our life in Singapore: 01/04/2011

Saturday, 30 April 2011

The Trevi Fountain

magical, mystical, romantic?

yes, all that and more.

The Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy.

Standing 25.9 metres high and 19.8 metres wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

The famous rite of throwing a coin in the fountain has two main explanations.

First, the Ancient Romans used often to throw coins

in fountains, rivers or lakes to make the Gods of water favor their journey and help them go back home safely.

Second, this tradition has been invented to raise funds for the maintenance of the fountain.

The Trevi Fountain appears in the movies

Three Coins in The Fountain (1954)

and La Dolce Vita (1960) and others.

“Roman Holiday" - a popular movie in 1953 and where Audrey Hepburn walks past the Fountain - has the merit of showing a charming and fashionable Rome,

making it famous all around the world.

A lot of this magic is also due to the great actors,main characters, together with the city, of movies that will remain forever in the history of the cinema.

As Gregory Peck once said “The months that we spent in Rome were probably the happiest in my career..."

"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a popular song which received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1954, many singers have recorded the following including Frank Sinatra, Doris Day and Andy Williams.

Three coins in a fountain
Each one seeking happiness
Thrown by three hopeful lovers
Which one will the fountain bless

Three hearts in a fountain
Each heart longing for its home
There they lie in the fountain
Somewhere in the heart of Rome
Which one will the fountain bless
Which one will the fountain bless

Three coins in a fountain
Through the ripples how they shine
Just one wish will be granted
One heart will wear a Valentine

Make it mine, make it mine, make it mine

and the man selling the roasted chestnuts continues doing so, day after day, right beside the fountain, oblivious to all the tourists unless they come to buy some chestnuts from him!

my other blog posts on Rome are:

1. arriving in Civitavecchia

2. the Colosseum

stay tuned for more!

our arrival into Civitavecchia

at 8.00am on Tuesday March 29 we embarked the port pilot to assist the MSC Splendida in the docking manoeuvre into port at Civitavecchia, an important passenger terminal on the Lazio coast in Italy. Civitavecchia's port is now the second largest European port for passengers in transit per year.

The day of our first visit we chose to do one of the 'organised tours' as opposed to the usual walk we would do .... Rome being such a large city with much to see we didn't want to miss too much.

The tour we chose was the

"Grand Tour of Rome, The Eternal City.

It was a full day tour of 9 hours and included lunch ..... even at a cost of 112.00 Euro's each or in total 224.00 Euro's, we felt it was worth it for what we managed to see and do. Yes it was a bit like being herded around like 'Brown's Cows', but we did get to see a lot and it allowed us to get our bearings for the next full day in Rome - without the guided tour!

currency exchange as at today (April 30 2011)

224.00 Euro's = $332.00 USD

224.00 Euro's = $304.00 AUD

224.00 Euro's = $406.00 SGD

Our excursion combined two of the most important aspects of Rome: Christianity and antiquity. The first bus to take us into Rome itself took one and half hours, where we met up with the actual coach tour and headed towards the Colloseum. We had a good look around this impressive edifice, built to hold up to 50,000 people and where the Romans used to watch the cruel gladiators combats.

From there it was a whirlwind of history including the Trevi Fountain, the PIazza Navona, the Pantheon, St Peter's Square and of course the Basilica ...... but more about these in the next few blog posts.

So stay tuned!

The Colosseum in Rome.

The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire.

Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started in 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus,with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96).

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.

The Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.

I am not going to force all the images onto you,

I took far too many,

so have put together a slide show

of the ones just of the Colosseum here:

one of the greatest works of

Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

We spent two full days in Rome and it was not anywhere near enough. But we had a sample of what it has to offer and it is truly an amazing place to visit.

stay tuned for ALL the blog posts on Rome!

***

Friday, 29 April 2011

the town of Malaga in Spain ....

after we left Funchal in the Madeira Islands, we headed towards Malaga in Spain,

We spent a day at sea watching about five whales and a couple of large sea turtles splashing around in the Atlantic as seen here, though I spent more time watching them than taking photos, so missed out on many good ones!

well you can see some bubbles, can't you???

we left the Atlantic Ocean behind and passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and once again entered the Mediterranean sea.

Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,305 in 2009, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain.

Birthplace of Picasso, the attractive, cosmopolitan city of Malaga lies on a beautiful sweep of bay in Andalucia. Blessed with sunshine and a spectacular quality of light, Malaga is a city of wide boulevards, swaying palm trees, lively nightlife, good museums and excellent seafood restaurants.

There were quite a few tours available that we could have taken, but we chose to "do the walk" like we did in most places ...... it is our way of getting to see the local culture 'up close and personal' rather than being herded around like cows to places we may not always want to see. Especially when they take you to the "souvenir stores"!

But we managed to have a lovely long walk of about 5 hours, the following images are of what we saw as we walked around Malaga.

We left the ship just a little after 7.00am ....

and walked into the town....

The nearby castle which was rebuilt by the Moors and is today a traditional parador (state hotel) with superb panoramic views. During the nineteenth century, Málaga was a popular winter resort for the wealthy famed for its elegance and sophistication.

everywhere you walk there are flowers and brightly coloured balconies, pot plants or walls, or even a combination of both!

wherever we go and at anytime, John loves the stairs, be it at the MRT, a building, a park or anywhere we are on our travels. If he sees stairs he has to climb them....

and here was no different!