We took the Eurostar (40 minutes late leaving Rome; what a cheek) to Florence for a very civilised day trip. Three items were on the agenda, and we managed all three. First stop, Santa Felicità and the Capponi Chapel for a good look at the frescoes and painting by Jacopo Pontormo et al. There’...

We spent a lovely weekend in Florence a few days ago, including some quality time with friends we don’t often see. But there’s nothing I can say about Florence that hasn’t been said better elsewhere, so I won’t even try. Instead, I’ll share this.

In case you can't quite make it out, it is a pet...

I cycled down to the Castel Sant’Angelo this evening because I’d seen a poster in the local bar advertising fireworks at 9:00 pm. Today being the Feast of SS Peter and Paul and a holiday here in Rome, that seemed entirely likely. In the event, an hour later, no fireworks had happened. I’ll have to c...

Just a quickie, as we make our way under the railway tracks between Porta Maggiore and Porta Tiburtina and one of the most beautifully preserved stretches of wall. I was pretty excited to see work by The Great Artist. Again, there’s no way I would have noticed that as a driver. I thought (on the...

Saturday morning found me at Santa Maria in Trastevere. Having never really paid them any attention, I found the bits of old inscription decorating the portico interesting as visual objects. So I snapped a few, focusing on those that contained birds, and very sweet they were too.

More or less si...