Back from Italy

Hello all I had a great trip to Florence, Siena and Rome. Although I missed seeing a lot of places in Florence as I was sick with something I ate that didn't agree with me

See this, I think this is what made my tummy go sick. However I loved the dish. Don't know the name but it had lots of cheese and truffles. Mmmm it was yummy. The rain followed us everywhere unfortunately, but we managed to have a good time in spite of that. So here are some pictures I am sharing with you. This sort of fresco or icon with the image of Virgin Mary and baby Jesus or a Saint seems to be quite a common thing which is lighted up with a lamp. Most of them seem to be almost forgotten as they are rather dirty and the lamp is either broken or not there. But they are so charming even in their condition of neglect. One of the many many many beautiful statues and intricate carvings and paintings found in churches and other buildings in Italy. We had a lovely view from our hotel in Florence and the place was so peaceful. We stayed in some lovely old villas turned into hotels and they had a charm of their own. This one in Sienna had a lovely garden

overlooking beautiful rolling olive groves. The room had this beautiful wooden painted ceiling

It even had a beautiful chapel of its own with these lovely paintings. Villa in Orvieto had a huge big tapestry covering the whole length of one wall in the dining room. Since the tapestry was very old and the lighting not great I could only get a part of the picture. But as you can see at the close up what delicate intricate and beautiful work of art it is. The ceiling was again decorated with many paintings like this. It had this beautiful little piano in the foyer.

This a statue of St. Paul in the Basilica of San Paolo Beautiful intricate work with marble chips on the columns of the cloisters We were in time for the blessing given by the Pope on Sunday in St Peter's sq. but too far to take a good picture The Colosseum The Trevi Fountain-Statue of Oceanus standing on a shell drawn by sea horses. Lastly I love the way the old and the new co-exist in Italy which is amazing. I did not show you the important or the more photographed monuments and paintings since everyone has seen it somewhere or the other so these are some of the pictures I thought might interest you of Italy through my eyes.