tree hill

Every time we went into Rome from Monterotondo, we passed this hill, that seems to be a perfect cylinder with a clump of trees on it. It really had such magical appeal to me.

This porcelain shrine was quite a surprise to me. It is one of the Vatican's treasures. The height is about 2m and it is possibly one of the most magnificently kitch things i have ever seen. So much so that i really like it.
I found the ancient sculptures really beautiful and took lots of photos of them for future reference. They especially because i have been looking at Rodin's work too, and really dying to make something 3d. Well... do it some wise people have told me... will keep you posted if anything materialises.
I have been working on my painting every day and will post progress soon.
take care!

Roberto's Photos

On next year's eve, before going to Fra's aunt's house, we were just chilling. He was playing guitar and i started making a new workbook. I did not take one with me because i thought i would get one on the way. It was almost the end of my stay and we still had not found one - eventually things started ticking, i had made many of them myself before... (will post some scans from it soon) anway so i started folding the paper and needed thread and a needle...which happen to be kept in the same chest of drawers as all the old photos.

Francesco and his mom started pulling them all out and we started looking at them. Lots of photos that his dad took as a young man. They are beautiful and really interesting. So he is scanning them all, and has sent some of them. Thought a few would be good on the blog for today.
Thanks for all you comments :)

visiting family and friends

Its been a lovely day of meeting friends and family. We collected Francesco's mother from the hospital where she had stayed overnight with one of his aunts who had an operation the day before. Getting back to Monterotondo took about 20 min, yesterday the same stretch of road from the hospital had taken over two hours to pass because of bad traffic... can you imagine!!!
Then we went to a supermarket to buy Pandoro and wine for gifts, and then to two of his really good friends. The last stop was his Nonna's house. She showed us all he family photos and a stack of postcards from all over Italy. Back to his home, ate some dinner with his mom...and that's it, a lovely day. I really want to learn Italian now, it would be lovely to be able to understand what everone is saying. I pick up the subject of the conversation but that's about it. Well, it will take some time! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, I'm looking forward to learning all about how its done here! Love to my dear family!

lights and ancient buildings

It was really good to be out of foggy london, since monday, west london has be coverd in dense fog. Arrived yesterday and went around the city today. It was really beautiful seeing all the lights and the old cobbled streets which wind and criss-cross in every direction. It was truely breathe-taking and awesome seeing the ancient buildings like the colosium and the ruins and all the fountains and churches. I want to write more in detail but i am exhausted, enjoy the photos!