When in Rome......

Hello again to all who read this. Well with October creeping up on me like a Gremlin I have been busy getting paintings ready
as well as some other bits and pieces which I will share with you soon, for the show at Workshop down in Bristol I hope to not only do some detailed pieces but some skate decks and perhaps some more sneaks. I also have some things happening that I will share but not quite yet until things have progressed a little further.
Not too long ago I went up to visit my very good friend Azz who's birthday was a couple of days later, but he was actually going to be on holiday with his girlfriend in Lindos, so I thought I would go up and see him not only to wish him a happy birthday but cause he was having a BBQ and I was kinda hungry.
"OH Baby I like it RAW!"


I also had a wee surprise for Azz who I met in Art College years back, and I remeber discussing our inspirations whilst browsing through a variety of books and I always remeber Azz talking about a drawing by Mode2 which is his favourite.



I think it is safe to say I done good with this present. So Azz headed off to Lindos and I with my girlfriend headed to Rome for a few days, a holiday that both of us had been looking forward to for a long time.
Rome is a city that my girlfriend has always wanted to visit and I have wanted to return to, we returned from our holiday just the other week. The city of Rome is just an unbelievable place and through out our few days there we we continuously amazed by the beauty and the history that it has to offer.



The first day involved a trip to the Colosseum including a guided tour to get a better idea and understanding of the history of this amazing building, the inside is unbelievable especially when you think how old the structure is. A word of advise though is that if a guy dressed as a Gladiator comes up to you offering to have a photo taken outside the Colosseum just say "NO!!" these guys will try to rip you off and in this case they did. That was the first and last time we were going to let that happen. After the tour and some ice cream and a lot of water we had some change in our pockets so headed over to the Fontana di Trevi chill in the sun and toss a coin or two over our shoulders.



We stayed there for a while to relax after some serious walking in the heat. You'll notice that I may use beautiful a lot in this blog cause it is the best way to describe all the fountains, paintings, streets and historic buildings. The hotel we stayed at was pretty close to everything apart from the Vatican.




And the Chappella Sistina being next door is worth a visit to see the ceiling by Michaelangelo of course. You aren't allowed to take any photos but everyone should know what it looks like. You can get carried away looking up at it that you may forget to check out the walls also with what looks like hanging fabric but a closer looks shows that the fabric and all its details are painted, no stencils either. But I did manage to get a few photos of the halls that you have to walk thorugh in the build up before you get to the chapel.



This was one of my favourite paintings



As we walked along the River Tiber I noticed another painting that I was fond of by Italian artist Sten.



Both my girlfriend and myself were fond of the Pantheon.



However it annoys the hell out of me that no matter where you maybe in the world like outside the Pantheon which is one really old piece of architecture with a gorgous fountain at the front with welcoming restaraunts surrounding you will always find a F*@king Mc******s there as well, that type of stuff really pisses me off sometimes.

The little restaraunts served amazing food but seeing as this holiday was special for my girlfriend I treated her for a meal at the Piazza Navona serving some of the best food we had, after all when in Rome.



This guy was one of the coolest buskers we had ever seen.



All together it was an amazing holiday and a well needed break from work that both me and my girlfriend needed after what has prooved to be a busy 2007 for the both of us. I highly recommend Rome.