Daily Photos & Frugal Travel Tips

The Cruise Ship Terminal, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

kimber — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:00:24 +0000

The Cruise Ship Terminal, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The cruise ship terminal is too far from the historic center of town to walk. The most frugal way to get there is by bus. It will take about 20 minutes and cost about 6 pesos (give or take). You will be traveling away from the Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. To get the bus back from the city center, look for Wal-Mart written on the windshield or ask the driver for Wal-Mart.

National Museum Of Ravenna, Ravenna, Italy

kimber — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:00:20 +0000

National Museum Of Ravenna, Ravenna, Italy

The entry fee for the National Museum Of Ravenna is included in the combination ticket, and you move through the Museum on the way to the Basilica of San Vitale. The museum is huge and well worth a look. Unfortunately, we were pressed for time in Ravenna and could only look at the marbles on the main floor. Oh… unique to a museum, we were able to take pictures.

Basilica di Sant’Apollinare in Classe Entrance Fees, Ravenna, Italy

kimber — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:00:21 +0000

Basilica di Sant’Apollinare in Classe Entrance Fees, Ravenna, Italy

The entrance fee for Basilica di Sant’Apollinare in Classe is included in the combination ticket (which you can obtain at any of the sights). This church alone is worth the cost. The mosaics are simply wonderful.

Neoniano Baptistery (Battistero Neoniano), Ravenna, Italy

kimber — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:00:56 +0000

Neoniano Baptistery (Battistero Neoniano)
The baptistery was built in the 5th century. In the center of the cupola (dome) is a mosaic showing John the Baptist baptizing Christ, surrounded by 12 crown-carrying Apostles. The octagonal baptistery originally served a cathedral but the cathedral no longer stands.

Trams In Alexandria, Egypt

kimber — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:00:49 +0000

A great way to see a bit of Alexandria is by Tram.
The Tram system, started in 1860, is one of the oldest in the world.
The fare is L.E. 0.25 and the attendant takes cash.
Everyone was very helpful and pointed out major sites we might want to get off at.

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Alexandria, Egypt

kimber — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:00:54 +0000

The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa is an experience. The cost is nothing much but nothing much is what you get. You’re not allowed to bring in your camera (all of these photos were taken in the parking lot). The catacombs are not for those who have difficulty walking or who are afraid of going into poorly lit, poorly maintained tunnels buried deep under a busy city. The hubby and I were thrilled to make it out alive. The restoration work looks like it was done by a five year old with markers. I dearly hope the artifacts were fake.
I don’t regret seeing the catacombs as a brush with death is a great reminder not to take life for granted.

Cats, Alexandria, Egypt

kimber — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:00:30 +0000

It wouldn’t be Egypt without cats and there were plenty of cute kittens in Alexandria.

Romulus and Remus, Rome, Italy

kimber — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:00:25 +0000

You’ll often see this depiction of Capitoline Wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus while in Rome. Romulus and Remus, sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia and Mars, the god of war, were to be executed. Instead they were abandoned and later raised by a she-wolf. When they became adults, they fought of who would rule the new city (now Rome). Romulus won which is how Rome got its name (that’s one of the stories).

Church Of Saint Lucia In Selci, Rome, Italy

kimber — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:00:55 +0000

The Church of Saint Lucia in Selci was closed when we passed.
(as per sign)

Chiesa Di Santa Lucia in Selci

The ancient Church of St. Lucia In Selci, founded by Pope Onorio I (625-638), passed into the hands of the Agostinian nuns halfway through the XVIth cent. In 1587 Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590) did away with the church’s name as it was clearly incapable of fulfilling its religious functions, and the nuns then had restoration work done and had extensions made over the entire religious complex. Documents report that as from 1596, Carlo Maderno was in charge of the work, and it is to this architect that the building of the new church, begun between 1603 and 1604, and probably consecrated in 1619, is attributed. Work on the completion of the convent and on the decoration of the church proceeded intermittently in the years that followed as the nuns’ financial means were very limited. After the death of Maderno (in 1629), word continued under the direction of Antonio Casone, who is thought to have been responsible for the enlargement of the convent. When Casone died (in 1634), the first architect reported in documents as having worked steadily on the religious complex, and on other buildings belonging to the Agostinian nuns, was Francesco Borromini, and so it may reasonably be supposed that during the period between 1638 and 1643 he held a position as the convent’s architect, even though he was engaged on more important buildings at the same time, such as the Oratory and the Casa dei Filippini (begun in 1637). The church’s interior features a single nave ground plan with three chapels on each side and a rectangular apse, and Borromini’s hand can be clearly recognized in the stucco decorations of the Landi family chapel (commissioned by Sister Clarice Vittoria Landi) which is second on the left and is dedicated to the Trinity, and in the execution of the choir in the counter-façade. Both of these inventions feature rich stucco-work decoration with a distinctly structural function in terms of architectonic order, as in the unusual motif of the “putti” heads inserted into the continuation of the gable of the Landi Chapel altar. Also taking part in the execution of the church’s main altar (1643) were a number of stonecutters and stucco-workers belonging to the master’s team engaged in work on the altar of the chapel. The Landi Altar, destroyed and reconstructed in a different form in the XIXth cent., may definitely be ascribed to Borromini on account of a grate crafted by the ironsmith Giulio Cianchi which still stands about the XIXth cent. altar table (even though it no longer serves its original purpose as a partition between the church open to the public and the space behind reserved for the nuns), reproduced also in some drawings made by Borromini himself, which also show decorative motifs with floral borders and lilies that are very similar to those in the choir, In the opening above the modern altar table there are also the remains of a frame that in all likelihood belonged to an ancient white marble urn in which were preserved the relics of the martyred Saints Giovanni and Giusto and of the St. Candida Vergine. Above the grate hung a painting executed by A. Fontebuoni in 1604, depicting the Most Holy Annunziata (to whom the church was originally dedicated) which is still in place. Also in Borromini’s drawings, to the left of the altar, there is a revolving serving plate (possibly used for serving eucharist to the nuns), that was walled into the sacresty at the time of the XIXth cent. reconstruction of the altar. In fact, changing liturgical requirements led to the makings of radical changes in Borromini’s work in the XIXth cent., with the insertion of two doors at the sides of the altar, as part of a poor design by which the altar was topped with a sober triangular gable.

Performer Near Pont Sant Angelo, Rome, Italy

kimber — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:00:32 +0000

There are usually many performers around popular tourists spots like Pont Sant Angelo.