Fashion trends seen in Italy

This note is especially for my knitting buddies. Those of us in Nihon Vogue Year 2 are about to embark on the design of a skirt or a capelet for our next project. I saw many capelets in the stores as they ramp up for the fall season. Can you imagine? For once I may have a garment that is in fashion during the right season! One simple capelet in an acrylic (ugh) blend was priced at 50 euro which is approximately $70. Knitted garments in general are longer (unless they are ultra short, just covering the shoulder blades for example), have geometric shaping or angles, have more ease and are drapey. I'm seeing clothing and accessories in black, chocolate brown, gray, deep teal and purple, purple, purple. Everyone has something purple in their windows. Since purple is my favorite color, I love it! The purple hues are predominantly on the blue side but I also saw lots of shades of raspberry, magenta and purple-red. Jewelry is longer, longer, longer. Navel grazing length and even longer! There are lots of chain and bead combinations, which isn't new, however, the size of the beads are much, much larger. There is a preponderance of super sized pearl and gemstones jewelry in the store windows in Italy. I'm posting pictures of some items I was able to capture before the shop owners got wise to my antics!

Siena in Tuscany

When we left Rome we took the train to Chuisi and then a bus to Siena which gave us a lot of opportunity to see the beautiful countryside. It is an agricultural area filled with rolling hills, cyprus trees, grapes, sunflowers and artists. Before 1348, Siena was a major city with a strong financial and trade center. After the bubonic plague swept through Europe, the city lost a significant portion of its population and the city never recovered to the status they had been before - comparable with Florence, Venice and Paris. The medieval city sits atop a hill with the large main square of Il Campo as the central point. The city tower and city hall dominate this area. The nearby main promenade has a variety of restaurants and shops but I found the shops in alleyways to be the most fascinating. The Duomo cathedral was extremely ornate on the outside. The inside had wide expanses of flooring that was inlaid and carved stone of biblical scenes. We are staying at Palazzo Bruchi B&B which is a 17th century villa overlooking the countryside but close to the city center. It has a tranquil interior courtyard, ample breakfast each morning and pleasant surroundings. There is a kitchenette down the hall from our room that we have been preparing sandwiches, soup and salads with produce we get from the local mini grocery and fruit stands. Needless to say, I am still throughly enjoying the gelato!

And Yet More Rome

Rob and I reserved early morning tickets for a guided tour of the Galleria Borghese and the adjacent secret gardens. The entire area is surrounded by a pleasant tree filled park in which we saw runners, dog walkers and musicians. The museum was originally built for social gatherings and to house a spectacular collection of paintings and ancient sculptures owned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V. The villa was constructed in the beginning of the 17th century and substantially restored at the end of the 18th century. The gallery represents works by the most renown Italian and foreign artists of the 16th and 17th centuries. Baroque sculptures, including Bernini's David and his statue of Apollo chasing Daphne are magnificent. Most of the archaeological collection was sold by Camillo Borghese, husband of Paolina Bonaparte to Napoleon in 1807 and transferred to the Louve in Paris.
Later in the day we took the train to Ostia Antica. This is a 2000 year old town that was a thriving port city until the Tiber river was relocated after a flood. We saw the remains of docks, housing, shopping arcades, baths and business districts. A small museum houses some of the excavated finds. We also spoke to several students doing archeological excavation work on behalf of a 3 year program coordinated by Kent in the UK and UCLA in California. It looked like painstaking, precise work under grueling conditions!

More Rome

Spanish Steps, Pantheon, St Peter-In-Chains church, Dolce Vita stroll, Piazza Del Popolo, Capital Hill Square, Victor Emmanual Monument, Grand Staircase, Palantine Hill. Pineapple gelato helped to cool me down in the afternoon. It was sooo good. I want more!

Rome

We have had a fantastic 3 days in Rome thus far. The weather has been scorching hot and very humid. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like hot weather one bit but I am holding up pretty well. We are staying at the Hotel Oceania which is conveniently located near the Termini train station and Metro stop. We have been taking Metro when possible but have literally walked miles and miles every day taking in all of the historic sites.
I'll add more narrative to this post later for the specific places we have been:

Trevi Fountain - was one of my favorite sights. It is a beautiful sight that is not directly approachable by any streets. We were walking down a small alley way and there it was. The structure by Nicola Salvi was completed in 1762 after being commissioned by a pope to celebrate the reopening of the aquaduct.

Colosseum - 2000 year old engineering feat through the use of concrete and the rounded arch. Doric, Ionic and Corinthian are all examples of Greek columns that were used in the construction of this huge amphitheater. I shudder to think of the cruel, barbaric and death resultant activities that took place there. Ugh - all in the name of entertainment.

The Arch of Constantine - Marking the turning point in history for Christianity, the arch is covered with recycled carvings and ornamentation.

The Vatican Museum - We bought tour tickets in advance and avoided a 3 hour line to get in. and they were worth every penny! Immense museum with unforgettable works that are mind numbing in their beauty and scale. Sculpture, Tapestry, Fresco's, Paintings, Contemporary... the list goes on and on.

Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo's work is astounding and even more breathtaking in person than I imagined. The story behind it truly fascinating.

St. Peter's Basilica - Enormous doesn't begin to describe the church. I was in awe. Michelangelo's Pieta, Bernini's bronze canopy, entombed pope's of the past, statues of saints, the magnificent dome...

Roman Forum - The walk took a few hours but we were rewarded with history and sights of the Arch of Titus, Basilica of Constantine, Temple of Julius Caesar, Caligula's Palace, House of the Vestal Virgins, the Curia, Arch of Septimius Severus and the list goes on and on and on.

Off to Italy!

We decided to go take public transportation to the airport. Marilyn dropped us off at the park and ride, we caught an express bus downtown, switched to light rail to Tukwila and then caught a shuttle to the airport. So easy! I had forgotten my Alaska Airlines Gold card at home and was annoyed I had to stand in the long line at airport security versus the short line. I'm going to have to get used to it soon because my airline preference status has gone way down since I don't travel as frequently as in the past. I posted these pictures from the Alaska board room at Seatac airport before we left but didn't have time to add any narrative then as Rob was telling me to hurry, hurry, hurry. I did, but our flight from Seattle was delayed 45 minutes. We were fortunate to get an exit row which was comfy but we froze the latter half of the flight. Note - that was the very last time we were cold as Rome is hot and humid right now! Rob was so cold (very unusual for him) on the plane, that he used some plastic cellophane that the airline blanket had come in to wrap around his feet. We originally had a two hour layover in Newark before heading to Rome but that vanished after being put into a hold pattern and circling for more than an hour. We raced from one gate to the other and were the last passengers to board the flight moments before the door was pulled shut.
I had been in an absolute dither over what to bring as a knitting project on the plane. I had already planned on some socks, but since I only had two backpacks to carry, my space was limited. I decided on using some Silk Maiden handpainted yarn and the Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail shawl because it didn't take up much room and it would be challenging enough to keep my interest. Everyone else in the world seems to have knit that shawl and now it is time for me to knit one as well. I felt a bit guilty over not taking any Nihon Vogue projects. Hopefully I won't regret my decision.