12/29/14 • Written by Julianne Milan on December 23, a dark, cold city with sparkly Christmas lights. Beaux Arte style shopping arcades, Gothic style cathedral–French touches in this Italian city. It does not seem much like Rome. Rattly trams with wooden seats take us to Piazza La Scala. It feels like we are wandering along […]

12/29/14 • Written by Julianne We have not had that much to say about lasagna recently although we have had a few good ones. But today–it was so good it deserves a little blog post of its own. December 26 is a holiday in Italy and the top of Gianicolo Hill was full of families […]

12/29/14 • Written by Julianne Bright sun but cold enough that merchants are closing up early. Everyone is wrapped up against the cold even though the market stalls are protected from the wind. Since we moved here in November, Nancy and I have had the pleasure of shopping at the Testaccio Market about weekly. We […]

12/16/14 • Written by Julianne Architecture, art, science, religion–the Church of Saint Mary of Angels and MartyrsJulianne is writing this and all the photos are taken by Nancy. For the actual Baths of Diocletian of Roman times I have little to say: A brief explanation: Diocletian was one of the later emperors in the imperial […]

After looking at lots and lots of marble statuary, I can say with confidence that marble doesn’t last as well as bronze. It chips, breaks, discolors, collects accretions, erodes. Parts get lost. Applied paint fades and washes off. Prudes knock off the penises, conquerors knock off the heads. Medieval workmen needing lime for concrete melted […]