Roman era graffiti found on Colosseum

Roman era graffiti found on Colosseum

Graffiti dating from the Roman era has been found scrawled on the walls of the Colosseum during restoration work.

By Nick Squires, Rome

10 January 2013

Restorers also discovered fragments of brightly coloured frescoes, suggesting that the ancient monument was gaudily decorated when it hosted gladiatorial fights and wild animal hunts under the emperors.

The fragments – in ochre, red, blue and green – are in stark contrast to the monochrome grey and white of the travertine marble that covers the facade of the amphitheatre today.

The graffiti includes hard-to-decipher words and symbols as well as two large phalluses – possibly an erotic representation, or perhaps just lewd scribbling.

The new discoveries were made on the third and highest level of the Colosseum, which is closed to the public.

They are spread out over a 200ft-long section of a covered tunnel which would have funnelled spectators to their seats high above the arena.

The coloured frescoes were "an extraordinary discovery", said Rossella Rea, who is in charge of the landmark in the centre of Rome.

"We weren't expecting to find them. There is still a great deal to be studied and there will almost certainly be other surprises."

The frescoes would have been "rich and elaborate" in colour and detail, said Ida Simonelli, the head of the restoration team.

A £22 million restoration of the Colosseum, to be funded by Diego Della Valle, the multi-millionaire founder of the Tod's shoe empire, is scheduled to begin within weeks.

It will be the most comprehensive restoration effort in more than 70 years and is expected to take two years.

The project, which will entail removing decades of grime from the facade of the Colosseum, will take place in phases so that the amphitheatre can remain open to visitors.

The privately-funded work, which has been delayed by months of bureaucracy, is being seen as a model for the sponsoring of other ancient sites in Italy, including Pompeii.

Source from The Telegraph

Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers

Article from BBC

Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers

The French government has overturned a 200-year-old ban on women wearing trousers.

The Minister of Women's Rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, said that the ban was incompatible with modern French values and laws.

She said the law, imposed on November 17, 1800, had in effect already been rescinded because of incompatibility.

The move to formally repeal the law followed a parliamentary question asked last year.

According to the law, women needed to have the permission of local police if they wanted to "dress like a man" and wear trousers.

Though it has been ignored for decades, formally it remained on the statute books.

Ms Vallaud-Belkacem said the original law had been intended to prevent women doing certain jobs.

"This order was aimed first of all at limiting the access of women to certain offices or occupations by preventing them from dressing in the manner of men," she said.

It was modified in 1892 and 1909 to allow women to wear trousers if they were "holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse".

During the French Revolution, Parisian women had requested the right to wear trousers and working-class revolutionaries became known as "sans-culottes" for wearing trousers instead of the silk-knee breeches preferred by the bourgeoisie.

Italy: La Dolce (& Gabbana) Vita

In this article from The Telegraph Travel, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, of the fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, reveal the seven places in Italy that have most inspired them. A lot of this article seems to be advertising specific accommodation and restaurants, but the places sound delightful nonetheless.

Italy: La Dolce (& Gabbana) Vita

Stromboli

A signpost on the road leading to the church warns that it takes 57,842 steps to climb up to the crater, but you’ll not easily forget what you see when you arrive there – for the warm heart of this ancient volcanic island still pulsates with energy. Any visit here must start with the impressive crater: it is, in fact, a walk that requires little effort – and even less so in the company of the volcanologists of Magmatrek, who share their fascinating stories of fire and lava. The tour departs from Piazza San Vincenzo in the late afternoon, just as the streets are coming back to life after the afternoon siesta.

The beautiful panorama of this volcano can also be viewed each morning from the wooden-framed windows of the Locanda del Barbablù, a hotel with six unique rooms next to the house where Ingrid Bergman stayed, or from the Osservatorio, a restaurant at the top of the promontory, some 1,300ft above sea level – and a perfect place for a romantic candlelit dinner. The best way to get to the Osservatorio is by the classic Ape car, the little three-wheelers that clamber slowly up, breaking the silence of the narrow alleys with a growl of the engine.

The Punta Lena is another restaurant famous for its spectacular views, not to mention its soup of rockfish and grouper. After dinner, the place to go is the Tartana Club, which has three verandas overlooking the black beach of Focogrande, or Bar Ingrid, the historical haunt decorated with black-and-white photographs of the director Roberto Rossellini, who made his neo-realist masterpiece, Stromboli, on the island, and where the coffee is prepared in the traditional style. The atmosphere is also authentic in Piscità, the oldest part of the island, and Ginostra, a village perched on the western coast that can be reached by boat. It has the smallest port in the world – a place where time seems to have stood still.

Procida

Following the Mediterranean northwards, there’s another secluded gem in the azure sea: the island of Procida. Just off the coast of Naples, it has all the simplicity of a fishermen’s village, perfect to escape from the jet-set atmosphere of Capri and the teeming crowds on Ischia.

You can stroll through orange and lemon groves in the village of Chiaiolella or the hamlet of Marina della Corricella, a magnificent example of 17th-century popular architecture, where the houses form an amphitheatre around the bay and picturesque arches, flower-decked balconies and terraced gardens lead down to the sea. Stop in at the Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo, a late-medieval Benedictine convent housing a curious collection of seafaring photography which acts as a tribute to the traditions, superstitions and religious beliefs that are still very strong among the local people.

Explore the narrow village streets to find interesting designer shops and boutiques, such as the one run by Creje – with its jewellery, fashion and homeware – converted from an old fishermen’s grotto, or the boutique of the artisan designer Dina Tramontano, who makes original earrings using fine yarn and cotton. Narrow footpaths lead down to secluded beaches such as Pozzo Vecchio or Baia degli Innamorati.

There are holiday rental homes and some hotels on the island: a particularly good combination of the two is La Suite, a hotel with shady verandas, soft, white curtains, a cooling swimming pool and a large Mediterranean garden. You can also take in the sea breeze by securing a table at La Conchiglia restaurant, on Chiaia beach.

As the sun sets, it is worth making the effort to climb up to Terra Murata, the old village marking the highest point of the island, to admire the view of the Gulf of Naples and the neighbouring islands, lit up by the last rays of sun that turn the water a blazing red.

Basilicata

The south of Italy has many other wonderful surprises, not just on the islands of Stromboli and Procida, but also on the mainland. One of these is in the Basilicata region, along a coast that flanks 20 miles of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The village of Maratea, with its narrow alleys, paved streets and embellished houses, is an ideal spot for spending a honeymoon, just as Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars did last year. It is a pearl in the Mediterranean that remains relatively unknown. Take a plunge into the crystal-clear blue water lapping the small pebble beaches of Castrocucco, Acquafredda, Cersuta and Fiumicello.

The port is also a fantastic sight, with small fishing boats that sail off every morning to bring in the overnight catches of cod, rockfish and sole. This freshly caught fish arrives straight from the market on to the tables of the Taverna Rovita, one of the oldest restaurants in Maratea, accompanied by home-grown chargrilled peppers.

A veranda at the Santavenere, the most luxurious hotel in Basilicata, is the perfect spot for some quiet contemplation as you lose yourself in the vast horizon of the sea. This is another small hidden treasure but has hosted some famous guests since the Fifties, including Renato Guttuso, Anita Ekberg and Soraya.

From Maratea, you can make your way along past the immaculate statue of Christ, reminiscent of Christ the Redeemer in Rio, which dominates the skyline at 70ft high, and on to the Roman site of Grumentum and the ancient villages of Rivello, Lauria and Aliano. Carlo Levi was inspired during his time of exile in Aliano to write his memoir, Cristo si è fermato a Eboli. Then there is Craco, a ghostly village set in the badlands, abandoned about 50 years ago and later chosen by Mel Gibson as a location for scenes in his film The Passion of the Christ.

The Salento

The hot summer is the ideal time to get to know the real soul of the Salento, in Puglia. The sun, the dazzling white farmhouses, the twisted trunks of the olive trees and, in the evening, the concert of the cicadas. This is the “heel of Italy”, an archaic and captivating place that is home to rustic villages built in local limestone. In places such as Nardò and Galatina, town houses’ façades are embellished by friezes, coats of arms, floral patterns and mythological creatures. One of the small selection of suites at Palazzo Guarini, in Scorrano, makes the perfect place to stay. Converted from a duke’s residence, the suites are in gardens surrounded by orange and lemon trees and roses.

Villa Sticchi, Santa Cesarea Terme, Salento

First and foremost, this is a land dominated by the sea, where there is a beach perfect for everyone’s taste; from the sandy dunes of Campomarino di Maruggio to the centuries-old junipers of Torre Canne, or the coast of Porto Cesareo. You can go diving in Porto Cesareo’s protected marine area and explore vast caves, grottos and archaeological remains from Roman times. The white shrimps of Leuca and the red scampi of Gallipoli come from local seas that are rich with fish. The best seafood can be found at Angeli Ribelli , a restaurant in Otranto where the owner himself brings in the catch of the day, which his wife then cooks.

The Salento soil is also very fertile, and you can buy fine produce from the surrounding farms and wineries. A local favourite is negroamaro, one of the best red wines from the region which, after spending some years in oblivion, is now undergoing a revival in popularity across Italy. This is thanks to wineries such as Leone De Castris, in Salice Salentino, where you can taste wine in the 17th-century cellar.

Ventotene

The island of Ventotene, less than two miles long and only 2,600ft wide, proves that rich historical discoveries can be made even in the smallest and remotest places. Ventotene, off the coast north of Naples, was a favourite place of the Greeks and the Phoenicians. The Emperor Augustus sent his rebellious daughter, Julia, there, and you can still see the ruins of the villa and pool to where she was banished. Still today, the people who venture this far do so in search of peace and tranquillity. Sailing enthusiasts and scuba divers love its windswept coast and its clear waters, safeguarded by the Marine Area Protection authorities of the Pontine Islands.

The first thing that catches your attention when you arrive is the excavated Roman port, followed by the pastel-coloured houses that date back to the Bourbon period and the church dedicated to Santa Candida, the patron saint of the island. September 20 marks the festival of Santa Candida, and the whole place comes to life with religious celebration and picturesque processions, while musical performances and paper-balloon races are held in the village square. In the evening, a tremendous fireworks display rounds off the celebrations.

You can spend time chatting to the hospitable locals, such as Pina, who runs the shop Un Mare di Sapori and has devoted herself for many years to growing lentils, one of the island’s crops. This small, round pulse owes its rich and bold flavour to the sandy and clay-heavy soils in which it grows.

Not far from here is the Antico Forno. Since the Fifties, it has been run by the Aiello family, who make taralli, a local bread moulded into ring-shaped cakes. The real queen of baking, however, is Anna Impagliazzo, the chef of Il Giardino. This is the island’s most famous restaurant, whose speciality is a delicious wheat pie flavoured with oranges. For connoisseurs there is also Villa Iulia, an 18th-century home that has been converted into a hotel, next to the beach of Cala Nave.

San Pietro

While locations such as Ventotene are glorious but still relatively undiscovered, there are Italian islands such as Sardinia which are known all over the world. Still, even there, unspoilt places are waiting to be unearthed. Some of the most beautiful can be found on the island of San Pietro, off the coast of south-western Sardinia. Carloforte, its main town, is made up of little architectural treasures, steps, narrow alleys and old houses, all of which give the place its own special ambience. You can go fishing or diving, even spending days on board wooden fishing boats to learn the secrets of the trade from the fishermen. Or you can simply take a walk around the LIPU Oasis (Italian League for the Protection of Birds) and spot birds such as the Eleonora’s falcon, which makes the coastal rocks its nesting place.

In the summer, when the first rays of sun appear, there is nothing better than relaxing on the sand and pebble beaches of Girin and Punta Nera, or venturing to Cala Fico and Capo Sandalo, where you will find a charming old lighthouse. You can also reach the bay of La Caletta, where the Italian ritual of the aperitif is played out while waiting for the spectacular sunset. Here lazy days pass slowly, perhaps in the company of Natalia Lapicca, a native of Carloforte and a guide who can advise you, among other things, on the best restaurants on the island.

Choosing is not easy, as all are very good; many offer dishes that combine rich flavours and ingredients from both Europe and Africa. Sample giant platters of couscous with vegetables, slow-cooked broad-bean soups and fresh pastas such as cassulli, dressed with basil, tomatoes and a delicate drizzle of oil. These can be best enjoyed at theTonno di Corsa.

Pay a visit, too, to the Rossi di Mare workshop, home to two artisans who carry on the time-honoured craft of turning raw coral into simple trinkets and jewellery. The same simplicity has been embraced by the Poecylia, a secluded hotel with a handful of suites, created by a famous deep-sea photographer. It is a wonderful place – an oasis of calm amid the buzz of the Mediterranean.

Portofino

This has always been a place for the affluent and the jet set, but the town reveals its wild and solitary soul to those who really look deeper and venture out to its neighbouring villages.

Here you will find perfumed orchards, ancient villas and paths cut out of the rock, such as the spectacular trails that go through the Regional Natural Park of Portofino. These are age-old paths made from pavings or packed earth, that wind their way up to places of worship such as San Fruttuoso, San Nicolò or La Cervara. Starting out early in the morning, you can tackle l’Anello Alto (the High Ring). Despite its name, this is an easy walk that leads to Gaixella and then through the Pietre Strette woods. You will pass carpets of ivy and flowers, chestnut woods and undergrowth thick with brambles, with a soundtrack of squirrels rustling for pine cones and the song of blackbirds and cuckoos.

Re-energise yourself with some of the local focaccia, the original “fast food” of the Italian Riviera, such as the one made by the Moltedo bakery in Recco, served with cheese and baked in a wood-fired oven. At La Cucina di Nonna Nina, in San Rocco di Camogli, every day the chef, Paolo, makes bread and pasta that goes magnificently with the fresh basil used for pesto.

For a refined and tranquil atmosphere, check in at Villa Rosmarino, which has as its motto: “This house is not a hotel”. There are no numbers on the doors or keys to the rooms, nor any concierge, lobby or restaurant, but you can stay in one of the six delightful suites of this former private home, built in 1907. In the summer you can visit the beach or pick a book from the extensive library, sit out on the veranda overlooking the Paradise Gulf, and watch as the sky lays its blue mantle over the Mediterranean.'

Red Dust

Spectacular red dust alert as Australia’s freak weather continues

by Sophie Tedmanson, Sydney

11 January 2013

A massive wall of red dust barrels towards ships bobbing in the ocean, looming large and causing a breathtaking, apocalypse-style spectacle on the horizon.

But this is not a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster – it is Mother Nature playing havoc after the freak summer weather conditions that have struck Australia this week.

As bushfires continued to ravage the southeast coast, 2,000 miles away across the other side of the country a cyclone is threatening this weekend, just days after the red-dust storm created an extraordinary natural phenomenon.

Tugboat operators working off the far northwest coast were treated to the spectacular sight as a thunderstorm, which had gathered red dust and sand as it passed over the Pilbara region in the Outback, cut a path towards them across the Indian Ocean on Wednesday.

Brett Martin was working on a tugboat about 25 nautical miles off Onslow in Western Australia when, just before sunset, he noticed the orange haze – topped off with billowy white dust clouds – across the skyline, rising up from the glassy, flat ocean.

But when the wild weather arrived the swell lifted to 6ft 6in (2m), winds increased to 40 knots and visibility was reduced to 100m.

“We were steaming along in the boat just before sunset and the storm was casually building in the distance, then it got faster and faster and it went from glass to about 40 knots in two minutes,” Mr Martin, who captured the stunning photos on his mobile phone, told the West Australian.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, it was pretty special and it was definitely an eerie feeling.”

Another tugboat operator, Isaac Kneipp, saw the storm approach while at a cyclone mooring off Onslow.

“I have been at sea for 15 years and I’ve been through dozens of cyclones and heavy weather,” he told the newspaper. “But this is one of the most visually spectacular I have seen. The storm lasted about an hour and then went back to calm weather.”

Back on land, the storm plunged daylight into darkness as it passed over Onslow, on the edge of the Pilbara mining region, at about 6pm. Nintey minutes later the gusts had reached 75mph (120km/h).

The spectacle was created as wind and rain caused the storm to dump the sand and dust it had gathered while passing Onslow, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Western Australia is meanwhile bracing today for Tropical Cyclone Narelle – unrelated to the dust storm – which intensified as it approached the Pilbara coast last night.

The bureau said it was unlikely that Narelle, a category four cyclone, would directly hit the mainland, but winds are likely to pick up along the Pilbara coast by tomorrow, with destructive gusts over 80mph (130km/h) expected overnight.

The cyclone, still some 325 miles offshore, is moving southwest at 8mph (13km/h). Very destructive winds with gusts up to 155mph (250km/h) are possible near its centre, the bureau said.

Cyclone alerts have been issued in or near coastal and island communities, including Onslow, where the dust storm struck.

Western Australia’s multibillion-dollar resources industry was preparing for the cyclone, with some iron ore ports set to close and workers in some mines ready to be evacuated.

On the east coast meawhile fire authorities prepared for worsening weather over the weekend as fire crews battle to quell blazes that have raged this week, 14 of them out of control in the most populous state of New South Wales.

Two days of cooler weather brought a brief respite, but heat and high winds returned to much of the country today. Total fire bans are in place across New South Wales and Victoria, as well as the Australian Capital Territory as the record-breaking heatwave continued, with the mercury set to hit low to mid-40C range (above 104F).

“We’ve obviously got severe fire danger,” the NSW Deputy Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Rob Rogers, said. “On the back of those very warm days the vegetation is very dry and all we need is sparks and we will have a fire going.”

Article from The Times and photographs from Corriere della Sera.

 

How I visited every country in the world - without a single flight

Here is an article from Telegraph Travel about a man who went about travelling the world in a somewhat unconventional manner. This would be a wonderful challenge, but even over four years, it seems a shame that he had to do it all in such whirlwind time and not actually spend much time in each country.

'How I visited every country in the world - without a single flight'

Graham Hughes writes exclusively for Telegraph Travel from South Sudan, explaining the highs and lows of his epic, record-breaking journey around the world without taking the plane.

Graham Hughes in Juba, South Sudan

29 November 2012

On the morning of January 1 2009 I took a ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia in Uruguay. This would be the first of many border crossings as I embarked on what I knew would be the biggest adventure of my life: the Odyssey Expedition, the first surface journey to every country in the world. It would take me to more than 200 countries, 60 islands and six continents. I thought I could do it in a year. It took the best part of four.

I would be travelling alone, on a shoestring budget and with no professional support: no camera crew following in 4x4s. It was me against the world.

I undertook this challenge for many reasons: to set a Guinness World Record, to raise money for the charity WaterAid, to have great stories to tell the grandchildren. But the main reason was that I wanted to prove it was possible: to show that all the great travel adventures have not already been done; to show that the world isn’t the terrible scary place so often portrayed in the media; to show that, yes, with a British passport, a fistful of dollars and the right amount of tenacity, grit and patience you can – if you really want to – go anywhere.

The inspiration for this expedition came from two sources. The first was Michael Palin’s Around The World In 80 Days. I was about nine years old when it was first shown on the BBC. I loved it, but I always remember being a little bit disappointed that he didn’t go everywhere. The second was my father, Graham Hughes Snr, who – while other parents took their children to Spanish beaches – would drag the family on camping trips around Europe, popping into crazy places like Andorra and Liechtenstein just to say we’d been there. On one occasion we tried to get into East Germany, but they wouldn’t let us across the border. Then, in the summer of 1990, once the Iron Curtain had fallen, we headed back, visiting not just East Germany, but Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. I still have my piece of the Berlin Wall.

Fast-forward 19 years and here I was charging through South America attempting to be the first person to visit every country without flying. I got to all 12 countries in just two weeks. As I returned across Molston Creek from Surinam into Guyana, I remember thinking “This will be easy!” How wrong I was.

The idea of doing the trip without using aeroplanes came about chiefly because people had already been to every country in the world, but nobody had yet done it without flying. Plus, when you travel through a country on the bus or train, you get a richer, more rewarding experience and you can spend more time with local people. Furthermore, I would have felt dreadful visiting critically endangered nations such as Tuvalu in the Pacific – currently being flooded with salt water every year as a result of global warming – with 155,000 air miles under my belt. Incidentally, it worked out a lot cheaper to do it this way.

The Caribbean was my first stumbling block. I thought it would take two weeks – the islands are incredibly close to each other, usually just an overnight journey on a sailing boat. It took two months. There were no ferries; small cargo ships would do crossings maybe once a week; and nobody wanted to take me to Cuba – the punishment meted out to US citizens by their own government put pretty much everybody off.

Using a combination of sailing boats, banana boats, container ships and cruise liners, I eventually managed to hitchhike my way around the West Indies.

I took a container ship across the Atlantic to Iceland and then headed down to Europe. Ah … Europe! The easiest place in the world to travel around. I bought myself an inter-rail pass and I got to all 50 states in just three weeks.

Then I hit Africa. I travelled down through Morocco and Western Sahara to the border of Mauritania. There I was told visa were no longer being issued on the border. So I headed 1,250 miles back through the Sahara desert to Rabat to get one. I returned to the border the following week. They were now selling visas on the border again. This was my first experience with African bureaucracy. It wouldn’t be my last.

After being told there were no other options, I paid some Senegalese fishermen to take me in a pirogue (a little wooden canoe) to Cape Verde off the west coast of Africa. On arrival in Praia, having survived four days at sea in a leaky boat with no radio, satellite phone or safety equipment, we were all put in jail for six days on suspicion of people smuggling.

After it was all cleared up, I was stuck on the island for six weeks while I waited for a cargo ship to take me – and the fishermen’s pirogue – back. They kept telling me it would be ready to go the next day, then the next day. I ended up being rescued by a German called Milan who took me back to mainland Africa on his sailing boat. The cargo ship in question is now at the bottom of the sea somewhere off the coast of São Tomé .

Two months later, I was arrested again in Brazzaville, Congo. This time they thought I was a spy. I spent another six days in jail, this time in solitary. They deprived me of my shirt, shoes, socks, hat and glasses. It was the worst and most frustrating part of the journey. But once I got out, it just strengthened my resolve to get this damn thing finished.

By the end of the first year I had been to 133 of my (then) list of 200 countries – all of the Americas, Europe and Africa. With only 67 nations left to visit, I was fairly confident of being home for Christmas. Again, I was wrong. Asia was a pain to travel around, not because of corrupt policemen or islands that are difficult to reach, but because of visa regulations. I wasted six weeks in Kuwait waiting for a visa for Saudi Arabia (they wouldn’t issue me with a transit visa), then another four weeks in Dubai waiting for a ship to take me to Pakistan and India.

In December 2010 I reached Papua New Guinea: the 184th nation of the Odyssey Expedition. Asia was done and it was now time to turn my attention to the Pacific. I may have had only 16 countries left to go, but they were all islands. I had to think of a cunning way to visit them all. An Australian offered me a space on his boat which would be sailing to many of the nations I still needed to visit, but after he had kept me hanging on for six months, I realised it was not going to happen.

Then, in July 2011, South Sudan became a country. I now had an extra country to visit. I reverted to plan A: to get around the Pacific Islands using cargo ships. By January 2012 I had made it to New Zealand, where I originally planned to complete the journey, but I still had seven countries left to go: Nauru, Micronesia, Palau, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and the aforementioned South Sudan.

I resolved to head back to my hometown of Liverpool and cross these final frontiers along the way. It has taken me most of 2012, but after 1,426 days on the road, on Monday I crossed the border from Uganda into South Sudan and my odyssey was complete.

It has been a hell of a trip. Highlights include watching one of the last space shuttles take off from Florida, dancing with the highlanders of Papua New Guinea, a close encounter with an orang-utan in Borneo and swimming in a lake full of stingless jellyfish in Palau. Obviously, being thrown into jail was a low point, but it was the loss of my sister, Nicola, last year to cancer that made me question whether I really wanted to continue.

One place that will always stick in my mind is Iran. Instead of the stern, joyless place I expected, it turned out to be the warmest and most hospitable nation in the world. I was treated like an honoured guest by everybody I met. On an overnight bus, an old Persian grandmother smiled at me and passed me her mobile phone. I took it from her, a little nonplussed, and put it to my ear. The guy on the other end told me in perfect English that I was sitting behind his grandmother and she was concerned about me. When I asked why, he told me that the bus got in very early the next day and she was worried that I wouldn’t have anything to eat. She wanted to know if she could take me home with her and cook me breakfast.

What I have learnt from this adventure is that there are good people all over the world; people who will go out of their way to help out a stranger in need. I have learnt that people wherever they live are not that different: we all just want a fair deal. My faith in humanity has been restored, although my faith in politicians is even lower than it was when I started. Finally, I’ve learnt that nobody knows what’s waiting at the end of the line, so we might as well enjoy the trip.

Rome by Valentino

Palazzo Mignanelli, Valentino at his atelier, Palazzo Mignanelli in the centre of Rome

In an article for The Telegraph Travel, Italian fashion designer Valentino writes about the city of Rome.

Rome by Valentino

The fashion designer Valentino pays homage to Rome, the Italian city that inspired him.

Valentino Garavani

30 November 2012

'I moved to Rome in 1958. It’s become my city; it’s as if I was born there. I loved it right from the start. One of the things I like most about it is that it’s the perfect passeggiata city — a city you can get the measure of by simply walking around.

Its monuments, its churches, its streets and piazzas and cobbled lanes unroll before you; you’re surrounded by movement and colour. You go to Trastevere and everyone’s talking in broad Roman dialect, as if in a film starring Alberto Sordi about la vecchia Roma. The whole of humanity is here; in the same street you’ll find shopkeepers alongside aristocrats in their grand, crumbling palazzos. This contrast has an incredible charm, and it’s something you don’t find everywhere in Italy.

So I was immediately fascinated by the city. And of course it has a marvellous climate, and a special quality of light. For a fashion designer, Rome is full of inspiration: there’s a special feeling in the light, the colours, the art, the architecture. I don’t know if the warm reds and oranges that we associate with Roman exteriors influenced my famous “rosso Valentino” shade — they may well have done so subconsciously. But one thing that is undeniable is that I’ve always been obsessed by the search for classical beauty. How could it be otherwise, living in a place like Rome?

One thing I love in clothes, and try to reproduce in my work, is sinuosity: by which I mean clothes that caress the body but also move and float with the person who’s wearing them. Rome is full of movement – it’s a very sinuous city. Think of the Roman Baroque: all those curls and curves that you find carved on church facades. If you transport that into a different medium, a lighter medium, you can create marvellous forms.

I’ve always had my main atelier right in the centre of Rome, a stone’s throw from the Spanish Steps. When I arrived from my apprenticeship in Paris, I had a couture house in Via Condotti. When my business partner Giancarlo Giammetti started helping me we moved into an apartment in Via Gregoriana, then a few years later when space got too tight we moved around the corner into the 16th-century Palazzo Mignanelli.

First we took the whole top floor, then the floor below, then the floor below that – until we’d occupied the whole palazzo, which people now call Palazzo Valentino.

I get out and about in Rome less than I used to, but over the 50 years I’ve been there I’ve covered the length and breadth of the city. One street I love is Via Giulia and the lanes and squares that give on to it, like Renaissance-era Piazza Farnese, which is now the French Embassy. It’s such an elegant street, with its aristocratic palazzos and antique shops and boutiques.

Then there are the consular roads of Ancient Rome. My house is on the corner of the Appia Pignatelli and the Appia Antica, which went all the way down to Brindisi. When I moved there, Appia Pignatelli was a country lane; today it’s a busy road encroached on by ugly blocks of flats. But part of the Roman stretch of the Appia Antica is a no-traffic zone, and with its huge, worn paving stones it’s still a fascinating place where you really feel the spirit of Classical Rome. Maybe that’s why Elizabeth Taylor rented a house there when shooting Cleopatra at the Cinecittà film studios. Today it belongs to Franco Zeffirelli; we’re practically next-door neighbours.

I also love the sweeping view of the centro storico from the Gianicolo hill. And of course the Spanish Steps, which are simply extraordinary, with Bernini’s lovely Barcaccia fountain at the bottom.

I suppose all the places I’ve mentioned are very scenographic, sets just waiting for their actors. Which is why the haute couture fashion shows I organised for three years running on the Spanish Steps and in Piazza Mignanelli were so right for the location. The whole area between Via del Babuino and the Spanish Steps was packed with people; there were cameras swooping around on cranes, beautiful girls were making their entrances from piazza doors and gliding up and down the steps. I was proud to give this to Rome. If you think of those Baroque pageants they used to put on in Roman piazzas, it’s not that different.

But the show to end all shows was in 2007 for the 45th anniversary of my life in fashion. The mayor of Rome allowed us to use the Temple of Venus in the Forum, which is usually off limits to everyone but the Pope, who addresses the crowds from there during the Easter Via Crucis procession.

There were fireworks over the Colosseum and an aerial ballet. Dante Ferretti, who has won three Oscars for his production design, did the lighting, and helped build a Chinese pavilion in the Borghese Gardens for a dinner for 700 people. And we staged an unforgettable show in the old pilgrim hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia, near the Vatican. The three-day extravaganza was my thank-you to the city; I wanted to give something back.

One of my favourite Roman restaurants – a real classic – is Al Moro, near the Trevi Fountain. It was one of Fellini’s favourite places to eat, too; he even gave the former owner a walk-on part in one of his films. I’m not a huge restaurant person – I’m just as happy eating at home or with friends – but when I do go I love these old-fashioned Roman restaurants with old-fashioned service; two others in the same style are Dal Bolognese in Piazza del Popolo and Nino in Via Borgognona, which is just along the road from my atelier.

Romans have always been happy-go-lucky types, good talkers, good eaters and drinkers. They’re more stressed than they used to be – but this is a worldwide thing. At heart, Rome is a vibrant, happy place.'

Flooding Hits Tuscany

The swollen River Arno flows under the Ponte Vecchio in Florence

Three dead as Italy flooding hits Tuscany Three people died on Tuesday when their car fell into a swollen river as torrential rain caused widespread flooding in Tuscany and Umbria.

by Nick Squires, Rome

13 November 2012

The flooding in central Italy followed heavy rain and an unusually high tide in Venice – the sixth highest level since records began in 1872 – which left nearly three-quarters of the lagoon city under water. The three people feared to have drowned – two men and a woman – were believed to be employees of Enel, Italy's biggest electricity company. The car they were travelling in was swept off a collapsed bridge in Grosseto, a few miles inland from the Tuscan coast. The deaths brought the death toll from the bad weather to four – on Monday a 73-year old man was swept away in his car by floodwaters near the town of Capalbio, also on the coast of Tuscany.

Elsewhere in the region, normally known for its sun-baked summers and idyllic landscapes, people were plucked from their roofs of their flooded homes by rescue helicopters. As rivers broke their banks, more than 100 people were forced to flee their homes and take refuge in emergency shelters. The towns of Orbetello and Albinia were inundated with water, with the latter "looking like Venice", according to Italian news reports. In Rome, the Tiber was so swollen that it was no longer possible to walk or cycle along its banks. Major roads and railway lines were blocked.

Enrico Rossi, the head of Tuscany's regional government, said the flooding was so severe that it required intervention by the army. He said floods had worsened in recent years and blamed global warming. "Climate change is causing ever more serious flooding," Mr Rossi told Corriere della Sera. "We can no longer postpone the work that needs to be done." He called for 50 million euros a year for the next 10 years to build new bridges and embankments. The flooding in Venice on Sunday and Monday allowed tourists to pull on their swimming costumes and go take a dip in St Mark's Square, the lowest lying part of the city. The level of the water reached 149 centimetres – the highest since 2008.

The flooding underlined the need for a multi-billion pound flood protection barrier to be completed as quickly as possible, the consortium behind the project said. The Moses flood prevent project entails the construction of giant steel gates across the three inlets through which water from the Adriatic surges into Venice's lagoon. The 300-tonne hinged panels will be fixed to massive concrete bases dug into the sea bed and will be raised whenever a dangerously high tide is predicted. Inaugurated by Silvio Berlusconi, the then prime minister, in 2003, it was due to be completed this year but is now expected to be operational in 2016. The consortium, the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, said that had the much-delayed project been up and running on Sunday, Venice would have remained dry. "This high tide underlines the urgency and necessity of completing the project quickly," it said in a statement.

Source

Sistine Chapel

A photograph I took of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling in Rome a few years ago; Michelangelo's masterpiece is now 500 years old!

Here is an article from BBC News about the artwork.

Sistine Chapel ceiling at 500: The Vatican's dilemma

Alan Johnston, BBC News, Rome

31 October 2012

The Vatican has indicated for the first time that it might eventually need to consider limiting the number of visitors to the Sistine Chapel, 500 years after its completion.

Michelangelo's famous frescoes have been described as one of the world's supreme sights. In scene after scene, some of the Old Testament's most powerful stories unfold. And at the centre of this vast work is one of the best known images in Western art; the depiction of God reaching out to touch Adam into life.

But for some, the room has become a victim of its own fame and magnificence. They say it just attracts far too many tourists. Twenty-thousand visitors pour through the Chapel's doors every day; more than five million a year. And the Italian literary critic, Pietro Citati, recently launched a searing attack on the Vatican authorities for allowing in such huge numbers. Writing in the pages of Corriere della Sera newspaper he went as far as to describe the crowding on an average visit as an "unimaginable disaster". "In the universal confusion no-one saw anything," he wrote. And speaking to the BBC he reinforced his criticism. "The Sistine Chapel was full of people - a huge crowd, packed tightly together... and they were all breathing! There was this dense 'human-ness'! Human sweat. It was horrendous." Mr Citati said that this endless, rising, humid "wall of human breath" could be damaging for the priceless frescoes above.

Responding to this kind of criticism, the director of the Vatican Museums, Antonio Paolucci, acknowledged that there was a "serious problem". He said that the whole doctrine of the Catholic Church was set out in the images in the Sistine Chapel, and that he wanted everyone who visited to be able to appreciate that symbolic system. But Mr Paolucci accepted that that was not easy to do when the room is packed. "It becomes noisy, people are confused, bewildered - it's hard to understand." he said. "Too many people make it uncomfortable... and it also creates a problem for the conservation of the frescoes." Mr Paolucci said plans to improve the ventilation and counter the threat from humidity in the Chapel would be unveiled soon.

But he also said that, ultimately, steps might have to be taken to restrict the numbers allowed in. "We may get to that point - if necessary - a so-called 'limited number' of visitors," Mr Paolucci said. "But so far we've tried to avoid this because the Sistine Chapel for those who visit the Vatican is not only a place of art but also a spiritual, religious place."'A living death'

There is an argument that it should be made as easy as possible for any pilgrim coming to Rome to see this room that has such a significant place in the Catholic world. The Sistine Chapel is also a papal conclave where the College of Cardinals meets to elect a new Pope And just a matter of weeks ago, in a newspaper article, Mr Paolucci said it would be as "unthinkable" to limit access to the Sistine Chapel as it would be to limit access to the famous shrine at Lourdes.

But the critic, Mr Citati takes a darker view, arguing that it is all about money. The Church makes a significant amount out of visitors to the Chapel and the other delights of the Vatican Museums. Everybody in the long queues in St Peter's Square is paying more than 15 euros (£12.50) for a ticket. But it is possible though to avoid the masses if you can spare close to 220 euros for a private tour. Each involves about 10 people who are allowed into the Chapel outside the standard opening hours. Mr Citati is not the first person to take issue with the number of visitors being allowed into the Chapel. Writing shortly before his recent death, the art critic Robert Hughes recalled reading of the German writer, Goethe, visiting the Chapel 200 years ago. Back then the Sistine was "a place where one could be alone, or nearly so, with the products of genius," Hughes wrote. "The very idea seems absurd, today; a fantasy. Mass tourism has turned what was a contemplative pleasure for Goethe's contemporaries into an ordeal more like a degrading rugby scrum." He said that painting was a silent art, that deserved silence from those who came to view it.

But these days the Sistine Chapel is filled with the sound of its murmuring mass of visitors. And it is hard to ignore the conversations around you. "Can you imagine someone painting this... with a brush!" an American tourist exclaimed to his companions on a recent visit. Then they discussed what Michelangelo would have been paid. And soon afterwards they were laughing out loud, thoroughly enjoying themselves but prompting an angry security man to come stalking over, glaring at them, and "shushing". It was the sort of exchange that drains the place of the spiritual intensity that Michelangelo wanted to give it.

Robert Hughes said the modern atmosphere in the Sistine represented "a kind of living death for high culture" at the hands of mass culture. And with its talk now of the possibility of eventually limiting numbers, perhaps the Vatican is beginning to feel the same way.

Commissioned by Pope Julius II, Michelangelo began work in July 1508, and the ceiling was unveiled on 1 November 1512. Michelangelo accepted the commission unwillingly at first as he considered himself to be a sculptor rather than a painter. The Sistine ceiling was the first, but not the last fresco Michelangelo undertook. The central ceiling vault depicts nine scenes from the Book of Genesis: three of the Creation, three the fall of Adam and Eve and three of the story of Noah. The Sistine Chapel was named for Pope Sixtus IV, the uncle of Pope Julius II. Michelangelo later said: "After four tortured years, more than 400 over life-size figures, I felt as old and as weary as Jeremiah. I was only 37, yet friends did not recognise the old man I had become."

Biciclette

Article on The Telegraph about the increased popularity of bicycles in Italy.

More bikes sold than cars in Italy for first time since WW2

For the first time since the end of the Second World War the number of bicycles sold in Italy has overtaken the number of cars.

2 October 2012

By Nick Squires, Rome

In a radical departure for the car-mad country, home to legendary marques such as Fiat, Ferrari and Lamborghini, 1,750,000 bikes were bought in 2011 compared to 1,748,000 motor vehicles.

As austerity cuts deepen and petrol prices hit a new high, the purchase of new cars has dropped to levels not seen since the 1970s.

Families are buying bikes, ditching their second cars and signing up to car pool schemes – a major shift for a nation which has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, with around 60 cars for every 100 people.

Car ownership became a symbol of the Italian economic miracle in the 1960s and has steadily grown since, but as unemployment rises and living costs soar, it has become an unaffordable luxury for many Italian families.

Petrol recently hit two euros a litre, the highest in Europe, and it is estimated that the average car in Italy costs €7,000 a year to run.

More than 60 years after the making of ‘The Bicycle Thief’, a classic film about a man desperately hunting for the stolen bike that he needs for work, Italians have also hauled around 200,000 rusty old bikes from their garden sheds and attics and restored them to roadworthiness.

“More and more people are deciding to bring their old models out of the garage or the cellar,” said Pietro Nigrelli, of industry association Confindustria.

“Bikes are easy to use and they cost little. And on distances of five kilometres or less, they are often faster than other modes of transport.”

Out of a population of 60 million, 6.5 million Italians use a bike to get to work or school, while 10.5 million use them occasionally, mostly at weekends.

Italians have a new-found appreciation of the convenience of bikes and the fact that they do not pollute the environment.

“People who have only ever driven cars are changing their thinking,” Antonio Della Venezia, the president of the Italian Federation of Bike Lovers, told La Repubblica newspaper.

“I don’t think Italy will go back to the levels of cars sales that we saw before 2008.”

As bike sales boom, the car industry is going through its worst crisis for decades – new car sales in August were down 20pc on the year before.

Sergio Marchionne, the head of Fiat, said last month that "anyone operating in the automotive sector in Europe today is experiencing varying degrees of unhappiness. The European car market is a disaster".

Italians are not just cutting down on their beloved cars – they are also spending less on food and groceries.

Six out of ten Italian families have cut their expenditure on food, including staples such as olive oil and milk, according to a study by Coldiretti, the country’s main agricultural association.

Consumer spending is expected to fall by more than three per cent by the end of this year, the sharpest drop since Italy was founded as a republic in 1946, according to Confcommercio, a consumer association.

The only sectors bucking the crisis are mobile phones, computers and discount supermarket chains, the association said in a report.

Star Wars Palace Facing Ruin

This is heartbreaking. An article found here on The Telegraph, also posted below, reveals the impact of the global recession on historical buildings such as Reggia di Caserta, an Italian palace in Caserta, southern Italy. Originally a royal palace, it was built for the Bourbon king of Naples; the largest palace and one of the largest buildings constructed in 18th Century Europe. Although designated to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997; its status has not saved it from deterioration. Here is a post I wrote about Reggio di Caserta; its history and design.

Star Wars palace facing ruin

Italian heritage officials have raised the alarm over the deteriorating state of a palace which has featured in a number of Hollywood films, including Star Wars, after pieces of falling masonry nearly struck a group of tourists.

by Nick Squires, Rome

8 October 2012

Cultural heritage authorities have appealed to the Italian government for urgent funds to preserve the former Bourbon royal palace of Caserta, near Naples, which has been called Italy's answer to Versailles.

Last week a family of visitors was almost hit by a chunk of cornice which fell from the facade of the huge palace, which doubled up as the Vatican in Mission: Impossible III and the prequel to the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons.

Paola Raffaella David, a senior cultural heritage official in the region, said the fact that bits were crumbling off the vast palace was "serious".

"In the last 10 days two pieces of the exterior have collapsed as a result of the deterioration of the iron clamps which hold the marble to the facade.

"We are seriously worried because the piece of the cornice that broke off comes from an area that was restored only 30 years ago." She called on the culture ministry to carry out urgent inspections of all the entrances to the building, through which thousands of visitors pass each day.

It is estimated that up to seven million euros (£5.66 million) are needed to carry out repairs and restoration – a sum that may be hard to come by as Italy buckles under government spending cuts and a tough austerity drive.

"We will try to find the money. We have the duty to protect this monument, which is a World Heritage site," said Gregorio Angelini, the director of cultural heritage for the Campania region.

The palace was commissioned by a Bourbon monarch, King Charles III, in the 1750s and was intended to rival Versailles.

One of the largest palaces in Europe, it has 1,200 rooms and took nearly a century to build.

In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, it stood in for the palace of Queen Amidala, played by Natalie Portman.

In November last year the palace had to be temporarily closed because there was not enough money to pay the 150 staff to work on a public holiday.