Arrivederci Roma

This is the third time we’ve stayed at the White Hotel, very near the Trevi Fountain right in the heart of Rome. No matter what time of day we pass the Trevi there are always hundreds of tourists gathered there. I took this picture at midnight last Saturday week when we were walking back from the Palazzo Doria Pamphilij. Before leaving Rome we had one final task. It’s worked four times for us! 

Roman windows

St Peter’s in sunshine

The next day we went back (sans scissors) and the midday sunshine flooding in from windows high up was just beautiful.

Watch out, she’s a quilter!

The Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, the Quirinale, the Palazzo Barberini, and Castel Sant’ Angelo.  During our four days in Rome we touched base with them all, some for the very first time. Mostly, though, it was a case of revisiting places we’ve enjoyed on past trips, taking in a few more details on a second visit, and reliving happy memories.

On Monday afternoon, however, our plans to look inside St Peter’s, at the tail-end of the day when the crowds had thinned, were foiled when we arrived at the security screening point to see this –

In my bag, at the ready for any stitching opportunity, I had pins, needles and a border strip for the Whirligig quilt. More importantly, I was ‘armed’ with a pair of scissors!

Not even a chance to visit the interior of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome could make me surrender my favourite little embroidery scissors. Tell me, quilters, would you?

All was not lost, though, because with a storm brewing I was able to snap these dramatic shots of a dark brooding sky behind St Peter’s – just before we were caught in a summer storm.

Palazzo Doria Pamphilij

Hello again! After a long silence this post comes to you from the elegant little town of Syracusa on the Eastern coast of Sicily.  It has taken me this long to find an internet connection where I could use my own computer.  It’s been an adventure in itself, and I may share the story one day soon. 

‘Is possible….’, as they say here.

But let’s just back up a bit to Saturday evening a week and a half ago when we were still in Rome and dined with friends who are fortunate enough to live in an apartment in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilij. They overlook this beautiful courtyard.

Prince Jonathan Doria Pamphilij owns this very elegant Palazzo, right in the historic centre of Rome, and opens part of it to the public, no doubt to help defray the enormous costs involved in keeping such a building in good repair. We went back the next day to see more than the mere glimpse we’d had from our friends’ window.

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos inside the rooms, so you’ll just have to believe me when I say the paintings on the walls are amazing. The Lonely Planet “Italy” guide calls it ‘a mini-Versailles’, probably because of the splendid mirrored galleries.

The collection has remained intact in the safe-keeping of the Doria Pamphilij family for many centuries, largely because of a decree by the Pamphilij pope, Innocent X, that none of the works was ever to be sold. Wonderful for us – but it must be tough when you have to find a few euros to replace the shutters and you can’t just sell a Bruegel.

After our morning’s ambling we needed to pick up the pace a bit, so we hiked over to the Spanish Steps where we enjoyed an al fresco pizza before climbing the steps to take in the view.

Then we cruised the Via Condotti, (trying hard to look as if we could afford to shop there) and ended our day by taking tea at Babingtons Tea Rooms.

This quaint little establishment has been here a very long time, beside the Spanish Steps, just across from the house where Keats breathed his last, and I’d like to imagine on better days he spent the odd hour there scribbling away while he sipped on a cup of Earl Grey – except the poor fellow passed away much earlier, in 1821.

Babingtons is a little corner of Rome that will be forever England, where sandwiches and scones are the order of the day, and there’s not a pizza or bruschetta in sight.

A bit of a facelift

Last week I decided a rather plain blouse I wanted to take on holidays needed a bit of perking up, so I decided to try my hand at free motion applique.  Have to say, I’ll need a good deal more practice to get it right, but I was still quite happy with the results.

At least I’ll be easy to spot in the Italian crowds!

Origami bag

Made using Mairuru’s lovely tutorial, I love this origami drawstring bag which I’m currently using to carry all my Aurifil threads needed for appliqueing the Whirligig quilt border.  It only took two fat quarters to make, and came together very quickly.