What a Wonderful World (An #AtoZChallenge Post): I is for Italy

 

The Trevi Fountain at nighttime

My husband recently re-retired, and we are front-loading travel. My #AtoZChallenge posts this year will explore our adventures--some pre-retirement, some post. Today's location: Italy!

Italy is beautiful, whether you are up north near Lake Como, riding a gondola in Venice, visiting the bustling Naples, touring the ancient ruins in Rome, or enjoying the stunning Amalfi Coast. For the purpose of this post, I'll share photos from our most recent visit (2023), which was centered in Rome. 

One thing that is so amazing to me in Rome is that ruins are everywhere! We stumbled across this ancient theater on our way somewhere else. If something like this were in the United States, it would be a major attraction; in Rome, it is just one of many buildings. There was no admission fee, and although we could not go inside, we were free to wander around the grassy setting. 

The Theatre of Marcellus is on the left, the columnar remains of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus is on the right

You can't visit Italy without enjoying the food! We took a walking food tour, and loved seeing the market stalls with their colorful produce displays. 

A very colorful market display, with all kinds of varieties of squash, tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, and other fruits and vegetables

Did you know there are pyramids in Rome? 

The Pyramid of Cestius sits on a street corner in Rome

Not everything is ancient, though. These whimsical sculptures, featuring a cartoon-like lobster in various costumes, definitely caught my attention.

Left to right, top to bottom: a sculpture of a lobster in a shark costume, banana costume, cactus costume, and king costume

I do tend to favor the older classics, though, like Bernini's "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa." When the light shines in on the sculpture, it is absolutely stunning!

Light shining down through the window illuminates Bernini's masterpiece

We visited ancient temples as well as a modern one, the Rome Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While in the nearby visitor's center, we saw this gorgeous stained-glass piece that portrays the ministry of Jesus. At first glance, it seems that the art is simply showing Jesus healing a man, but as you take careful notice of the other characters, you begin to realize they symbolize other events in Christ's life. 

The stained glass art shows Jesus healing a man in the middle of a busy town

Each time we have gone to Rome, we've tossed a coin in Trevi fountain, as that is supposed to guarantee a return, and there is always something new (yet old) to discover there! 

Come back to the blog tomorrow to see where in the world we'll visit next!