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Posts Tagged ‘Roman’

Take A Walk In Rome, See Typical Shops And Handcraft Workshops!

July 31st, 2009 No comments
by Cristiano Rubbi

The centre of an old city like Rome is not only art and history but is made up of sensations, feelings and atmosphere. Walk along the narrow streets and quietly pick-up the ancient spirit and the smells that have made it so fascinating and kept it alive till now.

Old stores, workshops and street stalls still exist in Italy and make an ancient city like Rome as unique as it is. Of course these stores and workshops and little markets are typical in little villages but Rome is certainly well equipped, especially in the centre, in the old part of the city.

Would you like to visit a very typical suburb of Rome? Visit San Lorenzo! The stone work and marble and statues of all shapes and sizes are to be found there. Not to speak of the very characteristic name signs for old time mechanics. Very Roman in their attitude.

Have you not had the opportunity to use your credit cards? Via de’ Coronari, near Piazza Navona and the Pantheon is the place to go to. See antiques, jewels, prints, carpets and anything else you may wish to give free vent to your fancy.

There are two ways of approaching a vacation in Rome. One is that you bring an extra suitcase or buy another one on the spot or simply do window shopping! It is not less gratifying and less enjoyable than the first. You can always pick-up the trend in fashion and the colors that go with the season you are travelling in.

Are you looking for something really special to take back home? There is tiny little shop in Via de’ Coronari that is a collectors’ dream from jewels to old medals, from frames to expensive paintings and whatever may come to your head can be found in Il Collezionista at No 198.

Travelling with children? Get your child’s haircut done in Via Metastasio No 17 where a barber called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will gladly entertain your children on a rocking horse or miniature car instead of the same old chair. Your children will want to come back!

Piazzetta San Simeone not far from Via de’ Coronari is where Osteria dell’Antiquario is and is ready to welcome you for a typical Roman meal. Don’t want to spend too much? Half way between Campo de’ Fiori and Largo Argentina is a very small historic place of the 50′s that offers stuffed fried zucchini flowers and fried fish.

More on food, between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon is a super pizza shop that exclusively at lunch time makes the most delicious and varied sliced take-away pizza. Everything under the sun is stuffed onto this pizza at a very reasonable price. A little story to go with this: 2 little kids go back to school after summer holidays. One little kid says to the other: “my father has just opened a pizza shop and the peculiarity is that you can ask him to top your pizza with anything at all”. He asks his friend to come along and he will serve him personally. In the evening his little friend is out to catch him on that statement and orders a pizza with whale. He waits patiently for his friend to return with his pizza and grins to see him come back without it. He thinks to himself: “I got you”. His friend’s reply is: “my dad says that he’s not going to cut up a whale just for a simple slice of pizza”.

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The Wonders of Ancient Egypt

May 8th, 2009 No comments

The recent contest to create a list of the New Seven Wonders of the World gave special recognition to the Great Pyramids, who were one of the original seven wonders listed by ancient historian Herodotus. If you visit Egypt today, there are many wonders for you to explore.

Kom Ombo Temple: The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic dynasty in the Egyptian town of Kom Ombo. The building is unique because its ‘double’ design meant that there were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. The northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris. The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.

Edfu Temple: The Temple of Edfu is an ancient Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in the city of Edfu which was known in Greco-Roman times as Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus-Apollo. It is the second largest temple in Egypt after Karnak and one of the best preserved. The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, was built in the Greek period between 237 and 57 BC. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Greco-Roman period in Egypt.

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali: The Alabaster Mosque is situated in the Citadel of Cairo and commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848. Situated on the summit of the citadel the mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century and is most visible mosque in Cairo. The mosque, along with the citadel, are the landmarks and big tourist attractions in Cairo. Its beauty rivals those of European cathedrals.

Temple of Karnak: Karnak a vast complex of ruined temples, pillars and other buildings. It is located near Luxor in Egypt. It was the most holy place in Ancient Egypt, the main place of worship of the Theban Triad with Amun as its head. It is the largest temple or temple complex in all of Egypt.

The Sphinx: Beneath the shadow of the Great Pyramid lies the mysterious Sphinx. Buried by sand over the years, the Sphinx was re-discovered by European in the 19th Century. It is the largest monumental sculpture of antiquity in the world today. It can be visited as part of any trip to the Pyramids when in Cairo.

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