A Dane in Rome

Danish neoclassicistic sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), lived and worked in Rome for most of his life and some of his works are presented in the Thorvaldsen museum on the small island of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen next to Christiansborg Palace.

-RS

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.

Lens bugs

When I'm out photographing in the city, I've often been more than a bit annoyed about pigeons. I like photographing statues, but often these feathered pests have taken residence on top of my motive, and I either have to wait until they clear out or try to shoo them off, with the result that my surroundings find me rather hilarious. The first two photos are from Rome and the last is of the Dragon Fountain in Copenhagen, which is usually covered by pigeons.

Tagged

A little extra post due to the fact, that I've been tagged by Vogon Poet on Daily Photo Stream and Livorno Daily Photo.

The rules are simple: Tag and link back to the person who tagged you. List six (un) important things that make you happy. Tag six bloggers and let them know they're “it”. We all feel this blogging community to be one of inclusion and friendship.

So to my six things that make me happy:

A day out with the camera.
A nice quiet weekend in a good chair with a good book.
A night at the opera.
To learn new stuff and wonder.
To travel to a nice place.
To meet new nice people.

My six tagged bloggers are:

allineedisagoodbook
Scottsdale Daily Photo
Dusty Lens - North Metro and Beyond
OcalaDailyPhoto
Sniffles and Smiles
Cathrine Mark-Beasant

And the photo, a bit out of theme I know, is from Rome; one of Bernini's angels on Ponte Sant' Angelo. The photo is from a trip I made there three years ago.