Frozen In Time

Ruins of old civilizations are fascinating, there are so many stories held in crumbling structures. It is easy to get lost in your own imagination as you begin to think about all that has taken place. 

Pompeii has long been a place of fascination and curiosity.  Settled by inhabitants around the 8th century B.C. 

In 79 A.D. Pompeii was buried under millions of tons of volcanic ash. The city of Pompeii remained mostly untouched until 1748, when a group of explorers arrived looking for ancient artifacts. They found the ashes had acted as a marvelous preservative - underneath all that dust, Pompeii was almost exactly as it had been 2,000 years before. Its buildings were intact and skeletons were frozen in time right where they had fallen. Archaeologists even uncovered jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread.

 

 

 

 

A day spent walking around these ruins is a reminder of how the force of nature will always dominate humans.

 It is important to respect nature and to listen to the warnings that are given.

Those who do not learn for the mistakes of the past, are bound to repeat them. 

There is more to see, I invite you join along on this visual adventure!

Walking On Art

Italy has an absolute abundance of art. 

It seems everywhere you look visions of carefully created masterpieces are found 

even underfoot and overhead.

Fine tile mosaics stopped me in my tracks every time I encountered them.

Many of these intricate pieces have survived from 4th century.

Artisans hand cut stone and glass tiles then painstakingly arrange them to create colorful creations.

Some of the tiles are so small they appear to almost look like brushstrokes from afar.  

 

I hope these photos inspire you to look closer underfoot.

You may find that you too are walking on art.

There is so much more to see!

Join me next week and follow along on this adventure.

Rome By Night

It is one thing to see a new city in the light of day, it is another to see that city by moon light.

Sight seeing at night can be rewarding for those who are brave enough to accept the mission.

Cites take on a new look and feeling under the cover of the dark night sky.

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“	If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.  ”
— Bill Watterson                      _________________________________________________________________

I hope these evening photos help motivate you to explore under the night sky.

You might be surprised at what you find.

Off To Rome

I ended the year by checking off another item on my travel bucket list.

After falling in love with Spain, I put Italy on my wish list. 

I mentioned this dream trip to everyone I knew, in hopes of enticing a friend to come along. 

Everyone said it sounded great but when the time came no one was ready to go. 

At first I told myself to wait for a better time when someone could join me. 

Then I decided to listen to my heart. If it was meant to be, it was up to me.

I took the risk and choose adventure over fear.

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“	Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.              ”
— Giotto di Bondone                      _________________________________________________________________

 

 There is so much more to this adventure. 

I look forward to sharing with you some of the inspiration that I found while traveling through Italy.

Fulfillment Of Travel

Traveling is something I look at as a teacher of life. 

You can learn a lot from a book but, nothing will teach you like the real world. 

The good, bad and the down right ugly are all out on parade.

I spent most of 2015 traveling. I even took a solo adventure through Italy. 

It has taken me sometime to actually process everything I saw and experienced, 

let alone go through all the photos!

This journey has made me start thinking more seriously about how travel offers life experiences
 that have a powerful effect that is long lasting. 

I look Forward to sharing some of the inspiration I have found with you.