most prominent being the one in the original's position in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The original sculpture was moved indoors in 1873 to the Accademia Gallery in Florence, where it attracts many visitors. The one in Denmark is less of an attraction but still a crowd-pleaser. -RS

High Above Florence - Fiesole

In the hills just outside of Florence there's a little nice town called Fiesole, where you can spend a few hours when the crowds and heat of Florence becomes too much. There's a cathedral, a monastery, some Roman ruins, some Villas and this nice little square if you want to see something other than the view over Florence.

David

High above Florence stands Michelangelo's David, or rather one of the two replicas in the city. The original is at the Accademia Galleria and the other replica is at the original place just outside the Palazzo Vechio. Numerous other replicas exists around the world and we even got one in Copenhagen at the harbour.

The City of the Renaissance

Our trip round Europe took us to the beautiful city of Florence (Firenze in Italian), the city that is synonymous with the Renaissance. A couple of days there is not nearly enough to get more than a superficial view of the city with its many museums, palaces, churches and sculptures. The bridge Ponte Vecchio here is one of the most iconic places with its row of jewellery stores and other shops.

A Big Garden

The Royal Palace in Caserta is not only a really big building and museum. It's also a very big park, 120ha, with numerous fountains in a long cascade. Walking to the end will take most people an hour or two, while getting back is made easier by a bus.

A Royal Palace

A real gem to visit just east of Napoli is the Royal Palace in Caserta. Called the Swan song of Baroque it's a huge building, once the largest in Europe and today a great museum to visit. It's also a UN World Heritage site. With 1.200 rooms there's enough to see to last the whole day.

Pompeii

In AD 79 the volcano Vesuvius erupted, covering the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in up to 25 meters of ash and pumice and killing scores of people. In 1749 Pompeii was rediscovered and excavations where started, excavations that are still ongoing to this day. A visit there is an absolutely must if you're in the area but expect crowds as it's one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.

Amalfi Coast

Driving along the Amalfi Coast can be quite a challenge if heights, narrow roads and tight bends are not your thing but it is beautiful. Make a stop in one of the picturesque towns that cling to the cliffs and enjoy a meal or just a coffee with a view.

Vietri sul Mare

Just at the south end of the beautiful Amalfi coast and to the north of Salerno is the little town of Vietri sul Mare, a perfect place to stay a few days and use as a base to explore the coast and its surroundings. Vietri is a cosy town and a centre of ceramics, especially colourful tiles, but as with the rest of the coastal towns around here, expect a lot of stairs and walking both up- and downhill to get around.

Lago di Bracciano

High above the lake Lago di Bracciano towers the old castle. Bracciano is a popular beach resort for Italians but foreign tourists seems to be far apart which is a shame as it's a nice place. For the cultural inclined there the castle and the very good Italian Air Force Museum. Again it's easily within driving distance of Rome for a quick day trip.

Frascati

Some of the small towns surrounding Rome can be nice to visit if you have the time and can get around by car. Frascati is one of these as it's just to the SE of Rome and within a half hour drive away. A sleepy town with a a truly Italian atmosphere, an almost abandoned and rundown park, a couple of mansions and a little art museum so you'll easily spend a few hours there. Or you can just enjoy an ice cream at the local piazza enjoying the view of the church of San Pietro.

Volcanic lakes

To the SE of Rome is a couple of really beautiful lakes that many tourists to Rome miss out on, Lago di Nemi and Lago Albano, but they are worth a visit if you happens to be able to get there. With steep hills around a deep blue lake they seem like a completely different world to busy Rome. Along the shores of Lago di Nemi is a small museum about the pleasure boats of Nero found there and an excavation of a Diana temple. And if you've had enough culture take a dip in the lakes from one the small beaches.

Out of town

When in Rome with a car you don't want to use it in the city, as the traffic there is more than a bit chaotic and parking next to impossible. On the other hand a car becomes very much handy when you want to explore the surroundings. We took a quick trip to Ostia to see Ostia Antica, the old port of imperial Rome, but in Italy Mondays are not for visiting museums; they are (nearly) all closed that day. So the day was spent on exploring modern Ostia and Porto di Roma instead. This cat had the right idea about how to spend the warm summer day.

Piazza Navona

My favourite square in Rome is the Piazza Navona with its racetrack form, its three beautiful fountains and its crowds of people. The restaurants might be a bit too touristic (and pricy), the musicians and sellers a bit too pushy and the crowds a bit too non-local but to me this is Rome.

Location:Piazza Navona, Rome

A popular wolf

One of the best known symbols of Rome is this one, the Capitoline Wolf at the Capitoline Museums. Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking that this was worth photographing as a group of photographers where hoarding the space around it. Well, when visiting places on a road trip like this you have to make do with what you get and be glad that you at least had the chance of seeing some of it.

Trevi Fountain

No visit to Rome would by complete without a visit to the Trevi Fountain, and that is apparently the opinion of most of the tourists in Rome. The area around the fountain is always packed with tourists and stalls selling trinkets to the needy so it can actually be difficult to see the beauty of the sculptures, let alone get a decent photo of them.

A great museum

The best museum on classic Roman history in Rome is the Museo della Civiltá Romana, the Museum of Roman Civilisation. This great museum is hidden to most tourists in the EUR district, so only the most diehard history buffs go there, which is a shame. Here you find a lot of miniatures, casts of statues and columns, maps and other information telling you about this period. You can spend a whole day there and still feel that you got through the collections a bit too fast.

EUR

One of the few places in Rome not teeming with tourists is the district Mussolini planned, the EUR. This residential and business district might seem a bit off the beaten track to many visitors but it's interesting I think. Some of the buildings are spectacular in a way only a totalitarian could envision like this Palazzo della Civiltá Italiana.

At the Gates of Rome

We stayed just outside of Rome with a friend for almost two weeks with a few days break to the south (more of that later). Normally when visiting a city I get there by plane so I only seem to see the city centre. This time we had the chance of seeing a lot more of the surroundings, but nonetheless we started in the city. This is one of the gates to Rome, the beautiful Porta Pia.

On the road

Usually a moving car is not the best platform for photography, but sometimes you can get some nice shots anyway. This one is from the road trip when we went through a tunnel in Italy.