Ostia Antica – Dutch goes the Photo!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 211

A climb toward the heavens…

Welcome to the 211th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

In this second week of being back in the saddle this new year, it’s fun to see all the great entries that you contributed! Thank you very much for such great work! Your twists on this theme were a pleasure to read and view, and it’s great to see that all the twists come together in this manner.

Here’s a twist that I had to ascend…

During our vacation in Italy, my wife and I started in Ostia Antica, the ancient port city of Rome; there we found the castle of Pope Julius II, who valued his privacy, judging by the fortifications.

Please enjoy the following blog posts:

Diane kicked things off in her post in pensivity101 with a wonderful bit of prose inspired by the image of the tree twisting up into the sky in the abbey’s courtyard. Beautifully done!
There’s a wonderful capture of the twist of the vine in this week’s entry in Geriatri’X’ Fotogallery; the view of the vine, makes me wonder what lovely grapes will grow there!
Maria twists our perceptions in her post in Kamerapromenader, as she brings us a very creative approach in PhotoShop! Great twist!
Brian takes us into Nature’s creative realm in his post in Bushboy’s World, as Mother Nature displays great variety in her choice!
In another great post in Wanderlust and Wonderment, we are treated to a magnificent twist of Nature, learn the ropes and get to shout about it! Check it out!
Teresa brings us another amazing photo in her post in My Camera & I, which shows us how life can adapt to the forces put upon it!
Alice shows off a rather nautical theme in the fence in her post in The 59 Club; great capture and angle on this one!
There are some rather significant twists in an amazing shot in David M’s Photoblog, as both the hungry ones and the patient parent contort for this shot!
Nicole provides us with the pleasure of another stunning photo in her post in Une Photo, Un Poéme; the capture of the twists in this tree is gorgeous!
Ken not only shows off his photos skills in a great post in Pictures without Film, as he also shares his rich sense of humor in this post! Love it!!
Xenia brings on her Whippetwisdom in a lovely post, which features some of my favorite subjects: dogs and driftwood, plus I love the poetry as well!
Cee has us all twisted up in her contribution in Cee’s Photo Challenges! Those twists are both whimsical and utilitarian with a hint of Samba!
Sandy brings us Winter with a twist in her post in Out o f my Write Mind, combining the chills and beauty in an artful manner!
The lovely photo and quote in Sgeoil‘s post made me think of the Fates of greek mythology, as they spin, draw out and cut the thread of life. Wonderfully done!

Please let all these wonderful authors know how much you enjoy their blog posts!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 170

Sculpture everywhere…

Welcome to the 170th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

What an amazing set of sculptures were featured in your posts! It was especially wonderful to see some of the rather unusual sculptures that you captured in your adventures. It would be interesting to map all of your photos across the globe, as you covered a wide variety of locations; also, I noticed that some of your paths intersected across time, which gives that small planet feeling!

Thank you for a tremendous set of posts, which were a joy to read and peruse. I hope you had fun with them as well!

Here’s another piece of sculpture…

One of the wonderful discoveries during our trip to Italy, was the archaeological park ‘Gli Scavi di Ostia Antica’, which is a must visit, as it gives a great sense of what the ancient port city of Rome was like. During our wanderings through these excavations, we came upon this piece of sculpture below ground; it was worth getting there and finding this example of the cult of Mithras…

Please enjoy the following blog posts:

Maria kicks things off in Reykjavik, Iceland, as she captures the Sun Voyager in her blog Kamerapromenader! Her approach is wonderful in these images!
Sarah brings sculpture into perspective in her post in By Sarah; the photo looks amazing!
This week’s incredible post in Don’t Hold Your Breath has us visiting the library of Celsus with some stunning sculptures!
Brian features a couple of truly interesting sculptures in Bushboy’s World, both of which contrast one another nicely!
This week’s post for the theme in pensivity101 goes very literary with a Midsummer Night’s Dream…fantastic!
Na’ama takes us to a nice quiet break in Na’ama Yehuda, as we get wrapped up in a story during reading time…
Sometimes a statue can look down on the passing crowds with a bit of disdain, as we see in theOnlyD800intheHameau! Great shot and sculpture!
Indira brings us some amazing sculptures in her post in Sharing Thoughts; which is your favorite?
Ken brings us a more ephemeral type of sculpture in his blog Pictures without Film; it’s stunning and looks right at home!
In a wonderful post in the blog The Jesh Studio, we get to see a good variety of sculpture, some of which looks familiar…
With another fantastic image, Chateaux des Fleurs brings us an amazing sculpture that makes me want to stop by and meet them!
A very cool post in the59Club bids us all to come together with a great sculpture in Eschenbach and song to inspire us!
Jackie may have shared only a single piece of sculpture in her post in Junk Boat Travels, but it’s filled with wonderful figures that made my mind fill with joy!
Jase takes us to a significant memorial in Proscenium, as we visit the World Trade Center site.
David finds sculpture in interesting places in his post in David M’s Photoblog; his photos are simply stunning!
Teresa has us join her on a visit to Bilbao in her post in Travel with Tech, where we visit the Guggenheim Museum and can’t help but hang with Puppy!
Marie’s wonderful post in the New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect features a wonderful set of sculptures in Lisbon, which appear imprisoned…
Ann-Christine gives us another view of the Sun Voyager in her post in To See a World in a Grain of Sand…; she managed to find a moment without a ton of people…
Xenia takes us to a wonderful location in her blog, Tranature, as we encounter great sculpture in Knockan Crag Nature Reserve. Xenia and her whippets provides us a more detailed view of these great sculptures in WhippetWisdom; a really awesome post!
Debbie shares a fantastic image in her post Travel with Intent, which features the sculptures of Plensa; these sculptures are certainly intriguing! Another post in Travel with Intent has us visiting Moldova!
Robert’s photo in Photo Roberts Blog highlights an interesting piece of sculpture, which he captured perfectly!
Cee features some unusual sculptures in her post in Cee’s Photography; they have a very organic quality to them!
Sandy takes to Nature in her post in Out of My Write Mind; the sculpture is something amazing!
Woolly gets technical on us in a great post in Woolly Muses, and differentiates between sculpture and statue; his photos highlight both wonderfully and look fantastic!
Lots of amazing sculpture in a wonderful post in Life Amazing, which has a couple that really make me smile!
iball round the world gives us the opportunity to consider whether or not we would spend close to a million dollars on a rat…it’s a rather cool rat!
Quincy has a great view of a some amazing sculptures in Q’s Place, which are definitely classics!
That’s a very interesting piece of sculpture in For the Love of…; it brings a message with it!
We get a gentle reminder in a very cool post in Heart 2 Heart, which is not to screw up! Of course, the reminder is in the form of sculpture!
There is certainly something special about a bridge being protected by a monkey, as we see in Geriatri’x’ Fotogallery! Fantastic image!
Jez takes their camera for a walk and the results are in the post in Jez Braithwaite, which is some fantastic images of cool sculpture!
This week, we go Take a Walk and Discover... to encounter a truly stunning Buddha!
Carol’s wonderful post in The Apples in my Orchard just makes me want to break out into a song and create some letters! Very cool sculpture!
Kristina’s blog is looking for enchantment…, and judging from the post for this week’s theme, we should not disenchant her. Wonderful post and Gorgon!
Eliza introduces us to some amazing sculpture in Silkeborg, Denmark, in her post in Albatz Adventures; I particularly like ‘Busting to pee’!
Sonya shares a wonderful photo in her post in Middleton Road, which is very apt on the eve of a rugby match!
Deb finds a really interesting piece of sculpture for her post in Twenty-Four; I’m just waiting for the horse to step forward!
Sculpture can sometimes be extremely lifelike, as we see in A Day in the Life; what are your thoughts on these?
There’s nothing light about the sculpture that we see in Land of Images; or maybe there is….
In another great photo in OneMillionPhotographs, we get up close and personal with a lovely piece at the Art Institute of Chicago.
A wonderful post in XingFuMama shows off some of the great sculpture at Seattle’s waterfront.
Irene finds a watchful owl in her post in Heaven’s Sunshine, which is in Frederik Meijer Gardens; it’s stunning!
A magnificent post in Len Journeys examines sculptures made of a variety of materials. I am very impressed with this array of images!
A very interesting photo in Musin’ with Susan has us relaxing at the plaza, which is a great thing to do! Also, take a look at the challenges that Susan entered in this post in Musin’ with Susan!
The circus is the focus of a magnificent post in One Letter Up – Diary 2.0; those are a lovely set of sculptures!

Please let all of these great bloggers know your thoughts about their posts!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 162

Around and round she goes…

Welcome to the 162nd round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

You Towered to new heights!! Your posts provided a wide array of towers and towering structures and objects! You certainly expressed your creativity through the photography and words that you brought into your entries. There were some stunning images and some that made me smile, which made it a joy to read each of your blog posts. I hope you enjoy reading each others’ posts as well!

Thank you for another great week of challenge responses!

Here’s an old-style approach to conquering a tower…

This image comes from our vacation to Italy in 2017; in the lovely town of Ostia Antica, we found the papal castle of Julius II, which made for an interesting visit. As there was a slight communication problem, we didn’t get the idea of having to stay outside the castle until our guide was ready. As we got to the top of the castle, a local worker yelled at us in very animated Italian, as we were lacking a ‘casco‘… It took me a while to figure out that we needed hard hats 🙂

Sarah starts things this week in her post in By Sarah; the tower she captured is a staggering 640 feet tall!
A really interesting tower is featured in MV Obsession‘s post; the last remaining WW II lookout tower in New Jersey!
Shelley’s post in Quaint Rev i val is a must-read! I dare you not to laugh while reading it… Might I suggest lasagna for Dessy?
Serendipity is at play, as you see in Jackie’s post in Junk Boat Travels: the tower is a bit of a lean-to, but well known!
Alice’s photo in her post in the 59 Club is gorgeous! The landscape and church are stunning.
Xenia shows how Nature can tower in her post in WhippetWisdom with her wonderful whippets! In a second post in Tranature, we get to enjoy Loch Assynt and a mysterious tower!
In this week’s entry in pensivity101 we are reminded that towering can be relative…it’s all a matter of perspective!
Ken breaks out a towering tower in his post in Pictures without Film; that’s a great photo!
Nicole takes us to Bucharest in her blog Une Photo, Un Poéme with a lovely photo that shows a rather cool tower!
If there’s a word to describe the photo in Chateaux des Fleur‘s entry for the theme, I think it’s simply WOW!
This week’s post in Don’t Hold Your Breath takes us to Imagination Valley in Cappadocia. The ancient dwellings and towers are just amazing!
Maria’s entry in Kamerapromenader takes us to Uppsala, where the cathedral really towers over us!
Mike shows us some different towers in Photography OCD, where he shares a wonderful shot of silos in Wrightsville.
Prasath’s post in MyTravelCSP brings us some beautiful photos of cell phone towers.
Jase’s post in Proscenium features some towering mountains, as well as those who tower over us… Cool post!
Marie’s photo in the New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect shows us a truly stunning structure: a tower of glass!
We get to see another amazing photo from theonlyD800inthehameau with the towering church in Oradour-sur-Glane.
With a wonderful pair of photos in Heart to Heart, we get to see the CN Tower in two completely different surroundings…
In Land of Images there’s ample evidence that Nature has created some towering structures. The photo is gorgeous!
Debbie brings us along to Azerbaijan in her post in Travel with Intent; the Maiden Tower is definitely a unique structure!
Eliza assembled an incredible array of towers in Albatz Travel Adventures, which is a wonderful blog. Which is your favorite tower?
This week’s entry in i Ball Round the World connects perfectly with last week’s vista, as we get to see the Montparnasse tower!
Sandy takes us to the peak in her post in Out of My Write Mind, as she shares a great photo and lovely poem!
David’s post for this week’s theme in David M’s Photoblog may have you thinking that you’re looking at a lighthouse… Read this great post to see what it really is!
Irene’s post for this week’s entry in Heaven’s Suns h ine certainly captures towering over the desert!
Brian’s post in Bushboy’s World is titled ‘So many towers’; indeed there are and I wonder how many people can identify!
Travel with Tech takes us to the Philippines, where we get see amazing towers with a rich history and great beauty!
Susan captured a rather useful tower in Musin’ with Susan: water towers are wonderful structures!
Woolly brings towers from all over the world in WoollyMuses; I’m intrigued by the Burj Khalifa, as it’s so tall that it must be awe-inspiring to stand next to it.
Deb’s tower in her post in Twenty-Four has some useful aspects to it; I love the sound of these, as they catch the wind!
Teressa’s post in Another LQQk brings us a number of TV towers in Iowa; these structures are as high as 2000 feet! Imagine doing maintenance on one of them…
Cee has some interesting towers in her post in Cee’s Photography;I particularly like the vintage water tower, as I’m a fan of steam locomotives.
This week’s post in One letter UP – diary 2.0 brings us a tower that is instantly recognizable, as it has been on the silver screen before…
With wonderful photos in his post in Q’s Place, Quincy brings us not only great towers, but also an amazing view!
Kelly’s post in Kelly Guymon Photography brings us a great perspective of NYC with a stunning tower!!
That’s a rather impressive lily-of-the-valley in sgeoil‘s post! It certainly does tower over everything else!

Please let all of these great bloggers know your thoughts about their posts!

Spiraling up, up and up!

Twisting the stairs away!

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the very warped theme of Twisted, which gives ample opportunity for something a bit outside the norm 🙂

Of course, from twisted minds come twisted images, and I have been known to provide a little warp to what I see. Then again, there was something rather quotidian that we observed during our vacation in Italy, last year…

20170520-Ostia-Antica_10.13.03-HDR — *Spiraling…*

This spiral staircase twists toward the sky, as medieval footstep could be traced coming down toward a place of oblivion: prison cells! Never mind getting blocked on twitter, as during these days you may get chained to the wall of a dank cell. The construction of these stairs is rather amazing, as each stone tread was carefully placed into the wall and was still in perfect position after centuries of use.

May your road rise up to meet you and not be too twisty!

Enamored throughout antiquity

Love is in the aire

The WordPress Daily Post prompt has the lovely theme of Enamored; definitely this is something that most of us humans can relate.

The prompt immediately made me think of one of the images that I captured during our Italian vacation. While visiting the stunning excavations in Ostia Antica, we came across this lovely statue…

20170518-Scavi-di-Ostia-Antica-Cupid-e-Psyche_DSF1116_7_8_tonemapped — *Cupid and Psyche*

These star-crossed lovers from times long past are not from Verona, which provided them with a far less tragic fate! The excavations are well worth a couple of days of exploration, as they provide a wonderful picture of life in the olden days.

Hope you enjoy!

Love Across the Ages

Amor vincit Psyche

During our trip to Italy, one of the amazing places that we visited were the Excavations at Ostia Antica (Scavi di Ostia Antica). We spent most of a day exploring this magnificent museum and definitely did not get to see all of it; what you find in these excavations is a sense of what life was like in this ancient harbor of Rome, not through depictions and descriptions, but by the raw footprint and beauty that has been uncovered.

Walking through neighborhoods gives a feeling of what was being done in each of them and how this evolved over time. People lived and worked in these locales and left their imprint through their buildings, statuary and mosaics.

This statue of Cupid and Psyche was located in the Domus di Amore e Psiche near the temple of Hercules. This house was excavated in 1938.

As I get time to go over all my photos, there will be much more from these wonderful excavations.

Il Castello di Giulio II

Warrior Pope at this best!

Saturday was our travel day from Ostia Antica to Colordesoli, up in Tuscany. Before we left Ostia Antica, we wanted to take the opportunity to visit the papal castle of Julius II, as it is open for visiting during the weekend.

I mentioned Julius II in a previous post; he was nicknamed ‘The Fearsome Pope’ or ‘The Warrior Pope’ likely due to his rather active foreign policy. He was elected to the papacy unanimously in 1503, due to a bit of backroom dealing, in which he made the Borgias believe that they would get lots of money as a result of his election.

However, upon getting elected, he stated:

“I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He [Alexander VI] desecrated the Holy Church as none before. He usurped the papal power by the devil’s aid, and I forbid under the pain of excommunication anyone to speak or think of Borgia again. His name and memory must be forgotten. It must be crossed out of every document and memorial. His reign must be obliterated. All paintings made of the Borgias or for them must be covered over with black crepe. All the tombs of the Borgias must be opened and their bodies sent back to where they belong—to Spain.”

He very much became his own Pope and was ambitious in building, as much as striking out into foreign lands. His building projects included the destruction and rebuilding of the St. Peter Basilica (it wasn’t big enough before) and the commission of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.

The castle in Ostia Antica is not huge by castle standards, but nonetheless very impressive. It is clearly set up for battle, both inside the castle and taking on any siege that may be laid upon it. Canon and gun ports are everywhere, and they even used the residual heat from gun fire to warm that water for bathing. In its more recent past, the castle has also been used as a prison, as evidenced by prisoner’s markings on the walls of cells, counting down the days till their death.

The guided tour of the castle is full of information, and even though our tour was in Italian, a couple of our fellow tour participants were nice enough to provide us English translation of a number of tour highlights. So, if you’re in Ostia Antica during a weekend, check out the Castello de Giulio II!

Il Scavi de Ostia Antica

Life among the ruins…

On our first full day in Italia, we focused on the nearby opportunity of visiting Il Scavi de Ostia Antica (the excavations of Ostia Antica). For the very reasonable price of 8 euros, you get more than a day’s worth of exploration at this amazing site. To put it mildly, a single day is not enough to appreciate all the wonderful structures that have been excavated at this old harbor of Ancient Rome; the route of the Tiber was right by Ostia Antica 2,000 years ago.

We decided to explore on our own with the map that we purchased, and we were immediately astonished by the detail that has been preserved across the millennia. Get off the main thoroughfares to look at the plaques that are sometimes hidden from direct view to get to the really good stuff!

After well over 5 hours of exploring on a beautiful Italian Spring day, we decided to call it a day and go for a gelato. We didn’t see everything, but did unearth some rather cool items that definitely are not seen by everyone; most tour groups appear to focus on a shorter route than we took, and when we got to the further regions of this park, we were rewarded with quiet time and some hidden treasures.

Minerva as Winged Victory

Dolphin Gang with Neptune

Strutting your Stuff!

Amor and Psyche making out

Diana’s Bar and Kitchen

View across the Ruins

Poppies among the Ruins

Temple of Ceres

Through the Portal

Hercules hanging

Sacrificial Cow

Ruins among us

Our decision to base ourselves in Ostia Antica first appears to have been solid thus far, particularly after a great meal at La Bussola, which I recommend highly with fresh, well-prepared food and friendly service!

Tomorrow, we strike out into Roma!

Arriving in Italy

A walk through Ostia Antica

After getting as much work done at the last moment, as possible, we were off on our next sizable vacation in several years, packed in our flight from Boston to Rome like a good harvest of sardines. 8 hours later, we landed at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport, which is beginning to look very nice with all the renovations that are under way.

We picked up our rental car, a rather cute Fiat 500, which is pretty sporty for a little car, and were off to our first stop in Ostia Antica. Despite traffic, we checked into our really nice AirBnB location here in Ostia Antica and decided to crash for a little bit and refresh ourselves after the flight.

After this, we decided to explore the center of Ostia Antica, where we went for a rather nice walk, through the Castello I’d Giulio II…

Castello di Giulio II

Alley Way in Ostia Antica

Castello di Giulio II

Doorway in Ostia Antica

The papal castle of Julius II looks rather impressive with its heavily fortified walls. Considering his nickname of the Warrior Pope that doesn’t surprise; this pope was an interesting character, if what history writes about him is correct (Wikipedia article). We’re looking forward to seeing the inside of this museum on Saturday, before we’re off to Tuscany.

After this pleasant stroll, we enjoyed a gelato (#1) and found some simple, yet delicious pizza for an early dinner (dinner is typically served after 8, but we were a bit too tired to wait for that). Overall a good start!

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