{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy } I have seen more statues and painting of naked men and women during the trip to Italy, than I have ever seen, and will probably ever see. You just need to scroll through all the photos I have posted under Italy to see some of the many that I have seen. And Florence, the birth place of Renaissance, probably has more statues and paintings of naked men and women, not to mention, of Gods, Goddesses and their children, then any other cities in Italy. David If there is one masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, it has got to be David by Michaelangelo. The 17-feet marble statue of a standing male nude, is definitely an exceptional piece of sculpture. It could probably be due to the position in Galleria dell'Academia that houses the sculpture, or just the tall white polished marble. But I stood right in front of it, and walked around it, a couple of times, awestruck by the imposing and yet relax statue. Muscular and yet gentle. Photos were not al...
Japan is a country that we had been multiple times and can never get sick of! This time round, we trav elled in springtime. A three generation trip to Japan in May 2019, with my parents in their 60s and our girls, Ed 2 years old and Em 4 years old. 9 days 8 nights 1 country - Japan 9 cities - Fukuoka, Munakata, Hagi, Yamaguchi, Iwakuni, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Tomonoura, Onomichi 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) Itsukushima Shrine 1 timezone - GMT+9 1 currency - Japanese Yen Day 1 | Fukuoka 福岡 Flight to Fukuoka Ohari Park - playground, Fukuoka castle ruin Ichiran Tenjin Nishidori - ultra-rich porky soup with ramen Stay @ Fukuoka (1 night) Day 2 | Munakata 宗像 to Hagi 萩 Rent a car Munakata Shrine - part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, built around the...
"... they are human beings seen in their agony. This is not art, it is not imitation; these are their bones, the remains of their flesh and their clothes mixed with plaster, it is the sadness of death that characterises body and form. I see their wretchedness. I hear their cries as they call to their mothers, and I see them fall and writhe..." Luigi Settembrini (1813-76) The haunting words described the emotions and struggles of the Pompeiians that had been frozen in time since 24 August 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city of Pompeii. The plaster casts of the victims of the volcanic eruption evoke a sense of helplessness, and it seemed appropriate that we shared some thoughts for the victims that died almost 2,000 years ago - for the volcanic eruption that buried their city, their homes and themselves provided a snapshot of Roman life in the first century. The National Museum of Singapore presents a special exhibition, Pompeii: Life In ...