Monday, June 30, 2014

Popped Collar Cool

You may be cool... but are you Italian Popped Collar cool? In my case, no. But these guys are. I present these nine Kings of the Popped Collar, spotted in Rome.
For some reason Jenny and I got obsessed with this fixture of Italian male fashion during our recent travels, which meant multiple occasions when one of us would spot a candidate and the other would follow behind, snapping surreptitious pix. 

Was it creepy? A little, yeah. But once you fall under the spell of Popped Collar Cool, a tiny bit of touristic voyeurism is sure to follow.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Rome: Ostiense Neighborhood Street Art [2 of 2]

Here are some more pix of Ostiense neighborhood street art.

Gaia's Il Piccone Demolitore e Risanatore ("The Wrecker Pick and Healing")
Via Ostiense, 335 [GMap] • Installation video
Via Ostiense underpass [GMap]
Gaucholadri, Fuga de capitales
Via Ostiense underpass [GMap]
Percy Shelley, Via Ostiense underpass [GMaps]
Via Ostiense, 349 [GMap]
Guy Denning's “Di, di se questo é vero” [GMap]
Based on Dante's Inferno Canto 31
Street Art News post about installation
Via Gaspare Gozzi, 33 [GMap]
Via Gaspare Gozzi, 33 [GMap]
[Page 1 of 2]

Learn more

• B(e)Local: Street artists dream team: Post about Via Ostiense underpass

Sites to visit

• Blu's “Alexis” at Via Ostiense 124 [GMap]

• Roberto Perrella's images of Quadraro district

Rome: Ostiense Neighborhood Street Art [1 of 2]

Here's some street art found in Rome's Ostiense neighborhood [GMap] during our Europe 2014 travels.

Via del Porto Fluviale [GMap]
Via del Porto Fluviale [GMap]
Via del Porto Fluviale [GMap]
Via dei Magazzini Generali [GMap]
Via dei Magazzini Generali [GMap]
Via del Commercio [GMap
Via delle Conce [GMap]

Learn more

• Stephan Faris [Time Magazine] Rome’s graffiti boom: Eternal City finally welcomes street art

• Tomas Mancin's Street Art Roma, "The walls speak": overview of districts

Friday, June 27, 2014

Vatican Museums

Here are a few pix from our Europe 2014 visit to the Vatican Museums.

Andy sees Raphael's School of Athens for the first time
School of Athens detail
Pythagoras's theory of mathematical harmony
Arnaldo Pomodoro's Sfera con sfera
("Sphere within sphere")
Head from a colossal statue of Augustus
Herm of Socrates (including, for some reason, his testicles)
Statue of Ceres
Gallery of Maps
Gallery of Maps [detail]
Laocoön and His Sons

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Cinque Terre, Italy

Our Europe 2014 trip featured a visit to Cinque Terre. We drifted along a leisurely itinerary of al fresco dining, napping on the beach, and hiking along the Sentiero Azzurro.

Hiking from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare
Looking back on Vernazza
Contemplating the Corniglia steps
Navigating the Sentiero Azzurro
Getting to know Monterosso al Mare
Meeting a Corniglia kitty
Hiking to Vernazza, looking back on Corniglia
Returning to Vernazza
Waves crashing near Riomaggiore
Taking the train from Riomaggiore to Vernazza
Savoring our last morning in Vernazza
Learn more

• Nicole Ruskell's Rescuing Vernazza: An eyewitness account: "The rain kept pouring down until the village became a rushing river. The cars in the parking lot above town began to get swept up by the water. The strong current carried cars and trucks down into town like they were nothing but toys. Some locals looked on from their balconies with disbelief as their cars rushed by below them."

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Soviet Relics in St. Petersburg

During one of our Europe 2014 side trips, Jenny and I searched St. Petersburg, Russia for remnants of its Soviet past. Some memorable finds:

Insignia on Bolshaya Morskaya ulitsa, 18 [GMaps]
Relief in Narvskaya metro station
Narvskaya metro station
Sergey Kirov monument (Nikolai Tomsky, sculptor)
Background: Kirov District Administration building [Noi Trotsky, architect]
Ventilating lattice at Narvskaya metro station
"Workers of the world, Unite!"
Mural near Narvskaya metro station [GMap]
Relief at Narvskaya metro station
Relief at Ploshchad Vosstaniya
Ceiling mural at [St. Petersburg] Moscow Railway Station
Sites for future visits

• Finland Railway Station [GMap]

• House of the Soviets [GMap]

Friday, June 20, 2014

St. Petersburg Hermitage

As part of our Europe 2014 travels, Jenny and I joined JAMK students for a tour of the Hermitage and its world-class collection of artwork.

1812 War Gallery
Pavilion Hall niche
Antonio Canova's Orpheus
Gallery of the History of Ancient Painting [ceiling]
Antonio Canova's Cupid 
The Raphael Loggias
Gaspare Diziani's Mount Olympus
[Winter Palace main staircase]