Travelog for: Alberto

We went to the Christmas market in Stans. It's a lovely small Christmas market. I love feeling the Christmas Spirit!







People were very happy. Look at the lovely goods. I really like it.





A real angel ...but the weather was too warm. ...poor angel!

I helped wrapping some Christmas gift. I really had the pleasure.





...I think, I made a good job, didn't I?

It's evening - Finally! I really couldn't wait anymore.
Merry Christmas to everyone!

We had "Fondue Chinoise". It's a typical Swiss Christmas menu. Frozen meat is sliced thinly to prepare it for hot pot cooking. The cooking pot is often sunk into the table and fueled by propane. Hmmm, I liked it!







Look at the lovely Christmas-Tree! Wow, I like it!







The presents are for the kids.

We've spent a wonderful day in the mountains. The place is named Melchsee-Frutt. The weather was perfect! I enjoyed the sun!









Lovely, isn't it?





Brrrr, snow is so cold!





Where I am?







In the evening, I enjoyed the ride in the gondola.

Because of host-mom's birthday, we've spent some days in Rom (Italy). I've seen many interesting buildings ...and I also saw Papa Francesco!

Let's enjoy the pictures:

Vatican City is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of around 840. This makes Vatican City the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world by both area and population.

Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state, ruled by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergymen of various national origins. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See and the location of the Pope's residence, referred to as the Apostolic Palace. The Popes have generally resided in the area that in 1929 became Vatican City since the return from Avignon in 1377, but have also at times resided in the Quirinal Palace in Rome and elsewhere.

In the city are cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications.

The independent city-state was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of Pope Pius XI and by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. The treaty spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870) that had previously encompassed much of central Italy.





People are waiting for Papa Francesco! ...we're not alone...





...can you see him?







And of course, I also saw the traditional Swiss Guard in their colorful clothes.



...but as it was raining, they wore blue gowns.

Here are some pictures without me. I hope you'll like it too. I can't be on the picture, because I was the photographer!!!

The Christmas crib on St.Peter's Place.



The four Raphael Rooms (Italian: Stanze di Raffaello) form a suite of reception rooms, the public part of the papal apartments in the Palace of the Vatican. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop. Together with Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, they are the grand fresco sequences that mark the High Renaissance in Rome.





St. Peter's Basilica is a Late Renaissance church located within Vatican City.



...it's amazing, isn't it?

Some old stones... It's the archaelogical area of the Theater of Marcellus an the Portico of Octavia.

At first sight, it appears to be smaller version on the Colosseum, which was nevertheless built a good 83 years after the theatre. The differences are more evident on taking a closer look. The Theatre of Marcellus, for example, is semicircular, while the Colosseum is  completely round as indeed an amphitheatre should be.

The Theatre of Marcellus is perhaps the oldest theatre to have survived until the present day. Initially begun by Julius Caesar, it was completed by the Emperor Augustus in 11 B.C., and was dedicated to his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who died five years before it was finished at the age of just 19.

I hope I always sad the truth... because we're visiting "the Mouth of Truth" (Bocca della Verità).

La Bocca della Verità (English: the Mouth of Truth) is an image, carved from Pavonazzo marble, of a man-like face, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome, Italy. The sculpture is thought to be part of a first-century ancient Roman fountain, or perhaps a manhole cover, portraying one of several possible pagan gods, probably Oceanus. Most Romans believe that the 'Bocca' represents the ancient god of the river Tiber.

The most famous characteristic of the Mouth, however, is its role as a lie detector. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. The piece was placed in the portico of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin in the 17th century. This church is also home to the supposed relics of Saint Valentine.







...ufff, nothing happend!

Today we went up stairs. We went on the top of the Monumento Nazionale. The view was amazing!

The Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) or "Il Vittoriano" is a controversial monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill.













...the horse in a miniature Version...



We've just been on the top of this building.

The Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci. Standing 26.3 metres high and 49.15 metres wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. The fountain has appeared in several notable films, is a popular tourist attraction.

...I'm sorry, but the sun/shadow/light was very bad...







...and no, we weren't alone... 

Another archaeological area, ...but I forgot the name...!



Everything is old and needs to be renovated ..., but that's very expensive!







One of hundreds of churches in Rome

The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it was the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire, and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It is the largest amphitheatre in the world.

The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 70 AD,[3] and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir Titus.[4] Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (81–96). These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name.

The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.

The Colosseum, like all the Historic Centre of Rome, Properties of the Holy See in Italy and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. In 2007 the complex was also included among the New7Wonders of the World, following a competition organized by New Open World Corporation (NOWC).





The Pantheon  from Greek: Πάνθεον [ἱερόν], an adjective understood as  is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome, and rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian about 126 AD.

The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft).

It is one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda." The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda.















Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as "Circus Agonalis" ("competition arena"). It is believed that over time the name changed to in avone to navone and eventually to navona.

Uffff, now I had enought history...

I'm hungry!










Last but not least: The Spanish Steps!

The Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. TheScalinata is the widest staircase in Europe. 

The monumental stairway of 135 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy, and the Trinità dei Monti church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, both located above — to the Holy See in Palazzo Monaldeschi located below. The stairway was designed by architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.








Arrivederci Roma - I had a good time here!