Old postcards? Or.....

No these were pictures taken from the inside of a cable car, the Funivia della Etna, going up the last part of the Etna. Obviously the cable car was doing it's job already for many years. The windows were dirty and scratched and made from plastic in different colours. But the result has some charm. It reminded me of old picture postcards that were also brownish and "used".

The cable car stays well under the edge of the actual crater at 2500m. According to the Lonely Planet it will take another 3,5 to 4 hours walking to get at the summit and back. 

The sun was shining, but now and then fine clouds passed by. The snow was blinding white and we did our best to see the top....

Then down again. The cable car brings you back to 1923 m, where the Rifugio Sapienza offers huge car parks, a lot of souvenir shops and places to eat.

 

 

On the road..... (in Sicily)

I like to travel easy. So in Sicily I went with a group in a bus. No headaches about where to go, where to park, how to get to a hotel....

Travelling trough the countryside we saw some impressive road structures.

High viaducts....

Yes.... There we are ....

Crossing valleys.....

Be careful this viaduct is not completed yet....

A road that slides a snake to the city of Palermo.....

Highways crossing.......

Hugging the coast....

Into tunnels.....

And out again, into the light....

Colourful stone carpets.... (2)

The most famous mosaic of the Villa Casale is the floor where 10 ladies in bathing costumes (girls in bikinis) perform routines of the pentathlon.

A victorious girl stands with a laurel leaf in her hand while she puts a crown of roses on her head.

The mosaic is placed on top of an earlier geometric floor.

In detail: Girls are throwing a discus and running.

In the large dining room (triclinium) the floor shows the works of Heracles. As Heracles was the protector of Maximianus, the works symbolize the "works" of Maximianus himself.

Killing the lion....

A wounded giant....

Further on a half round the vestibule leads to private rooms for the children. It must have been a nice cool place, with a fountain and the floor depicting a fishing scene with cupids fishing with nets or just playing with fishes and ducks.

In the Small Circus, a child's version of the Circus at the baths, 4 chariots are pulled by different animals in a sort of race. The 4 chariots stand for the 4 seasons. Splashes of light spoiled the pictures...... so just one.

In one of the vestibules Eros ("reason") and Pan (the "wild") are fighting. Look at the table with the palms and the bags with each 22.000 denari (the prize for the winner).

The bedroom with the Hunt of the children. Boys hunting small animals. Girls picking roses. The rose was seen as a divine flower, protecting against witchcraft and evil.

 Almost perfect is the mosaic in the bedroom of the lady of the house. Children are playing games on the "threshold" of the niche for the bed. The room is known for its "erotic scene". A scarcely clad lady with her lover right in the middle of the room.

The first blog about the villa Casale

More information:  Villa Casale   Mosaic   Roman Mosaic

Colourful stone carpets.....

In Rome do as Romans do..... It is referring to Romans these days. But what do we know what Romans did some 2000 years ago? In the Villa Casale you can see for yourself how the very rich lived in their villa.

An extensive restoration of the villa is now finished. In stead of the (to hot) plastic roof now there is a wooden roof, like in Roman days. The problem is that it is relatively dark inside. This in combination with patches of sunshine reflecting on the floors make it difficult (for me at least) to make good pictures.

The villa belonged to the Emperor Massimiano, who ruled at the same time (together) as Diocletian.
The master of the house, the Dominus, would stay there for around two month a year, when the Senate (in Rome) went on "holiday".

Tourists were not allowed in the rooms of the large "public" baths. The floor of the gym pictures the Circus Maximus in Rome, during a chariot race.

Floor mosaics usually represent the activity that would be performed in the room. Through the Vestibule, named after the goddess Vesta, people would enter the villa, paying their respect to the Dominus.













In the private dressing room the lady of the house brings her two children to the baths. On the sides a couple of slaves.



The geometrical designs were reserved for less important "service" rooms.

In the Villa Casale are many representative spaces and large corridors that have poetic names. Like: The room of the little cupid fishermen.....

Or: The Small Hunt....

Or: The Great Hunt.....  A long (almost 60 meters long and 3 meters wide) corridor with hunting scenes These scenes were not only seen from an artistic point of view, but also from a commercial one. There was a flourishing trade in wild animals for the games in the arenas.

More about the Villa Casale in my next blog: Colourful stone carpets.....(2)

More information:  Villa Casale   Mosaic   Roman Mosaic