Travel Destination Rome

Well, it’s that time of year again: millions of people around the world are preparing to fly home or off on vacation for the holidays, and for the next few weeks the skies will be filled with… well, with far too many people who don’t have the first clue how to fly. 

I fly a few dozen times a year, sometimes totting up three or four flights in a week (trust me, it’s even less fun than it sounds).  Before each of these flights I despair at the long lines at airport security, watching with disappointment as yet another person fails to understand what they can and can’t take on board the flight with them. 

Let’s clear this up in advance of the holiday season.  You can’t take a Swiss Army knife on a plane.  You can’t take a gun.  You can’t take a 2 liter bottle of pop.  You just can’t.

Unsurprisingly it’s the last one that trips most people up (most people are smart enough not to try taking a pistol on board with them).  In every security line you’ll find some idiot trying to carry a bagful of liquids through to their flight.  A bottle of soda is easily dealt with – just throw it in the trash – but the problem becomes much thornier when people try to take expensive cosmetics through security.  

Seriously, it’s every flight.  ’I'm sorry, officer, but it’s just a bit of eyeliner.  It’s only a stick of lipstick.  It’s just moisturiser.’  Sure, maybe, but how the heck do they know that?  

Here are the facts.  According to TSA regulations you’re only allowed to take 1 quart sized clear cosmetic bags onto a flight.  Each bag can contain 3 3oz clean bottles, and you’re allowed 1 bag per passenger. 

That isn’t too complicated, right? 

Now let’s watch you all screw it up.

Rome is a beautiful place to spend your vacation whether for the whole family or just you and your other half. It is a place that is rich in culture and with many warm and friendly natives awaiting you, you will definitely have a splendid time if you choose to make it your next vacation spot.  To help you make the decision of whether to go to Rome on vacation or not here are some things you can do while there;

1. Visit the Vatican City. You could say that this city is almost like another state by itself. It is one of the most visited places in Rome and is home to the Papacy. Here you will find a lot to see where the Catholic Church and its history are concerned as well as countless beautiful pieces of Catholic Art.
2. Visit the Pantheon; a historical Roman site where time seems to have stopped.
3. Take a walk along the Forum. This also has a deep historical background and its setting has remained pretty much undisturbed giving you that ancient Rome feeling as you walk through.
4. Visit the Colosseum. This is where gladiators had their fighting matches which you will find in a pretty untouched state.
5. Ensure you eat a Roman meal.  Get your fair share of authentic Roman cuisine even if just for one meal out of your entire trip. You can take along a flex belt just in case you find you love the food too much. Here is a flex belt coupon that could come in handy prior to your trip.
6. Do some shopping. Many times when we go on vacation we only purchase little nick knacks to take back home as souvenirs. When you are in Rome break this tradition and purchase some fresh fruits and vegetables that are native to Rome. Purchase clothing items and other things that will help you live the Roman lifestyle. You will find this to be a very scintillating activity.
7. Rent a moped for moving around the city. This is a great way for you to check out Rome at your own pace and leisure and a great way to take part in core Roman activities.

The people of Rome live among the architectural achievements of over 2,000 years of the city’s history.

Rome’s most important industry is tourism as the city abounds in art, museums and libraries. However, other industries such as high fashion clothing, printing, electronics, engineering, chemicals and food processing are also significant. These are to be found mostly on the south and east of the city, which is also an important center of banking and commerce.

The curving Spanish Steps, designed by Francesco de Sanctis in 1723, are famous for their elegance and for the colorful markets at their feet. The Castel Sant’Angelo, a huge imperial mausoleum, was built by the Emperor Hadrian in AD 135; today it is a state museum. The Arch of Titus stands at the entrance to the Roman Forum; it was built in AD 81 to commemorate the emperor’s capture of Jerusalem. St Peter’s Basilica is arguably the most famous church in the world. Completed in 1615, it is the scene of papal ceremonies and is a place of pilgrimage for the world’s Roman Catholics

The Leonardo da Vinci airport at Fiumicino provides international air links and many major roads and railways converge on the city. Rome has a bad traffic problem but efforts are being made to free the heart of the city of traffic by new schemes such as the extension of the Metropolitana subway and the building of enormous underground car parks. The rapid growth of Rome during the last century has led to housing shortages and congestion but public services are modern and efficient.

The population of the city is now about 2,700,000

Carthage (Greek Karkhedon, Latin Carthago), ancient city of Africa, situated on a peninsula in the Gulf of Utica, about 20 km east of modern tunis. Founded from Tyre circa 700 BC, its real name was Kirjath-Hadeshath (New Town). By the mid-6th century BC Carthage was the center of a great Phoenician commercial empire whose numerous colonies were scattered throughout the Mediterranean area. At the height of its power, the city had a flourishing textile industry, while Sicily, Italy, and Greece alike welcomed its exports of Negro slaves, ivory, metals, precious stones and all the products of central Africa.

Carthage enters European history in 550 BC, when its soldiers conquered most of eastern Sicily. Fourteen years later the Carthaginians defeated the Phocaeans and Massaliotes on the coast of Corsica; c. 500 BC they subdued Sardinia and the Balearic islands. In 480 BC a Carthaginian army, intended for the final subjugation of all Sicily, was defeated before Himera by the combined forces of Himera and Acragas. The war, however, continued intermittently for 200 years

In 509 BC, Carthage had entered into a commercial treaty with Rome: but during the 220 years since that date Roman power had greatly increased, and conflict with the Carthaginian empire was inevitable. It proved to be one of the most remarkable and most decisive struggles of history (see punic wars), and ended with the defeat and destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, when all its territory became subject to Rome and was formed into the province of Africa.

The city remained virtually in ruins until rebuilt and made a colony (colonia Julia) by augustus. Carthage is described by Pomponius Mela, Strabo, and Herodian as one of the greatest and wealthiest cities of the Roman empire; it was also important in ecclesiastical history. The city was taken by the Vandals in 439, retaken by Belisarius in 533, and finally destroyed by the Arabs in 697.

Lladro artisans have designed and made several gorgeous Christmas tree figurines. If you are like me and love all things Christmas tree, then you’ll love a Christmas Tree figurine as much as the real thing. They are wonderful home accessories during the Holidays season and can bring life to any quiet corner of your home. I love to put them in groupings of table lamps and Christmas candy dishes.

They are also wonderful gifts for people who have limited space or mobility. If you’ve got a relative in a nursing home, this Chistmas figurine is a wonderful addition to their room. You can bring it shortly after Thanksgiving, with a few small presents. It will give your relative a sense of anticipation and inclusion into the holidays.

In addition to lone decorated Christmas tree figurine, there is also a figurine that shows children in vintage clothing decorating the tree. This could bring back very many happy memories for many of us.

Some of us just don’t have the space or time for a Christmas tree. If you don’t have children, then it might just not fit into your December time priorities. But you can place a Christmas tree on a coffee table and still share in the Christmas spirit!

Lladro artisans have designed and made several gorgeous Christmas tree figurines. If you are like me and love all things Christmas tree, then you’ll love a Christmas Tree figurine as much as the real thing. They are wonderful home accessories during the Holidays season and can bring life to any quiet corner of your home. I love to put them in groupings of table lamps and Christmas candy dishes.

They are also wonderful gifts for people who have limited space or mobility. If you’ve got a relative in a nursing home, this Chistmas figurine is a wonderful addition to their room. You can bring it shortly after Thanksgiving, with a few small presents. It will give your relative a sense of anticipation and inclusion into the holidays.

In addition to lone decorated Christmas tree figurine, there is also a figurine that shows children in vintage clothing decorating the tree. This could bring back very many happy memories for many of us.

Some of us just don’t have the space or time for a Christmas tree. If you don’t have children, then it might just not fit into your December time priorities. But you can place a Christmas tree on a coffee table and still share in the Christmas spirit!

Autumn is my favorite season and I love to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. But I don’t usually feel like putting up two sets of decorations. So my strategy has always been to keep my Halloween decorations on the tamer side.

I welcome guests to my home with a primitive Halloween grapevine wreath. One year I took a basic grapevine wreath and sprayed it a shiny black and they sprayed silver glitter on it. We have a white door and this was a simple but effective entrance. When Halloween was over, I simply glued golden yellow and deep red leaves with a dark green bow.

Another option is to start with the grapvine and Autumn leaf wreath. And then to put witch and ghost embellishments along with a Happy Halloween sign. It’s possible to really take this up a notch and have brightly colored Halloween accents. I just design the wreath so that after Halloween, it’s easy to remove the Halloween witch, ghost or Happy Halloween sign. What I’m left with is a beautiful and bright Thanksgiving wreath.

But don’t just think of a Halloween grapevine wreath as a front door decoration. I love to incororate wreaths into my home decor. You can infact use a grapevine wreath as a Halloween centerpiece. I put a ring of votive candles just within the wreath. Of course the candle holder is large enough to keep the candles away from the leaves and other embellishments. It’s a lovely way to eat by candlelight.

Since the time of the Etruscans in the seventh century BC, Rome has been the most important city in Italy. Built on the seven hills of ancient times, it is divided by the Tiber River. During the Roman Empire it was the center of government and is now the capital of Italy. It is additionally important because it contains the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and Rome is known as the ‘Holy City’ or the ‘eternal city’, both of which are appropriate names for the city which is a cultural, artistic and religious center for western civilization.

From the time of the Renaissance the city was intermittently under papal rule and when the troops of a uniting Italy made Rome the capital in 1871 the pope refused to give up his sovereignty. However, the pope gave up all claim except for the Vatican in 1929 when the Lateran Treaty created the latter as an independent state within the city of Rome. Papal rule had been responsible for many of the artistic monuments in Rome, particularly those created during the Renaissance. The Vatican city itself contains many of the world’s art treasures. Within its grounds is the Sistine Chapel, with its magnificent ceiling by Michelangelo and frescoes by Botticelli and other Renaissance artists. The Vatican library, founded in the fifteenth century, is the oldest known public library and contains many rare manuscripts and books.

Many people travel to Rome today as pilgrims to be blessed by the pope in St Peter’s Square and many attend Mass celebrated by the pope in the square.

Because Rome has been continually occupied since ancient times, it contains a history of European Man. The forum with the two stone arches of Titus and of Septimus Severus, and the huge Colosseum, capable of seating 45 000, are reminders of the glories of the Roman Empire. Churches such as St Peter’s, St Mary Major and St Lawrence without the Walls indicate the strength of the Christian Church and of papal influence.

Palaces and villas, many of which are filled with paintings, sculpture and magnificent furniture, illustrate the lifestyle of the nobility. The Palazzo Farnese, the French Embassy since 1871, is considered one of the finest palaces of Rome. The beautiful building of the Palazzo di Venezia, where Mussolini had his offices, is now a museum.

The city has been built around a series of piazzas or open places, such as the huge colonnaded circle before St Peter’s built by Bernini and the Piazza del Campidoglio with its intricate, star-patterned pavement designed by Michelangelo for Pope Paul III. Rome is a city of fountains and more than 300 adorn the city. Some of the most beautiful ones were designed by Bernini, including the magnificent Four Rivers Fountains on four street corners, but perhaps the most famous is the huge Trevi Fountain by Longhena. It has become a tradition for tourists to toss coins into this fountain to ensure that they will return to Rome. There are also tiny drinking fountains in some streets that are more than a thousand years old.

Together with food, Man’s greatest need is for water and, when communities were established far from a riverbank, spring or well, it was necessary for water to be directed or carried to the homes; this was achieved by building an artificial channel, an aqueduct, to allow the water to flow from one place to another.

Such aqueducts were certainly used by the Babylonians in ancient Mesopotamia from 3500 BC onwards. Similar forms of open channels were used in ancient Egypt and Greece but the most famous examples were those in Rome and other parts of the Roman Empire.

The earliest Roman aqueduct was built underground during the administration of Appius Claudius Caecus in about 310 BC. Named Aqua Appia, it carried water to Rome, 16 km away.

Possibly the best known of the Roman aqueducts were those built above ground, which needed huge bridged sections high enough to allow the water to flow across wide valleys. The first of these, the Aqua Marcian, carried water a distance of nearly 90 km. It was built in 144 BC and the bridged section was 16 km long. Eventually, nine aqueducts were built, providing the city of Rome with over 170,000,000 liters of water a day.

Parts of these remain and are in current use, supplying water to the fountains of Rome. As their empire expanded the Romans built aqueducts in many other parts of Europe. Those still in existence include one at Pont du Gard at Nimes, France; another at Segovia, Spain, built in AD 109; and one at Mamz, Germany.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, water supplies were neglected for 15 centuries.

Many aqueduct systems fell into disrepair or were destroyed. It was not until the sixteenth century that there was a revival of efforts to improve the supply of drinking water in Europe.

In 1613, a channel was constructed from Hertfordshire to Islington, north London. Named the New River, this aqueduct supplied 18,200,000 liters of water a day to London. Other aqueducts built since the 1840s include the Marseilles aqueduct, 96 km long; the second Kaiser Franz Joseph aqueduct in Vienna, 231 km; and the 154 km aqueduct that supplies Manchester, England. The world’s most extensive aqueduct system is in south California, which supplies, in particular, the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

One of the main sources for this system is the Colorado River, from which water is carried 390 km over the San Bernardino mountains; this aqueduct has a capacity of 4,550,000,000 liters a day. Another source for this system is the Sacramento River in northern California, from which water is brought 715 km by aqueduct to a reservoir south of Los Angeles; a further 409 km for this system is expected to be completed by 1981.

Overall, the Californian aqueduct system, involving canals, pipelines and tunnels, will be almost 1600 km long and provide over 8 billion liters of water a day to southern California.

Italy was originally clothed in forests, but these have mostly fallen victim to man’s depredations. In the Alps, where forestry is still an important activity, oak, sweet chestnut and beech are common up to about 900 meters, with spruce, fir, pine and larch at higher altitudes. Much depends on aspect, but above 2,250 meters only stunted trees (mainly larch, juniper, alder and mountain pine) survive, eventually giving way to humble alpine plants.

Extensive oak and chestnut woodlands have survived on the infertile morainic hills along the Alpine margin of the Northern Plain. The plain itself was once a forest of oak, elm, alder, poplar and willow, but is now almost entirely farmland, with poplars as a valuable “crop” along the rivers.

In Mediterranean Italy drought resistant evergreen oaks have survived in parts of the Anti Apennines (up to about 600 meters) and more extensively in Sardinia, where the cork oak is also commercially important. Plantations of maritime and Aleppo pine have been established on fiat and sandy stretches of the coast. Where woodland has been cleared and the land then abandoned, a secondary growth of laurel, broom and other woody shrubs known as the macchia frequently takes over.

It provides firewood and rough grazing, and may be brought back into cultivation from time to time. Some very stony deforested areas support nothing but garriga, a sparse heathy vegetation consisting of lavender, thyme, rosemary and other fragrant herbs. In the mountains, where the summer drought is less severe, the evergreen oak is replaced by deciduous oaks, which in turn are succeeded upwards by chestnut and beech. There are extensive beech forests in the Abruzzi, and the Sila plateau is noted for its pine and chestnut forests.

Wildlife is scarce, owing to the national passion for shooting, hunting and trapping. Surviving species include the chamois of the Alps, wolves, wild hogs and deer. A heavy toll is taken of migratory birds of all varieties, especially in Sicily. This indiscriminate killing is not for food, but in the name of sport.