So Meta: A Post About My Blog Posted On My Blog

I'm famous!

For a story on tourist photobombs, a picture from this very blog was featured in the Huffington Post.  I love this picture, of the 5 of us in front of one of the Great Pyramids in Giza, with a camel and rider walking by in the background, waving to the camera.  As most of the other photos in the article were from photobomb websites, I have no idea how mine was found.  Personally I like to believe that my blog is read regularly by HuffPo, and in fact it was my very picture that inspired the idea for the story.  Obviously this is the most likely explanation. 

Screen shots of the article...

The best shot of the bunch!

Clementines

I love how it's possible to tell which fruit is in season, simply by walking along the streets.  It seems at the moment that clementine peels are in a tie with cigarette butts for most ubiquitous litter.  

I love clementines!  This is a relatively new thing for me, as orange has never been my favorite flavor, but about a month ago Tom's mother insisted I eat one from their garden, and I haven't looked back since.  They are simply the perfect fruit: sweet, juicy, slightly tart, and small enough for a quick snack.  Actually, it is probably the tiny size that I love best! :)

 At the market.  Every grocery store and fruit stand is full of the tiny fruit right now, and people are buying huge quantities, as they will soon disappear.  Buying in season has its pros and cons.  Pros: food is delicious and flavorful, and the process is ridiculously eco-friendly.  Cons: um, what if I want a clementine in the summer?

At home.  These will last me maybe 2 days.

Aren't they lovely?

On the street.  I promise it's not mine!

Bomarzo

The day after Christmas, which is the feast of Santo Stefano, and thus also a holiday here in the old world, Tom, Mom, and myself visited the small medieval town of Bomarzo, not far from his house in Umbria.  The city is mostly famous to art nerds like myself for its Sacro Bosco, or park of monsters.  Designed by Pirro Ligorio for Pier Francesco Orsini in the late 16th century, the garden is typically Mannerist in that it was intended for fun and pleasure, and is thus seemingly a bit disorganized.  But even more spectacular are the various larger-than-life stone sculptures that are covered in moss and peak out from the bushes.  Now open to the public, this park gets it right: although one is not allowed to play the trumpet (I'm not lying, see the sign below), the sculptures themselves are there to be climbed on.

Perhaps rogue marching bands run rampant in the Umbrian countryside, and thus the warning against brass instruments is indeed justified

Sculpture on a sculpture: turtle and winged woman

 Close up of two giants fighting

Crocodile?  Nothing was labeled, so your guess is as good as mine.

Leaning tower of Bomarzo

 He's a pretty good sport.  (I just realized this is one of the only sculptures we posed by, and it's probably the smallest one there.  I promise the others are much larger, you'll just have to trust the lack of scale.)

Hiking up for a picture

Inside the Mouth of Hell

Inside Hell looking out

Saw this bench and tried to do a damsel-in-distress pose, but I don't think damsels-in-distress usually laugh

 This grumpy face suits me a bit better, wah wah

 Sphinx in the bushes

Maybe the best thing about the park was the playground.  Never too old for a seesaw!!

Though we were slightly unbalanced :/

Vienna

While mom was in town we took a quick trip up to Vienna to see the Christmas markets and some art.

 Clock towers at the Rathaus

Christkindlemarkt!

Christmas markets are serious business in the north

 At the market stalls

We also spent time at the Kunsthistorisches museum.

 

A detail of one of my favorite Parmigianino paintings

Two favorite Correggio's

Detail of one of the Correggio's: Jupiter and Io

Detail of a Caravaggio, known for painting dirty feet

 One of my favorite sculptures of all time (see the side of this blog!): Giambologna's Astronomia

Detail of Giambologna's signature

Mom's visit to Rome: Christmas lights

For the first time in my life I decided not to go home for Christmas, and instead remained in Rome.  Thankfully my Mom flew out to join me, bringing just the right dose of love and comfort that I needed to prevent a huge case of homesickness.  Though she has now visited several times, this was her first trip during the winter, (when the city is much emptier), and it was fun to show her things from a different perspective.  Without the huge crowds of summer, Rome is more authentic and often more inviting.  So, on one of her first nights we walked around the city center with the goal of seeing as many Christmas lights as we could.  In honor of the 150 year anniversary, the city has spared no expense with decorations, going above and beyond what I have seen the previous two years.

 The whole length of Via del Corso, a major street that intersects the center of town, was crowned with the country's colors

At the intersection of Via del Corso and Via Condotti.  Fendi is on the left and always puts up one of my favorite displays.

 Looking down Via Condotti towards Piazza di Spagna

 At the Christmas market in Piazza Navona

 I don't think she's ever seen the Pantheon so empty before

Walking home, near the Pantheon