nateniale's travels

{ 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...

{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy }  Where Rome was massive, Florence was compact. Where Rome has its ancient treasures, Florence has countless Renaissance arts. If Rome is the political centre, then Florence is the artistic city. If Rome is the pulse and heart of Italy, then Florence is the soul. Walking from the train station towards Piazza del Duomo, we caught a glimpse of the green and white facade of the Duomo from a distance. The basilica looked so different from all the ones we have seen in our travels in Italy thus far, that I knew that Florence was going to give us something new. And, the best part was that there was an event happening right on the piazza. Sbandieratori, it's called. The art of flag-throwing was from the medieval times, and we were lucky enough to be right there when they started performance, with luggage in tow. Still not sure what the point of the whole thing was, but this I know - two groups of Italian men in tights, waving and thro...

{ Pompeii, Italy - May 2011 } Walking around the huge and well-preserved archeological site that was once Pompeii, it was easy to imagine the city that it once was... Pompeii was an important port, and must have been a well-to-do city. The temples and the forum must have been a lively place where the Pompeiians met, traded and socialised with their family and friends. There were shops selling everyday items, such as wine and bread, with graffiti on the walls. There were brothels with erotic frescoes and public baths. The large amphitheatre must have provided entertainments to the residents. The houses and villas were large, with many rooms and even gardens with water features. Some of the houses were right in the middle of the city, while others were further away, probably some holiday villas of rich Pompeiians. The rich pompeiian red that coloured the walls and the beautiful paintings showed that the houses must have been colourful. The bright gardens and water features, wou...

{ Pompeii, Italy - May 2011 } A Roman city destroyed and buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, Pompeii was buried for more than 1,600 years before the town was rediscovered. Thousands of Pompeiians must have died, and many more fled the town. However, the volcanic ash that buried the city allowed us to walk along the cobbled stone streets, among the walls that once made up the homes of the Pompeiians. Ever since I went to an exhibition on Pompeii , I told myself that I would go to Pompeii when I am lucky enough to be in Italy. And so, I did. We saw the treasures from Pompeii in the museum in Naples , before visiting the site. We took a train from Naples, and stopped in a station right next to the entrance. I was filled with excitement. Sure,  Rome , with the Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum and all the amazing structures from ancient Rome, was spectacular. But Rome was like the political and administration centre - the capital of the Roman Empire, if ...

What do you write about a Roman town frozen in time after a volcanic eruption buried and killed almost all of its residents? The small exhibition I saw end of last year and the archeological artifacts in the museum could not prepare me for the real thing. Walking down the streets that was pretty much the same 2,000 years ago, imagining the houses and rooms that once was, looking towards Mount Vesuvius from the town that was destroyed by it. There are so many photos to share and stories to tell. So, while I get my thoughts together, do read on my trip to Italy and  other travelogues . { Click here for more postcard from...  posts }

{ Naples, Italy - May 2011 } I love how the Italian words sound, and being able to understand them is even better! During the trip in Italy, I kept trying to eavesdrop in conversations, especially when those older Italian men were talking loudly with such passion and many hand movements. But I digress. My point is, I can read and understand the title of this post - Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli is the Naples National Archeological Museum. It has many collections from nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum, and served as a great introduction to Pompeii that we planned to go the day after. Then again, the exhibition on Pompeii in the National Museum of Singapore the year before was one of the reasons I planned the trip to Pompeii. There were many sculptures exhibited, that remarkable as they were, became fuzzy and similar after awhile. However, there were two that stood out - Farnese Artemis and Aphrodite Kallipygos. Artemis was a Greek goddess, and I have been to the si...

{ Singapore - August 2011 } The acclaimed photographer, Abbas' main works were shown in a special exhibition in the National Museum of Singapore in June to September 2011. Abbas spent 45 years roaming the world, taking photographs of major political and social events. The results were visually striking black and white photographs showing the Iranian Revolution, the Islamic world and many portraits around the world. Some of the photos were painful to watch, but that is the point of photography, isn't it? To be able to capture the feelings and emotions, and not merely a picture. Abbas, in his 45 years of photography, was able to capture lots of that and more. He described it best, when he said "My photography is a reflection, which comes to life in action and leads to meditation. Spontaneity - the suspended moment - intervenes during action, in the viewfinder." I am sure that he will capture a lot more in the years to come. ::: Footnotes ::: {  National Museum...

"... 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 ...