FRANKFURT AM MAIN

BEFORE THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK - JULY 1997

This was Frankfurt, when the European Central Bank was only the European Monetary Institute... ;)


"THE MAIN RIVER - From the Intercontinental Hotel"


"STÄDEL MUSEUM"


"FRIEDENSBRÜCKE - View from the Intercontinental""


"COMMERZBANK and Untermainkai"


"PREPARING TO TOUR"


"RIVER CRUISE"


"RÖMERBERG PLACE"


"THE RÖMER - The old city hall or Rathaus for more than 600 years is one of the most important city's landmarks. The Römer family sold it to the city council in March 1405..."


"SHOPPING? - Better visit the Eschenheimer Tower, a city gate part of the late-medieval fortifications. The tower, built at the beginning of the fifteenth century, is at once the oldest and most unaltered building in the city centre"


"THE OLD OPERA HOUSE"


"CURRENTLY THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, Then the European Monetary Institute..."

STROLLING IN ROME

VATICAN CITY & ROME - JUNE 1997

Rome is a fantastic city and shares with the Vatican some of the most extraordinary treasures one can find on Earth...


"ST. PETER'S BASILICA - From St. Peter's Piazza. With the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people, it is the most important of the Roman Catholic churches"


"ST. PETER - From the Vatican Museum"



"VATICAN GARDENS & MUSEUMS - The Museums, founded by Julius II in the sixteenth century, are among the greatest museums in the world and include the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms and the incredible Gallery of Maps!"


"TOP OF THE DOME - This was the second time we walked up there to see St. Peter's Piazza and the Via della Conciliazione"


"TOP TWO - The River Tiber and the trees in the margins"


"VIEW OF THE PANTHEON - Probably one of the most extraordinary buildings in Rome..."


"QUIRINAL PALACE - Housed Popes, then Kings, now the President of the Republic..."


"IL VITTORIANO - Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), also known as «The Typewriter», is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy"


"BOCCA DELLA VERITÁ - Only the young lady would dare to put her hand inside the Mouth of Truth..."


"GALEASSI - Since 1907 in Trastevere; is competing with Sabatini for the best restaurant in the piazza..."


"FONTANA DI TREVI - You're supposed to throw a coin into to return to Rome. Never did; returned seventeen times. Spared a lot of coins..."

CITTÀ ETERNA!

ROME - JUNE 1997

After an Easter in Prague, I was in Paris in May 1997. No pictures, however. But in June, we travelled again, the three of us. Rome was the destination!

Rome is also known as the Eternal City! Furthermore, there is Roma, Città Aperta of Rossellini and Roma of Fellini, as well as many other Roma(s). This post does not envisage to be included in the list ;). It's just a personal view made out of some disposable camera lousy pictures taken in June 1997 (times when the video camera was the queen), twenty two years after our first time there in 1975!


"VIEW - The Intercontinental De La Ville Hotel is not the Hassler, though it's located next door at Via Sistina. Anyhow, it's a nice place to stay and the view from our top floor room was quite enjoyable"


"SCALINATA - The Spanish Steps, close to the Spanish Embassy in Rome, are a must for every tourist in Rome. The result can be seen here around the Barcaccia Fountain!"


"TRINITÀ DEI MONTI - On the top of the Scalinata, we may see the Obelisco Sallustiano, the Church also known as the «Santissima Trinità al Monte Pincio» and, on the right hand side of the photo, the Hotel Hassler with the famous rooftop restaurant. The church was started in 1502, by Louis XII of France to celebrate his successful invasion of Naples. It was consecrated in 1585"


"COLOSSEUM - The Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. Its construction started between 70 and 72 AD and was completed in 80 AD, when it was prepared to seat up to fifty thousand spectators. «Panem et Circenses»!"




"PALATINO - According to Wikipedia, «The Palatine Hill is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Forum Romanum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other». Always loved to stroll there..."



"THE FORUM - The Roman Forum, located between the Palatine hill and the Capitoline hill, is the area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed and was the actual centre of the Empire"


"THERMAE - The Baths of Caracalla, built between 212 and 216 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla, were a huge leisure centre in Rome, including, further to the Baths, a library and a gym! Now you may attend the «Open-air summer festival by the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma», usually in July"


"VIA APPIA - The Appian Way, «THE QUEEN ROAD», was the most important ancient Roman road connecting Rome to Brindisi. On the left we may see the tomb of the fifth Caecilia Mettela, daughter-in-law of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the Roman general who suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus and entered into First Triumvirate, with Pompeius and Julius Caesar"


"CAMPIDOGLIO - The Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio in Italian) has almost all Roman ruins covered up by the Medieval palaces that surround the piazza, mostly designed by Michelangelo. Capitoline was also the origin for the English word capitol..."


"LUPA - This is the famous bronze sculpture depicting the Capitoline she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. Thought to be an Etruscan work of the 5th century BC, it seems however, according to recent radiocarbon dating, that it was manufactured in the 13th century AD. For sure is that the twins were added in the late 15th century!"


"ISOLA TIBERINA - The Tiber Island, a 270m long and 67m wide boat-shaped island, is the only island in the Tiber river. The bridge we see here is the one to be crossed to get to the nice restaurants in Trastevere..."


"GINO DA TRASTEVERE - Gino is one of the nice restaurants in Trastevere. Eating fish and looking at people...!"

EASTER IN PRAGUE - PART TWO

TOURISTS IN PRAGUE - MARCH 1997


"OLD TOWN (Staré Mesto) SQUARE - The historic square is located between Wenceslas Square and the Charles Bridge and is probably the most popular meeting place in Prague. The Memorial in the centre was erected in 1915 to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Jan Hus, a religious reformer who was burned at the stake for his beliefs"


"TYN CATHEDRAL - A Church of Our Lady in front of Týn has been in the old square of Prague since the 11th century; the current late gothic church dates from the 14th century. The towers are 80 m high and topped by four small spires"


"PRAGUE ORLOJ (The Astronomical Clock) - The Orloj, mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall, is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky; «The Walk of the Apostles», a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months"


"JOSEFOV - The former Jewish Ghetto is the smallest cadastral area of Prague, entirely within the old town. It seems that the first Jews arrived in Prague on the 11th century"


"OLD JEWISH CEMETERY - It is estimated that there are 12,000 graves in the cemetery, the oldest preserved tombstone (Avigdor Kara) dating back to 1439"


"NEW TOWN (Nové Mesto), founded in 1348 by Charles IV just outside the old city walls, is the youngest and largest of the five towns that today comprise the historic centre of modern Prague. In 1378, a census found that Prague had 40,000 inhabitants making it the fourth most populated city north of the Alps after Paris, Ghent and Bruges, and the third largest city in Europe in area after Rome and Constantinople"


"WENCESLAS SQUARE was the Horse Market place in the Middle Age; it is now named after the patron saint of Bohemia. Wenceslas Square is the historical landmark of the New Town and a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings"


"GRAND HOTEL EUROPA - Built in 1889 at the Wenceslas Square, it was rebuilt in Art Nouveau style between 1903 and 1905 to appear in many films..."


"HOTEL PARIS - Built in 1904 in the Art Nouveau style, just a couple blocks from the Old Town Square"


"U FLEKU, a large pub, restaurant and brewery, is the finest example of all the traditional Czech pubs in Prague, from the architectural point of view. Located in an ancient building dating from 1499, U Fleku has a brewery museum installed in the former malt house"


"MASARYK QUAI - Beautiful houses from the early 20th century with a beautiful view of the river and towards the castle"


"THE DANCING HOUSE (or Drunk House) was designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Frank Gehry. Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) the house stands out among the Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings of the nearby Masaryk Quai"


"CUBIST HOUSE - In the Vysehrad district, near the River Vltava"



"VYSEHRAD - The castle was built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River and within its limits is the Cathedral of Saint Paul and Peter, as well as a cemetery, containing the remains of many famous people from Czech history"


"INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL"


"TYROLEAN AIRLINES - An exciting experience for the (however learned) young traveller... "