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The Results Are In - Part 24

OK folks, it is toot once more that toot I let you toot toot know of recognition toot in toot Black & White toot Magazine…this in the toot February 2026 Single Image toot Contest Winners. Sorry, as I toot looked back at toot what I’d typed, I saw way toot many toots of my horn. No more then.

“The category that my People’s Choice Award photo was featured is the “TRAVEL/PEOPLE/PLACES” category”

This February issue #176 includes 6 of my photos, which is a record for me in this premier magazine. As I look at the other winners, I see one person with 4 photos, and a few with 3 photos published. Toot!

 

Here is the cover of this month’s issue.

Once again, a female giving us a dark, dramatic look.

 

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER

Here is the photo that captured the public voters’ attention. The title is “Mom & Sis at White Sands National Park”. This is my mother (aka Tutu & Maurine) and sister (aka Luanna) at White Sands National Park, New Mexico. I took this photo in 2012. This photo was the People’s Choice Award Winner in the TRAVEL/PEOPLE/PLACES category. As we sat under the shelter, we had lunch. It was very much of a tradition when traveling with my mother that we have a food box in the car for lunch stops at roadside parks…or pretty much any place that we could find shape just off the highway.

Mom and Sis at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, 2012

SINGLE IMAGE AWARD WINNERS

As always, to see the photos in a full-screen way, click on the first photo and then click on the little > at the right of the photos to work your way through the 5 photos.

HOW THESE PHOTOS WERE MADE

In the first photo of the snowy egret carrying a branch to his mate to construct a nest, no Photoshop techniques were used. That is captured exactly as he was flying back to the nest-to-be.

In the Full Moon Through Desert Thorns photo, yes I did use Photoshop there to layer the full moon and stars behind the thorns of a barrel cactus. [by the way, for the caption in the publication, they used the caption from someone else’s submittal].

The Ocotillo photo was a Photoshop composite of ocotillo limbs shot at various times in the Sonoran desert of Arizona.

The Street Jazz Musicians photo? No Photoshop at all.

What do you think about the Drawing Desert Energy photo? Photoshop or no? The correct answer is yes to Photoshop, of course.

DO YOU PREFER COLOR OR BLACK & WHITE?

I would love to have your input in the comments section below regarding your preference for black & white as shown above, versus color, as shown below.

Here is What He Was Doing with the Stick

It was so fascinating to watch these beautiful snowy egrets building their nests in St Augustine, Florida.

The male would fly out and gather a stick and bring it back for his female mate to build a home…time and again.

Here they are below as he arrives at the nest-in-progress to deliver his stick. She accepts and places the stick in just the right place. And, they often display unexpected affection, as seen here.

FINALE

TOOT! TOOT!-TOOT!-TOOT!-TOOT!, TOOT! TOOT!

[To the rythm of shave and a haricut, two bits]

My lips are very tired from tooting, so no more, and sorry to have tooted to you so much this issue.

Each of the photos above causes me to pause a bit to think on God’s gift to us through his creation of plants, animals, and us humans. It is always such a joy for me to be out in the open spaces or city spaces to admire His creative handywork. And, I consider each of you to be a part of His precious handywork.

Although this article is not Italy-related, I will still say…

Ciao, for now!

From you friend, Steve

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Our Tuscan Day Trip with Stefano

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The last time we met, we were on our way to Siena from Rome…without all of our luggage! While we were staying in Siena, we took the opportunity to visit the Tuscan countryside for a day. We did this with our wonderful guide, Stefano Coltellini, of “Get Tours”. Stefano is the Get Tours General Manager, as well as a Certified Sommelier by Italian Sommelier Association, and he’s a Food & Wine Guide specialist. Let me tell you about what Get Tours can do for you:

  • Tailor made guided sightseeing tours with private driver in Tuscany and other parts of Italy

  • Wine tours in Tuscany with enthusiast wine expert

  • Food experiences with local food guide

  • Car services for transfers and shuttle

  • Luxury limousine service with a private driver

THE MEETING

An email exchange with Stefano determined our meeting point in Siena that was close to our hotel. We arrived just a bit early to be sure that Stefano did not have to wait on us…plus, we were excited to get underway for our day in Tuscany that Stefano had arranged for us.

As we waited, a group of bicyclists came up the street. We learned that all must use a skinny-tired bicycle, as this was a vintage bicycle ride.

We also learned that they had already ridden many miles today, starting a long way from Siena.

We had lovely scenery as we waited, which is typical of Siena.

 
 

And here’s a bit more lovely scenery, as the lovely Jason, who is a construction contractor and is well versed in bollards, finds that this tipsy street bollard is most likely not up to specs.

PLEASE MEET OUR DRIVER AND TOUR EXPERT STEFANO

Stefano covers all of southern Tuscany (Siena, Cortona, Montepulciano, Chianti, Montalcino) and he specializes in wine and food tours, which we found out on this wonderful day.

Here is a photo of Stefano during one of his exquisite wine tours.

 

And here from the Get-Tours website, you can see the variety of tour sites on which Get-Tours has taken riders in comfort…and he can take you too as your private driver. There are many places, foods, wines, cheeses, and other Italian features that Stefano can deliver you to in comfort and with vast knowledge.

And now let’s start our own tour of Tuscany, with our first stop being…

SAN GIMIGNANO

As we approach San Gimignano

In this photo from Wikipedia, you can see much of the appeal of this historic hill town. The entrance is from the extreme right, and the main calle (street) curves up to the area of the tall stone towers.

And in this next photo, which I created it using Google Maps by employing a couple of tricks to get a nice aerial perspective view, you can see more of the surrounding countryside.

San Gimignano from Google Maps

Although there are about 8 stone-towered houses in San Gimignano now, many years ago, because of a feud between two families which drove them to build many more towered homes in a competitive way, they built houses that found the end of the Medieval period garnished with 72 towers up to 230 feet tall. It was like a modern day Manhattan skyline. I’m sorry to say that I could find no photos from that era.

The town is very charming…and there is a lot to see. If you are you interested in a bit of shopping, you’ve found your match…especially if you would like to acquire classic Italian pottery, as shown just below.

Samples of the Italian pottery available in San Gimignano

It was in 2012 that Ellen snagged the fatto in Italia (made-in-Italy) plates that we still use daily.

A 2012 shopping find

As you saw in the aerial photos above, San Gimignano is a long, skinny town. The main street as you enter is Via San Giovanni, which is lined with all kinds of shops. Here is Via San Giovanni…and you can see that Ellen has already scored at shopping.

And here is a sample of what you might see as you stroll the length of Via San Giovanni…

And now we’ve arrived at Piazza Cisterna, where you can see the historical cistern in both photos.

And here is a photo taken by our own Sue Lee as Jon strolls toward her.

Jon on approach to Sue’s location on Piazza Cisterna

And, knowing me as you do, I just had to snag some San Gimignano doorways.

QUERCETO DI CASTELLINA

Stefano now drives us into the heart of Tuscany. Our first stop is a very nice winery…with very nice wine, by the way. This is also our lunch stop.

The word “querceto” means “oak forest”. So, we are going to an area with a lot of oak trees. But as we found out, the Tuscan cypress trees were in attendance there, also.

Once again, I go to Google Maps to show you the acreage of the Querceto di Castellina property. That often used red upside-down red tear drop is where we dined for lunch…and drank wine. At the center are olive groves. At the bottom of the photo you can see the area of the vines.

Before lunch, we toured the winery. This photo shows the beautiful stainless-steel fermentation tanks.

Querceto di Castellina Winery

And here is Jacopo as he explains the process of making their seven wine varieties.

Jacopo explains the wine-making process

One of the favorite wines of our group was this Furtivo…photo taken by Sue Lee. “Furtivo” in English translates as “stealthy” or “sneaky”. This is a Sangiovese-grape based wine (the same grape variety of chianti, brunello, and several other wines.

Furtivo wine photo by Sue Lee

One cannot describe the wine better than found on their website: “Light and bright, the subtle color of peach skin, our Furtivo though ‘sneaky’ in its easy drinkability, has an innocence about it, the aromas have a jubilance that revives childhood memories of endless summers, perfectly ripe strawberries, cherry granitas and iced tea packed with citrus and mint.”

You will enjoy their excellent website, which you can view by clicking HERE. Please give it a look, as you will also see their very nice lodging opportunities, also. And, you get an expanded view of their property.

LET’S EAT LUNCH

We were treated to a very nice variety of lunch items, which you will see below…but first, we need to taste the wine that we just had explained to us.

Jacopo pouring the Furtivo

Here you see Jacopo pouring our first wine, and it’s the very tast Furtivo.

 

And here is a barrage of photos that show how much we enjoyed our wine tasting.

And note that it was not just one wine that we tasted, but several. I shouldn’t have just said “tasted”, but instead “consumed”. The wines we consumed were well marked on the stem of each glass, as seen here in another Sue Lee photo here.

Photo of Querceto di Castellina wines taken by Sue Lee

And now to the food, which was both beautifully prepared, but also very tasty.

And we had a very cute guest whilst we were there. You saw his paw prints on the Furtivo label, above.

 

I know from 35 years of friendship that Marsha does love chickens, and this one that is on site was very special, indeed.

CASTELLINA IN CHIANTI

Before we returned to Siena, Stefano took us into Castellina in Chianti for a bit of sightseeing. Here are a few photos from that quaint Tuscan town, located in the Chianti region of Tuscany.

MORE QUERCETO DI CASTELLINA PHOTOS FROM OUR EXTENDED TRIP

Did we enjoy Stefano taking us to Querceto di Castellina? Yes, we did. We enjoyed it so much that we went back and stayed for three days after Sue, Jon, Marsha and Jason returned home to the USA. Here are just a few more photos of the grounds of the lovely Querceto di Castellina.

That ends our wonderful day with our new friend, Stefano. By the way, Stefano in Italian is Steve in English. So besides our love of Italy, we share a name. And, his wife’s name is Ellena, and mine is Ellen. Such a coincidence.

I highly recommend the Get Tours group, and Stefano in particular. I suggest that when you are planning your trip to Italy, and you know that you will be wanting to get around without renting a car to drive around on your own, give Get Tours a try.

So, once more I say, Ciao for now. Bless you and yours and when you get the opportunity, get over to Italy!

Steve (aka Stefano)

A Word to the Wise Regarding Train Travel

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This article is in regard to the safety of your possessions when traveling by train in Italy, and it is based on experience.

My mother had a saying that goes like this, “A word to the wise is sufficient”. It means that a wise person needs only a brief hint or piece of advice to understand and act upon the words.

“A word to the wise is sufficient”
— Mom, aka "Tutu"

And, I know that you are wise because you are reading these words, as you have most likely read many of the words on my ItalyOurItaly.com website before.

 

INTRODUCTION

What I have to say to you today is based on two personal experiences in Italy as we travelled by train…specifically awaiting and boarding trains. One incident was in 2000 in Florence, and the other was in 2023 in Rome. These will be characterized as “Incident #1”, and “Incident #2”.

INCIDENT #1 - Florence, Italy

As we had taken a taxi from our hotel in Florence to Florence’s Santa Maria Novella train station, and as I was trying to pull my wallet out of my hip pocket and struggling to do so, I finally managed to settle up with our taxi driver. The point here is that I had a very fat wallet with things that I wanted to keep in my possession.

We had eight travelers in our group celebrating graduation from high school in the summer of 2000. We visited Italy, or course…and also Switzerland and France. Besides Ellen and me, we had our son Dale and daughter Nicole, Dale’s buddy Greg, as well as Judy and Mike and their daughter Ginger. Except for this one incident, we had a wonderful time.

It all took place as we were getting onto our train and getting situated by looking for our assigned seats. As we climbed the stairs into the train, two train conductor-looking employees entered with us…at least we thought they were employees, because they were dressed almost exactly like employees with the dark slacks and light blue shirts, and each had a satchel over their shoulders much like, though not identical to, the actual employees.

As we congregated at the end of the car and awaited another group to get situated, the “Conductor-Fraud #1” in front of me stopped and made conversation about how crowded it was as he pushed back against me slightly to give those others more room to situate. It turns out that “Conductor-Fraud #2” was right behind me and was gently pushing from behind. What he was actually doing behind me was working the wallet out of my pants pocket. I had no idea, as it was all very friendly and nonthreatening due to the crowding, and our assuming that they were employees.

When the group ahead of us got situated, we began to move toward our seats, and it was just about time for the train to depart in mere moments. We found our seats and sat down. As the train began to move, I decided to place a carryon sized bag on the luggage rack near our seats, knowing that I could keep an eye on it as we traveled. As I was returning to my seat, I did what most all guys do as they carry a wallet in their hip pocket…I brushed my hand across that pocket out of habit. Rest assured that I had no suspicion that anything amiss had happened…it’s just habit. What I found was, absolutely nothing

I was infuriated. In my wallet were were my debit card (useful for Lira cash acquisition), a credit card, and some cash. The cash was Italian Lira, as it would be a year-and-a-half later that the Euro would be adopted on January 1, 2002 for cash transactions.

The rest of our group was also infuriated and the four of us males decided to find those culprits to get my goods back. We walked up and down the length of the moving train, getting everywhere but the engine it seems. No luck. The culprits were based at the Florence train station and they had gotten off to help out other luckless travelers as other trains were preparing to depart.

As soon as we debarked at the Venice Santa Lucia train station, I found my way to a pay phone. I called our bank here in Colorado, using their 24-hour hotline, which I had used several times and had memorized. I canceled my debit card and made sure that Ellen’s would still be available for garnering Lira. Next, I was directed by station employees to an American Express office that happened to be just a few feet from our hotel lodging. Within 2 hours, I had cancelled the old card and was issued a new card with a new number. Very convenient indeed!

It turns out that all I was out of was a wallet with cards and cash…as I had not taken my driver’s license and my passport was secured within my trousers with a belt-like device…not handy for quickly getting to one’s financial items for purchases, but safe from thieves, as I would definitely have noticed that. And luckily, we did not have to get physical with the culprits because Italian law gives them a good bit of protection from those that they themselves are in the process of accosting.

Thus ends INCIDENT #1. The word to the wise is to not trust your eyes when you are boarding a train, and be aware of persons you were in the process of trusting who may be trying to garner something of yours that you would like to keep. In a 2012 trip with Debbie and Scott, knowing what had happened in Florence, we were hyperaware as we rode a subway train in Rome. Scott and I even arranged a phrase to state loudly should one of us find that we are in the process of being accosted, or the other sees that it’s happening. That phrase to be said loudly was “Go Buffs!”. Those of you in Colorado would know that this applies to the University of Colorado mascot, which is a buffalo.

Incident #2 - Rome, Italy

We are in the main train station in Rome. This station’s official name is, “Roma Termini”. I would think that “termini” would translate to “terminal”, as in this is the end of the line (however, all of my research says it means “terms”, as in the terms of a contract).

Often, one will be in a train station where the train track passes through the terminal area on the way to the next destination. That would not be a terminating terminal station…so maybe we could call that a “whistle stop” station, and there are plenty of those in Italy. As you can see from the photo, all trains entering the station terminate there…at least until they debark and embark passengers and then head back out the other direction to their next destination through a system of interconnecting rail lines.

Here is a photo of the Roma Termini station from above.

Roma Termini Station

We are now in the station and we are looking at the “train board”. This board will show you a destination, the time of arrivi (arrivals) or partenze (departures), and the binario (track) that the train will occupy as it debarks and then embarks passengers. Typically, as in the photo below, you may see the arriving (in arrivo) trains on the left side of the board, and the departuring (in partenza) trains on the right side. As we are departing for Siena, we are looking at the right-hand side of the board. By the way, this is a stock photo and not one that I had taken…otherwise I would have shown more detail regarding the arriving and departing trains.

Roma Termini Train Board

You can see yellow signs with arrows letting you know which way you would turn after you enter the track area through the entrance dead ahead and under those yellow signs.

Here is a very important thing [which led to our demise]: You have to stare at the train board to see which binario from which your train will depart. You can see six columns on the right side of the board. The trains are listed by their time of departure. As our train to Siena is initially listed at the very bottom of the list, it will creep up as the earlier departing trains make their departure. As your city’s listing gets closer to the top, at some point the binario number will appear as a number on the sixth/last column on the board. Once your train’s binario number appears, it is time to scoot. Notice that there are 29 tracks here, according to those yellow signs. The trains are very prompt in their departure as listed on the board (which due to delays along the route, may not be the time that was advertised when you bought your tickets). When you scoot, you will need to scoot left, right, or straight ahead.

So, once your train works its way up near the top of the list, you must be vigilant as you wait to see the binario of your train. They debark and embark quickly (as we learned in Incident #1 - Florence). Don’t take your eyes off the list. Uh oh…that staring at the train board means that you are not also staring at your luggage!

Here is what happened. Four of us were standing watching the train board with our luggage resting around us, mostly right in front of us, but a few items were just out of our peripheral vision. Marsha and Ellen were resting their knees on a bench about 30’ away. They kept an eye on us to see when we might start to make our move. That is when Accomplice #1 went into action. This was a female who had the look of a typical Italian gypsy who wanted to procure a handout. She engaged Marsha and Ellen in conversation in a way that they were no longer looking in our direction at all. Now comes Accomplice #2, whom we never saw, obviously. He walked right behind us, grabbed a large rolling suitcase with a duffle threaded on top, and just kept right on walking. This bag, and a couple of more, were out of that afore mentioned peripheral vision. The layout of the situation had put me just a bit at ease, as just 5’ behind us was a glass wall and an information kiosk occupied by two persons. That 5’ wide ally-like area allowed Accomplice #2 to just stroll along, grab the two bags, and keep on walking with no hesitation. Accomplice #1 had done her job, and she now disengaged from conversation with Marsha and Ellen.

None of suspected that a theft had taken place…if we had, we would have raised a ruckus then and there. Now as we continue to watch the train board, we see that our Siena bound train has neared the top of the list and a binario number is visible. We start to gather our luggage together to move out to the train. Marsha and Ellen now join us and Ellen is a bit dismayed as her luggage is nowhere to be seen. We all take a gander around us and Ellen’s luggage is not there. We now know that we have been burgled. At the same time, our train has debarked and is beginning to embark Siena-bound passengers.

What do we do? Ellen saw no point in waiting, finding the polizia, missing our train, ruining the day’s plans for everyone…not just herself. We headed to our train with a heart that has now completely sank with the reality that all of Ellen’s clothing, jewelry, hair and makeup items, etc is gone…forever. The ride to Siena may have been scenic, but Ellen and I were not in the mood to observe it.

We decide to seek the help of the polizia in Siena to see if any justice can be had. Maybe the Roma Termini polizia can be contacted to review security camera footage. We doubted that we would ever see Ellen’s possessions again, but perhaps the Accomplices would get caught. We decided to go to both the state and provincial poliza in Siena with our story…but to make that long story short, there was no interest there.

We had two more weeks left in our Italy trip. Much of that time was spent looking for dresses, slacks, shoes, make up, and other women’s items. Those goods were not only essentials now, but they served as souvenirs, too. Oh, and let’s not forget that we need another large suitcase…one that we will certainly keep an eye on for the remainder of the trip…and future trips.

Conclusion

You now have several words above directed to you, a wise person. The conclusion is simple: Be Aware of your surroundings when you are in train stations, on trains, and such. There are people out there in every country who want to take advantage of you to get your possessions.

We are much more cognizant now in our travels. One thing that we have always done when traveling by train is securing our luggage with a cable with a combination lock. Train luggage storage for suitcases are at the ends of the train cars, close to where you enter the train, to make it ease for you to grab your bags as you depart. This would be a prime location for someone to just walk by and snatch your things. So, please get a cable with a lock for your train travels.

Yes, below is our actual luggage, which includes Ellen’s new red suitcase.

A Parting Shot!!!

Yes, I now give you the parting shot (as in photograph) as Ellen was protecting her new luggage as we departed Florence (Firenze) for Venice (Venezia). Marsha and Jason are celebrating Ellen’s new defensive train-station security actions.

Thank you for spending time (it took me only 10 minutes and 36 seconds) to read through these words to your wise self. If you have had your own train-theft incidents, please advise all who read these words in the future by using the Comments section just below.

I’ll say “Ciao for Now!” as I try to remember the combination to my luggage security cable. Hmmm, I should have written it down somewhere!

Steve

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The Results Are In - Part 23

Publication in the prestigious Black & White Magazine is once again the subject of this tooting of my horn. And, the volume of my horn playing has risen above the normal level because I was published in the magazine twice this year…once in a portfolio competition, and once again in a single image competition.

“The category that my Poeple’s Choice award was featured is the “PATTERN/TEXTURE/ABSTRACT” category”

And, though I am playing at a higher decibel level today, the tune is not as sweet as the recognition I passed on to you on June 10th of this year…that being my recognition as Photographer of the Year in the coveted 17th Annual International Color Awards. If you have not seen that article, please check it out HERE.

February 2025 Black & White Magazine Publication - Single Image Winners

This February issue is to announce the winners of the 2024 Single Image Contest. Two of my images were published in that issue. And, as a bonus for my Italy fans, both of those photos were taken in Italy during our 2023 trip with friends!

Here is cover of the February 2025 issue…

Though it was published in February, it seems to me that based on the cover photo, it would be a great image for an issue to be published around Halloween.

Note that the issue includes winners from the “People’s Choice Winners” category and “Single Image Winners” category. My photos were recognized in both of those categories.

Though I did not have a winner in the “Spotlight Winners” category, I did have a photo receive that recognition back in 2022, complete with a head-shot photo of yours truly. If you missed that article, you can see it HERE.

 

The People’s Choice Award - Feb 2025

So, what is a “People’s Choice Award”? It refers to the public being offered the opportunity to select their own favorite photos. The public can vote on nominated images to help choose winners in different categories. The category that my Poeple’s Choice award was featured is the “PATTERN/TEXTURE/ABSTRACT” category.

Here is the People’s Choice Award winner in that “PATTERN/TEXTURE/ABSTRACT” category, which I titled “Stoned”.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT VIEWING THE PHOTOS ON YOUR IPHONE

On a Computer when you click on one of my photos, it gives you a full screen view. This means it can go from small to very large to see details. This is not the case on an iPhone.

I noticed something on my iPhone. If you want to see a zoomed in view of any of my photos on an iPhone, rather than tap on the photo to make it larger (which it will not do), just use your fingers by spreading them apart to zoom in on the photo. Give it a try, especially with the butterfly photos so you can see their eyes and their straw-like proboscis.

B&W Magazine People’s Choice Award Winner

 

This photo was taken in bella Bellagio, on the shores of Lake Como. Just recently, I published an article on eating dinner in Bellagio at Mistral Restaurant in the Grand Hotel Serbelloni, which you can see HERE.

To learn more about the wonderful lakeside village of Bellagio, you can see an article from the past that I’ve updated based on our 2023 trip by clicking HERE. You will see just what all of those stones are about!

Single Image Award Winner - Feb 2025

This Single Image Winner was featured in the “ARCHITECTURE/INTERIORS” Category. Being a church, It is obviously “architecture” related. And since it is inside the church, the “interior” term applies, also.

This interior photo was taken during our 2023 trip with friends. We are in Venice. We are in the lengthily named “Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari”, or in short “The Frari”. I place this church in the Don’t Miss category for your Venice visit. You can see the wonderful interior of this beatutiful church in this previous article here…Venice’s Frari…which incidentally features a shot of brother-in-law Craig striking a pose just outside the church’s secondary entrance.

Here is the Single Image Award Winner in the ARCHITECTURE/INTERIORS Category, which I titled “God Ray at the Frari”.

B&W Magazine Single Image Award Winner

August 2025 Black & White Magazine Publication - Portfolio Winners

In the August issue, the photos submitted are submitted as a portfolio of images…that being images that have some relationship to each other in subject. My submittal for this contest consisted of images of butterflies. Yes, they are butterfly photos, and they were not taken in Italy. They were taken in Gainesville, Florida at the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History. This wonderful building is full of those little flutterbys. These photos were taken in March, 2022, during a photo workshop with my dear friend Jackie Kramer, of “Jackie Kramer Fine Art”, also known as “LuvBlooms”.

I will give you both the as-published black and white photos, as well as the color versions.

Here is the magazine cover, which is a good bit less creepy than the Single Image cover.

 

As this was a portfolio competition, there were more than one of my flutterby images published…there were three, and here they are in the Merit Award category, which has no particular subject category. Just below you can see the three images that were recognized.

As promised, here are the color versions of those three photographs.

Don’t you just love their eyes!!! And, since we are on the subject of butterflies, here are just a few more from that same Florida trip.

I Can See You!!!

And finally, since you are a somewhat captive audience, here are photos that I took last week on Bald Head Island, NC…which is a lovely place to be. These were taken with my iPhone.

Thank you dear reader for making it this far into my article where I tooted my horn a bit. You were able to see both God’s places, as well as God’s creatures as they were published in Black & White Magazine during 2025.

I hope you have a blessed day, and until next time, I say…

Ciao for Now,

Steve

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Central Rome Walking Tour - Part the Last!

Click the map for a larger view

Yes, that’s right Italy lovers…today is the beginning of the end of our walking tour of central Rome. The heart of Rome has history, romance, intrigue, and of course, wonderful sights.

As a recap…since you’ve been sleeping and dreaming of Italy since we started our tour a few weeks ago…here is where we’ve been and what we’ve seen:

This is one of my longest articles of Italy. It may be that getting through it will take longer than the actual walk through central Rome. But please, don’t let that discourage you…read on, dear reader.

Today, we visit a Piazza and a Campo. The word “piazza” shows up as “square” using my Google translate app. And “Campo” comes out as “field”. Today’s piazza is not a square, and our campo is not a field, though it used to be. But, we won’t let that literary quirk stop us from having a wonderful end to our special walk through the central part of Rome.

And, as you can see by clicking on the map above, the walk covers a lot of sightseeing in a short distance and time. From 9/10ths to 1 1/3rd miles in less than an hour if one were not prone to stop and gawk at the sights, as we have surely been doing. And, are you hungry yet after that delicious breakfast at Antico Caffe Greco?

THE WALK BEGINS…or I should say CONTINUES

We have just completed our visit to the Pantheon. This ancient building with its architectural uniqueness really captured our attention. And, let’s not forget that very tall column of exquisitely carved tribute to a Roman emperor of old. Here are just two reminder photos to jog your memory…and you can click HERE to review that Part 2 episode.

 
 

WE ARE OFF TO PIAZZA NAVONA

Here is the route of our very short walk to fame.

The walk from The Pantheon to Piazza Navona

  1. Walk out of the Pantheon (note: you will not get to Piazza Navona if you stay in the Pantheon).

  2. Immediately turn left (sinistra) and walk along Salita de Crescenzi (Crescenti’s Climb)…which is no climb at all.

  3. After a 370-foot walk, you will come to a T-intersection at Via della Dogana Vechia (Old Custom’s Street) where you turn right (destra).

  4. Walk 147 feet and turn left (sinistra) on Via del Salvator (Savior Street).

  5. Stroll 312feet and turn left (sinistra) on Corso del Rinascimento (Course of the Renaissance).

  6. You will come to an ally-like street after a walk of 80 feet, where you will turn right (destra) onto Corsia Agonale (Diagonal Lane).

  7. Our destination is now in sight dead ahead, so walk 45 feet & 7 inches and you will be at, in and on Piazza Navona.

 

Regarding the distances referenced above, Google has a wonderful measurement feature. Whether you are interested in feet or miles, it is convenient and easy to use. I will go over the use of Google maps for your travels soon.

 

Piazza Navona

The first thing that you will notice about Piazza Navona is that it is definitely not a square, but an oval of 145 feet by 800 feet. The oval shape tracks its history.

The Piazza was the site of a 1st century stadium called The Stadium of Domitian. It was built by Emperor Titus Flavious Domitianus in AD 86 for the people of Rome to use for athletic games. The stadium was also known as the Circus Agonalis, or competition arena.

Its current oval shape follows the form of that stadium, which is long gone, and the arena floor was well below the present elevation of the piazza. Today, Piazza Navona sits over the interior arena, and grandstands holding around 30,000 people surrounded the arena floor, and the buildings you see surrounding the piazza would obviously not be there in the Stadium of Domitian days. With the surrounding grandstands, the width was 350 feet, with a length of 900 feet. Archeologists believe that the outside perimeter height was 100 feet above ground level, and the row one seats would be about 15 feet above the arena floor.

That arena would seem to be a perfect place for Charleston Heston to stage a Ben Hur sort of chariot race (if you have not seen that 1959 movie, I suggest that you do - check Amazon Prime), though I find no mention of any races other than those done on human feet.

Antonio Joli’s painting of a flooded Piazza Navona

So, right now as we begin our circuit of the piazza, we are on the arena floor and none of your fans are sitting in the grandstands. As a matter of fact, those grandstands have been gone for many centuries. However, we are a bit above that original arena floor, and that lower floor created an interesting diversion from normal athletics, as one could flood the arena for aquatic events. From 1652 until 1866, those floodings were held every Saturday and Sunday of August to celebrate the august Pamphili family (the family of Pope Innocent X). This painting by Antonio Joli depicts just such an event.

A little over 150 years ago, the pavement level was raised. The market that was held on the piazza was moved to nearby Campo de' Fiori, which is our next and final destination today.

Do you enjoy a European Christmas market? Each year a Christmas market is held in the piazza from the first week of December until the first week of January.

Let’s see what the piazza floor has in store for us in our 21st century.

The Piazza Navona Fountains

There are three fountains in the piazza…one at each end and one in the middle. When we were reading about the Trevi Fountain last month, we learned about the ancient Aqua Virgo aqueduct. Restoration of that piped water supply facilitated the construction of these three public fountains.

The northern most fountain is called the Fountain of Neptune created by Giacomo della Porta in 1574.

Fontana del Nettuno -or- Fountain of Neptune

The basin of the Fountain of Neptune (which originally was bare with no sculptures) was designed in 1574 by Giacomo Della Porta. It was sponsored by pope Gregory XIII. For the next 300 years, the fountain survived without statues. Then, in 1878 two sculptors added embellishments.

The first embellishment was Neptune fighting with an octopus. Antonio della Bitta was the creator of this rather entertaining sculpture. In my opinion, the overall fountain just wouldn’t be the same without Neptune poking an octopus.

The second embellishment was created by Gregorio Zappala, and it consists of the statues around the perimeter.

Let’s take a look at this fountain with its added sculptures. Click on the left image to get a larger view, but only if you do not mind seeing genitalia. Trust me on this statement: In Italy, male genitalia are very prevalent in statuary, as are female breasts, evidently.

Fontana del Moro -or- Fountain of the Moor

This fountain at the south end of the piazza mirrors in size and shape the Neptune fountain at the north end. And actually, both fountains were designed by Giacomo della Porta at the same time. It got its embellishments in the 1650s by Gian Lorenzo Benini and Giovanni Antonio Mari.

Here you see a nautical scene with tritons, so-called angry dolphins, a large conch shell, and a tush…and of course, the afore mentioned genitalia.

And, I just couldn’t move on without you getting a prime shot of this next guy. I’m pleased to say that I haven’t felt that way recently…how about you?!

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi -or- Fountain of the Four Rivers

This is the premier fountain of Piazza Navona. It was designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X, and it celebrates the papal authority of four different continents…each represented by a major river of that continent.

Those rivers are:

  • the Nile representing Africa,

  • the Danube representing Europe,

  • the Ganges representing Asia, and

  • the Río de la Plata representing the Americas.

I could certainly bore you with the details of each of the gods represented and how they apply to specific rivers and their continents, but I think enough has been said.

The obelisk is made of Aswan granite and is connected with the emperor Domitian

 

And oh, at the tippy-top is a dove with an olive twig.

 

To see the images in larger size, click/tap the first one and work your way through.

Traveling companion Sue Lee used her cellphone to make a panorama photo of Piazza Navona. Because of the distortion one gets with a very wide panorama, it loses its long oval shape, and looks like it’s coming at you and then going away from you. Here is her photo, with the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone at the center.

Piazza Navona by Sue Lee

Though the photo well shows the tourist attracted to this piazza, I was wondering what this site would look like without those tourists. So, I spent about 5 minutes removing them. Here is my revision of Sue Lee’s photo. Same base photo, but with some Photoshop magic.

Piazza Navona without Sue Lee’s Tourists

Evening on Piazza Navona

Though we always enjoy our time at Piazza Navona during the day, it really comes alive in the evening. Street buskers, musicians, and such abound. On the northern end of the piazza, al fresco dining can be found. We enjoyed our meal at Ristorante Tre Scalini (three steps) and I’ve thrown in a couple of photos of our dining there.

LET’S HEAD TO CAMPO DE FIORI

Piazza Navona to Campo di Fiori [Click/Tap the map to enlarge it]

We have a very short 1,000 foot walk to the final destination of our Central Rome Walking Tour. This map shows you the suggested route, but of course you can twist and turn on your own to get to Campo de Fiori, or in English Field of Flowers.

  1. At the Fontana Del Moro end of Piazza Navona (south end), take a right onto Via Di Pasquina for a very short 175 foot walk.

  2. At the very small and triangular-shaped Piazza Di Pasquina, take a very sharp left onto Via di San Pantaleo, where it is about 250 feet to the Piazza di San Pantaleo, where you stay to the right as you prepare to cross Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

  3. As you cross Corso Vittorio Emanuele II bare right a bit and enter a street named Piazza Della Cancelleria (the Chancellery Square), where you walk 350 feet to our destination of Campo di Fiori.

But First!! Let’s Recall Some Things Along Our Way!!!

We’ve had an interesting walk this today, and we’ve seen some very interesting sights. Not only those covered in our three-part journey, but just sights around us not of the sightseeing variety. Here are a few of those that we’ve seen on our own journeys over the years. But please, stay tuned for our Campo di Fiori visit that will end our walk today.

We Had Lunch at Pizzarcano

Other Food Things We Saw

PLEASE NOTE: For each photo gallery, please click the first image to get a full-screen view, and then work your way through the photos. If you are using a computer (preferred), hover the mouse pointer of the image and then use your arrow keys to advance through the photos…this way you can see the captions for each photo. When photos begin to repeat, click the “X” at the top right of the screen to exit the gallery.

People We Saw Doing Things

Something is amiss with this scene!

What is going on here? Do you see the irony in this street photo?

Something just doesn’t seem right!!!

Is it that the bag is empty?

Or perhaps, they were out of the appropriate things and she got stuck with an opposing item?

This doesn’t say much for the Copenhagen-based Flying Tiger store, does it?!

Other Things Along The Way

Rome “Stumbling Blocks”

IN MEMORIAM

Here is an image from which I published a blog article in 2015. Please read about it here, and remember the impact.

And Now, Our Final Destination - Campo de Fiori

I was looking at Campo de Fiori using the Google Street View and an image appeared that captured my interest because one never sees Campo de Fiori during the day without a myriad of tents covering the campo. The aerial view shows what I mean. The statue dead center in the aerial view is the same as the one in the street view.

A Bit of Campo History

This campo was once an actual field of flowers during the middle ages. It is unique in Rome, as it is the only monumental square in the historic center not to house a church or basilica. The campo was built by Pope Calixtus III on that site of colorful flowers. Then, in 1440, the square was paved, with inns and hostels for pilgrims rising around its perimeter. As mentioned way above regarding Piazza Navona, the market that you see now in the campo was previously held in Piazza Navona, but was moved here in 1869.

What Do You Find In The Market? The market, consisting of fruits, vegetables and flowers, as well as savory dried cooking spices, takes place every morning except Sunday, so plan accordingly. There is much variety under the tents. And, though it is a bustling market by day, it is even more bustling in the evening with dining and drinking.

What is really amazing is the mobility of all of those tents and their wares. All of the tents you see above in the aerial view of the campo, have to be removed along with their wares, each afternoon. The campo is market-vacant in the late evening for al fresco dining, and then in the early hours of the morning it slowly comes to life with vendors once again setting up their tents/stalls. Most stalls close by early afternoon so the campo can be cleared, so visit early.

Once dusk falls, things change dramatically, with al fresco restaurants and cocktail bars coming to life.

Ellen, Debbie & Scott 2012

Yes, we’ve arrived…no ifs or ands, but butts!

 

Our Market Favorite

Mauro Berardi

So, here is our favorite market vendor, where we come back during every Rome visit to gather Italian cooking spices.

Mauro Berardi’s spice market…where he has many culinary-related items.

Here is a recent 2023 photo of friendly Mauro.

 

Mauro has been running his business for many years. Here is an older photo of Mauro (same glasses and earring) and friend Debbie from 2012. Debbie has her credit card handy while she is doing a bit of negotiation with Mauro.

The area of Mauro’s tents cover a lot of territory.

Here are a number of photos of our shopping at Mauro’s site. You will note a lot of bending over to sniff at Mauro’s specialty of dried spices…and we always buy several bags to bring back home to use in our self-cooked Italian meals.

These sniffing photos are from past trips. The last photos in this gallery from 2023 show items that have been added since earlier trips. But, the spices are still prevalent!

There is a statue in the middle of Campo de Fiori. I won’t go into that story. If you want to, just do a search for Giordano Bruno.

Dining in Campo de Fiori

As I have mentioned above, the campo in the evening is a dining and drinking extravaganza. I’ll have to admit that we never participated in the evening, as we are usually staying quite a way from the campo. However, we have dined here during the day, and we were completely pleased with our meals.

Unfortunately, it seems that the ristorante that we enjoyed in 2012 is no longer on the campo. I can see the word “Arancia” in a couple of photos, so the osteria’s or trattoria’s name probably had to something to do with oranges.

Anyway, to give you an idea of the campo life during the day that is not related to the market tents/stalls, here are a few photos of our typical Roman lunch. It includes some local kids who enjoy playing in a lite rain.

And of course, we have to start with a Banfi Chianti!

I’m sad to say that the walk is over, once again. This walk is one of our favorite things to do with friends who are visiting Rome for the first time. With the exception of the Capuchin Crypt, none of the features on our walk require tickets or reservations. And, the walk is not in any way strenuous.

Of course, this is not the extent of Rome, as there is the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and many dining opportunities. So, don’t wander far, as I will be continuing our recent time in Rome in the coming weeks. And then, we will visit Siena, Tuscany, Florence, and of course…our favorite, Venice!

And, just in case you missed it, the route that we took to get to Italy started in Zurich and transportation was provided by the Bernina Express through the Swiss Alps, as we headed to bella Bellagio. See it> Bellagio/Why Go?, Bellagio/Getting There.

If you want to jump ahead a bit, here are some Rome sites that I have already written about:

The Vatican: This is in two parts, so after going through Part 1, please go on to Part 2. I will be making an addendum soon just to suggest that a private tour guide be used, rather than a group tour guide. That will be a generic article and not just focused on The Vatican experience.

Eat Here: La Pergola: The most fabulous of fabulous dining experiences in Rome. Be sure start the reservation process about 4 months in advance.

There will be more of Roma in upcoming articles. Until then, may God bless you, and

Ciao for now,

Steve

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