Travels | Guri Sogn Andersen

Castel Sant’ Angelo, Piazza Navona Pantheon

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Leisure, Photography, Travels
Castel Sant' Angelo, Piazza Navona
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: Getting ready and set

: Castel Sant’ Angelo (r), St Pietro (b)

: Castel Sant’ Angelo in the background

: Piazza Navona

: Piazza Navona

: Lars admiring the Pantheon

: Fuelling up for the sightseeing

(1/2) To get to the Pantheon we walked a route leading us by the Castel Sant’ Angelo which originally was built to hold the remains of the emperor Hadrian in 139 AD. It now appears as a fortified bastion which among other things served as the popes retreat site way back when (the mid-16th century I think)… We went through a bunch of charming alleys to get to the Piazza Navona and shortly thereafter, the Pantheon…

~ Guri

The Pantheon

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Leisure, Photography, Travels
Pantheon
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Headed down to the Pantheon which was amazing. The dome is the largest arched construction of its kind, concrete that is, in the world. With a diameter of 43.3 m it’s even bigger than the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica. In other words… it’s pretty frekkin impressive! The structure as seen today was completed between 118 and 125 A.D., during the reign of Hadrian.

We relaxed at several cafés and did some window shopping in the sun. Got my eyes set on two pairs of Italian shoes, a belt and a purse. Probably not going to be able to leave them behind ;-) A perfect day. Booked a guided tour in the Vatican city for tomorrow. Really looking forward to that!

~ Guri

Second day in Rome

Monday, January 9th, 2012
Leisure, Photography, Travels
Good food, Guri and Lars is crazy, Peroni, Piazza San Pietro
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Our second day in Rome is a Monday. Sleeping a while, and a later breakfast than usual. This is the whole point with this trip. Take it easy, but still discover the eternal city. After all, the city is eternal, and I guess it will still be around for the next ten days.

Today we have had cappuccino, some foccachia/pannini thing for lunch, and chestnuts and beer for second lunch. Guri and I were crazy, and enjoyed a Peroni beer each in the Piazza San Pietro. We had dinner in a restaurant that gave a poor first impression. Luckily, the food totally outclassed our expectations. Even the service was good, in a nice and clumsy Italian way (as compared to the Norwegian stiff service style). A nice day.

~ Lars

Piazza San Pietro

Monday, January 9th, 2012
Leisure, Photography, Travels
Piazza San Pietro, St Peters square
None

: Enjoying Berninis work

: Saints

: Great photoshoot

We spent the daylight hours walking to the St Peters Square and relaxing in the sun. A lot of impressions and enjoying Berninis work (read about him here if you want) resulted in a heap-load of pictures… I won’t be boring you with too many – google will give you plenty that are better than mine if you are interested – and I bet Lars will post some too ;-)

Had to include the one showing of the saints in an arch… During Johannes Paulus II (or Karol Wojtyla) more people were given status as saints than during the 17 popes that went before him – IN ALL! Now, there’s one guy that knew his PR…!

~ Guri