Galleria Doria Pamphilj

Located between Via del Corso and Via della Gatta, Galleria Doria Pamphilj presents over 400 works that have been collected by the Pamphilj family from the 15th to 18th century. The Roman family, Doria Pamphilj, still holds ownership of the palace, which is home of the art gallery. For just eight euros (five for students) the gallery not only offers a wide collection of beautiful artwork, but also allows you to see the extravagant rooms of a typical palace in the 18th century. The many rooms in the palace, including a ballroom, drawing room, dining room and a family chapel are delicately decorated with elaborate gold furniture, extravagant crystal chandeliers and numerous family portraits. The most prominent painting within the collection is the famous portrait of pope Innecenzo X by Velazquez.

Information obtained from:

Rome Eyewitness Travel Guide. DK publishers

Family of Boys' Town

Probably the most surprising, yet heart warming aspect of Boys’ Town is the unique interaction and affection each boy shows to one another. When we first arrived I was eager to meet the citizens who successfully ran the small town. We were fortunate enough to meet a young man named Najib, from Morrocco, who happened to be the mayor of the town as well. Although quite shy at first, Najib had a bright white, welcoming smile, and a sparkle to his eyes that made everyone smile in return. When he was joined with two other citizens, it was obvious how close the boys were. One of the boys was seventeen, the other; the youngest of the group was thirteen. They constantly leaned on each other’s shoulders for support, and patted each other on the head and back numerous times. Najib put his arm around the youngest, laughing around and joking. It was obvious that they consider each other family. Most of the boys do not have a family outside of the town, so the boys are like brothers to each other. It was such an amazing feeling, to witness the interactions between the boys, who were all so different and came from all different cultures, and from all over the world.

Boys' Town of Italy

An Irish priest, Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing set out in 1945, in hopes of helping the starving and homeless children, by giving them a second chance to become responsible and successful citizens. Boys’ Town of Italy was incorporated in 1951, and interestingly is an American charity. There are sixty childcare centers spread throughout Italy. I was amazed that the “citizens” of Boys’ Town are from all over the world. They are not only from Italy, but Albania, Kosovo and other parts of the former Yugoslavia, the former Russian Republics, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Southern and Central Asia, South America and North Africa.

The boys are given the opportunity to get an education, prepare for their future, while growing and learning through their experiences in the community. I think this is an incredible opportunity, for me to see how the young boys work together, to run a town on their own. I know this will be a heart warming, yet eye opening experience, that I will never forget.

Information obtained from:
http://boystownofitaly.org/

Baths of Neptune

Ostia Antica was one of ancient Rome's main port. Today you can see the ancient ruins of the docks, warehouses, apartment flats, mansions, shopping arcades and baths, which was once occupied by more than 60,000 people.

Along the main road in Ostia, there is a viewpoint that you can look out over, to see the exquisite mosaic tile floors, of the Baths of Neptune. The intricate mosaic artwork is a picture of Neptune riding four horses through the rapid sea. The unique mosaic, which is 55 feet by 36 feet, was just one out of twenty bath complexes. These baths were used often, because it was common that many homes did not have their own private facilities.

Information obtained from:

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destination/italy/ostia.htm

Piazza San Marco Music

After a romantic gondola ride to San Marco, in Venice, I was excited to check out the popular piazza which Napoleon once called "the drawing room of Europe." I immediately fell in love with the lively, and open spaced area. It was a little past nine o'clock at night, so the square was lit up which added to the dynamic of the environment. As we made our way through the crowds of pigeons that were swarming around for food, I noticed a small congregation of people standing infront of an orchestra. We continued exploring our surroundings, until we found ourselves among the same crowd, watching and listening to the orchestra.

The variety of instruments, including a violin, piano, clarinet, cello and accordian, simultaneously playing together was a nice change from the street entertainers I have gotten used to hearing. The performance is on a stage, facing a crowd of tables which are part of the restaurant, Quadri. Here you can have a romantic dinner in the center of San Marco, with the background music of a live orchestra chiming in. If you aren't in the mood, or willing to spend about sixty euro a person, you can still enjoy the entertainment by standing or dancing nearby the stage.

Campo Changes

Tonight a couple of girls and I decided to go for a walk to enjoy the warm evening breeze. We decided to wander off towards Campo de' Fiori, and Piazza Navona, since we had never visited the areas during the evening. I was pleasantly surprised to see how different Campo was, compared to the morning, mid afternoon, and nighttime.

My experience has confirmed my hypothesis that Campo has many different personalities, and serves for many different purposes through out the day. We arrived around 7:30 in the evening to a rather calm and serene atmosphere. Although there were many people strolling around the piazza, it seemed as though no one was in a rush. Probably the most shocking aspect was that there were no vendors in sight. Many of the restaurants were only half filled, and some of the bars weren't even open at this time. I found it rather relaxing, as I took a minute to take it all in. The sun was setting, and the air was fresh.

It is incredible how one area can change so much in a matter of hours. If you have the time, I would recommend visiting the Piazza at different hours of the day. I can only hope that you appreciate the everchanging square as much as I have.

all shapes and sizes

When we arrived in Venice in the early morning, I was on a mission to find the nearest cafe that served anything edible. After visiting numerous cafes that were along the roads, I let my sense of smell lead me to a small restaurant that appeared to serve breakfast food, along with salad and sandwiches. As I walked into the foreign cafe, the tiniest glass of white wine, sitting on a nearby table caught my eye. I inched closer to the glass window, which contained the only options for my early lunch. To my surprise everything was tiny. The panini's were no bigger than three inches in diameter, and contained only a slice of meat or cheese in between the tiny circles of bread. They were definitely not the average six inch, thick bread panani's I was used to. But I was desperate, and figured anything would do. They reminded me of the bite size candy bars you get during halloween...only they weren't chocolate! I ordered the first thing I saw, which was the salami sandwich. I felt like a giant as I took a bite out of the sandwich, which was nearly half of my meal. To my surprise, I was quite pleased with my mini panini. The bread was fresh and the salami was flavorful. The advantage of the small panini's is that you can order two different kinds, while still only paying two euros, since each one was only one.