Rome

Our holiday started when we stayed overnight in a hotel near Barcelona airport and were visited by our good friends Maria and Juan.

Our first stop in Rome was to collect our Omnia and Roma passes from the office near Sant Giovanni in Laterno...

...and then have a look around inside.

The same day we took the tourist bus to the Vatican museum and saw many wondrous things including the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.

Hundreds of people were passing through the chapel kept on the move constantly by the attendants who repeatedly were shouting at them to keep quiet. We were lucky enough to find a space to sit at the side where we spent 30 minutes studying the ceiling during which I felt touched by the splendour and grandeur of what we were looking at. 

As you are not allowed to take photos in the chapel we bought 2 large posters as we exited and it is photos of those you see above. One question people ask related to the "Creation of Man" is, "If God has just created Adam, why does he have a navel?"

After pizza for lunch in the Museum restaurant we headed to the Trevi Fountain only to find that it was in a state of renovation. However, not everyone can say they have walked over the Trevi Fountain; a special walkway had been erected for visitors so they could get a closer look.

By chance we had bought a painting of the fountain from an artist while we were at the Vatican museum so we can see what it is supposed to look like.

The next day we saw the inside of Saint Peter's Basilica including a trip to the top of the dome, the cupola,...

...and had pizza for lunch in a restaurant nearby...

...then in the afternoon we wandered around the city to see some old ruins.

The following day we continued exploring the city...

...and after another lunchtime pizza we headed up to the Piazza Spagna where Margaret discovered Via Condotti...

which is the centre for a lot of designer shops.

On Saturday the weather started a little on the dull side as we explored the Colosseum...

...and made our way to Palatine Hill to see the Roman Forum below.

In the afternoon we went to the Piazza Venezia and the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy.

The view from the top over the city was well worth the cost of the lift to get to the top.

Sunday started off wet, presumably as it was the morning of the Rome marathon with 20,000 runners in the rain. We went to the Castel Sant'Angelo...

...where, as you can see, we were photo bombed by an angel!

For lunch we found a restaurant which specialised in battered cod and chips.

The weather on Monday was superb again so we went to the coast, to Ostia, the ancient sea port of Rome.

This time lunch was traditional pasta,...

...we saw the mouth of the Tiber...

...then back to the hotel for a nice cup of tea.

On Tuesday, our last day for sightseeing, we visited the Roman Baths of Caracalla...

...which are wonderful and should be on every tourist's agenda although maybe the best thing about them was that there were so few people there!

On leaving the baths we walked down to the Arch of Drusus which was once part of the system for providing the baths with water.

Finally, a rather late afternoon lunch at the Restaurant Sacco, well worth a visit!

After several gruelling days and nights it's finally complete - "ROME, our holiday slide show."

So, as there's nothing on TV tonight, get your favourite pizza, a bottle of Chianti and enjoy watching this spectacle by clicking HERE.

We hope you enjoy viewing all of our photos, 624 of them, as much as we did taking them.

Next on my list of things to do, "ROME, the holiday video"!

Medieval Fayre at Cretas

It's the annual Medieval Fayre held at Cretas this weekend so we went along on Sunday afternoon to have a look around.

We just had to buy a loaf of bread which had been made in the log burning oven brought especially for the weekend and very good bread it is too, quite different from the ordinary stuff from the supermarket.

Another purchase was a delightful bowl the same as the ones on the table, back, right. Even though they are all the same style, they are all different as they are hand made.

And to go in the new bowl, what could be better than some of these very large, full of flavour olives? Delicious!

One of the great things about this fayre is the way that the stall holders, as well as the people of the village, dress in appropriate costume. It gives the whole thing an authentic feel.

There are lots of traditional crafts going on too.

Another purchase we made was some sheep's cheese apparently from the north-west of Spain, Galicia. It travels well!

One of the other items we bought was a tub of beeswax so everything around the house will be nourished and bright and shiny soon!

This is a delightful annual event and is deservedly well supported.

Two great artists.

When our neighbour Paco said we must come and see his etchings I was a little sceptical. (Joke!) 

However, this evening we went with some of our friends to the opening of his exhibition in Valderrobres Castle and what we saw was absolutely delightful.

That's Paco in the middle.

He uses many different techniques under the heading of lithography to produce some very interesting pieces.

Margaret's favourite was the agave flower stem above with the additional use of colour.

My favourite was the sunflower which incorporated the use of carborundum.

And of course, Paco had to include a print of the venue.

Upstairs in the great hall of the castle there were some original pieces by another artist.

Although these are examples of his early work, you could see how his style was developing.

And the name of this artist? Pablo Picasso.

However, having studied all of the exhibits by both artists we preferred those by our neighbour Paco Celma Granja.