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Rome

THE COLORS OF ROME

By
judithworks

on

November 29, 2014

Rome is a city of pastel colors, mellowed by the ages.

The original brilliant white marble of the ancient Roman ruins is mostly weathered now.

Except for the monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II that shocks the eye with its dead white mass. So out of character with the rest of the city. It’s often know as the wedding cake or typewriter.

Ancient wood has weathered to gray and the original brick is exposed.

The bronze doors of the Roman Curia (Senate) in the Forum have turned to verdigris green as have statues and the original doors now at the Basilica San Giovanni.

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Quebec Quebec cheese

BLOWNBACK: Trying to see Quebec in a Nor’easter

By
judithworks

on

November 9, 2014

Trying to see Quebec in a Nor’easter isn’t easy, it turns out. My first try out the door resulted in being blown back inside. The wind sent people rushing either backwards or forwards or even off their feet, and the few remaining brightly-colored leaves whirling off the trees. It was freezing with the wind chill.

I had not been in the beautiful city of Quebec for many years and was looking forward to enjoying fall color while strolling in the sun through the upper town and the Plains of Abraham where in 1759 Generals Wolfe (British) and Montcalm (French) led their troops in the battle to control Canada.The

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museums Rome

MACHINES AND GODS IN ROME

By
judithworks

on

September 29, 2014

One of the twenty museums managed by the city of Rome, is the Centrale Montemartini. It’s also one of the most creative. I don’t know who thought up using the city’s first public electricity plant, built in 1912, to display works from the “basement” of the Capitoline Museum, but whoever it was a stroke of genius.

While other old buildings along the Via Ostiense were torn down, this one was saved because of its architectural significance.

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Alaska Russian Alaska Sitka

SITKA: Kale Smoothies and Cathedral Bells

By
judithworks

on

August 28, 2014

Sitka is a small town with a big history. There has been human activity for the last 10,000 years when it was settled by the Tlingit people, but is best known to American history students as the capital of Russian America. The Russians arrived in 1799, naming their fur trading outpost Fort Saint Michael. The Tlingit managed to throw them out in 1802, but not for long. Alexander Baranof, the Russian governor, won the Battle of Sitka in 1804 and renamed his nascent town New Archangel.

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Alaska

THE COLORS OF ALASKA

By
judithworks

on

August 1, 2014

After watching gigantic cruise ships sail past our home on Puget Sound every summer for years we finally decided to try an Alaska cruise ourselves. But we didn’t want to be with three or four thousand people on a fast round trip from and back to Seattle. On the other end of the scale are expedition ships that focus on a specific area and we wanted an overview. We settled on the Navigator owned by Regent Seven Seas Cruises and which operates on one-week cruises from Vancouver BC to Anchorage or the reverse.… Read more

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Necropoli Portus Project Roman Cemeteries Rome

ROMAN REMAINS

By
judithworks

on

June 27, 2014

When in Rome it is always fascinating to follow the lives of ancient Romans. We read and see so much of corporate grandeur that it is easy to forget that individual Romans were real people with families. Families who had a preference for staying together in life as well as in death. When the inevitable happened the remains were often kept in mausoleums so the living could gather in memory of the deceased.

The best preserved of these memorials is the Vatican Scavi underneath St.

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China Shanghai Zhujiajiao

SPRING IN ZHUJIAJIAO

By
judithworks

on

May 30, 2014

Shanghai can get pretty frantic with all the skyscrapers and crowds. If you are in need of a quick change of pace, a good choice is the quiet “water town” of Zhujiajiao, about an hour from the city by bus.

The area around Zhujiajiao was settled thousands of years ago, and the town itself has been around for about 1700 years, new in Chinese terms. Formerly a trading center for cloth and rice, it is now a getaway for tourists and locals who come to enjoy the peaceful watery setting.

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Castel Sant'Angelo Hadrian Hadrian's Villla Pantheon Rome

A DAY WITH EMPEROR HADRIAN

By
judithworks

on

May 4, 2014

Rome is so filled with treasures that it is often hard to know where to start. Sometimes it is easier to concentrate on one artist like Caravaggio or architect such as Bernini (who is almost impossible to avoid anyway). The last time we were in the city we decided to give one day to a Roman emperor, Hadrian, who ruled from AD 117 until his death in AD 138.

One of the few emperors who still gets good press as an administrator, he was a great traveler and builder, particularly in Rome.

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Hiroshima Japan Miyajima Shinto Temples

THE SACRED ISLAND OF MIYAJIMA

By
judithworks

on

April 23, 2014

The ferry that leaves from a little port thirty minutes north of Hiroshima, Japan transports passengers to another dimension where the city’s memorials to the holocaust caused by the Atomic Bomb are left behind in spirit if not in physical distance. A first glimpse of what awaited us on Miyajima Island came in the form of origami paper cranes, symbolizing peace and memorializing the end of World War II. They were gracefully given out by smiling and bowing students at the ferry dock.

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La Conner Quilts Skagit Valley State of Washington

EARLY SPRING IN THE SKAGIT VALLEY: DAFFODILS AND QUILTS

By
judithworks

on

April 2, 2014

After what seemed like 40 days of rain the sun came out, warm and spring-like. It was the signal to take a drive an hour north of home to the small town of La Conner, located where the Skagit Valley meets saltwater in the form of the Swinomish Channel. The town was founded in 1867 and many of the original buildings remain. But instead of housing banks, churches, and butchers, they are clothing stores, art galleries, antique shops and restaurants.

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