Country Italy is very hilly and very green, covered with trees, every now and then a village or town appears atop a hill or a mountain all built in the old traditional style of Tuscany, clearly something we have never seen in Aus.
Whilst on the tour it is hard to explain just what it is like walking into a place early 2000 years old, the Romans were fantastic engineers considering the tools they must have worked with. The physical size and boundaries of ancient Rome are just outstanding remebering they would have done all the mining for marble and stone, transporting, cutting and carving and placement of the stone with only the most rudimentary of tools and equipment - not to mention the design and architecture.
View from the bus
Whilst on the tour it is hard to explain just what it is like walking into a place early 2000 years old, the Romans were fantastic engineers considering the tools they must have worked with. The physical size and boundaries of ancient Rome are just outstanding remebering they would have done all the mining for marble and stone, transporting, cutting and carving and placement of the stone with only the most rudimentary of tools and equipment - not to mention the design and architecture.
Historic Rome is fabulous but immensely busy, the normal part of Rome where people live is not so attractive so its not a place I would want to live. Graffiti everywhere and virtually no houses, all apartment buildings which is the way they live.
The visit to Siena was brief but we were able to walk the streets a bit, view the Piazza del Campo where the famous horse race is run and soak up some of the atmosphere. The Florentine architectual style is evident in the basilicas all around this part of Italy, it is very (very) ornate and visually surprising to the eyes of us from Australia. The Duomo di Siena is a fine and stricking example of the Florentine style.
Moved from there and now in Firenza (Florence) which is not as packed but there are still 10 tour buses lined up outside two hotels! Walked to see the Michelangelo stature of David, at some 5 metres tall in almost pure white marble its just amazing in detail and accuracy, it took 28 months of work and he finished it when only 26 years old, truly remarkable as it was all done without a life model or anything, just memory.
The visit to Siena was brief but we were able to walk the streets a bit, view the Piazza del Campo where the famous horse race is run and soak up some of the atmosphere. The Florentine architectual style is evident in the basilicas all around this part of Italy, it is very (very) ornate and visually surprising to the eyes of us from Australia. The Duomo di Siena is a fine and stricking example of the Florentine style.
The Piazza del Campo at Siena
The ornate Duomo di Siena basilica
Duomo di Siena belltower
Not very interested in Siena
A street in Siena
Moved from there and now in Firenza (Florence) which is not as packed but there are still 10 tour buses lined up outside two hotels! Walked to see the Michelangelo stature of David, at some 5 metres tall in almost pure white marble its just amazing in detail and accuracy, it took 28 months of work and he finished it when only 26 years old, truly remarkable as it was all done without a life model or anything, just memory.
Firenza
Ponte Vecchio
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