Correction: Sorry, the place is not the place we meant

by Iva Skoch on

Call me crazy, but I am one of those people who likes to read newspaper corrections. Yes, I am every editor’s worst nightmare. It is probably because I have made my fair share of writing and reporting mistakes, and so I must derive some sort of weird pleasure from other writers’ mistakes.

One of my favorite corrections sections is in the Travel section of The New York Times. I bet nobody else reads it ,although it can be quite entertaining. This is my favorite correction of this week: “An article on April 20 about Rome at night misidentified the figure from mythology represented in the centerpiece sculpture of the Trevi Fountain. It is Oceanus, the Titan who the ancient Greeks believed ruled the watery elements – not Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.”

That wouldn’t be so bad, but this is what they included as an excuse: “The error has appeared for years in travel guides about Rome, is found extensively in Internet references, and has infiltrated at least five other articles in The Times since 1981.”

Great. Some slacker once put a false piece of information in a guidebook and it’s been picked up repeatedly in the last 27 years. You would think that the NY Times wouldn’t rely on guidebooks for their fact-checking.

Michelangelo’s David, after a short stay in America

by Iva Skoch on

I got this email from a couple of different people: “After a short stay in America, David returns to Italy.” You know what’s coming before you even open the picture. David gets FAT.

It reminds me of my first extended stay in America. When I first lived in the US as a student in 1994, I gained 30 pounds and 3 months. Yep, it was a not a pleasant sight. The thing is, I am not the type of person who ever gains weight. Until I moved here, I never thought it was possible for me to gain weight. It took me a year (after leaving the US) to lose those pounds.

I still can’t figure out why. It didn’t seem that I was eating more than I was used to. I had exercise. Some people tell me that it was probably just because I completely changed my eating habits and ate more carbs than I did before. Others claim that the additives in US food is what makes people gain weight.

I don’t know what it was. I do feel bad for David though. (Geez, lay off the pasta, man!)

Day trip drive: Calcata, Italy

by Jamie Rhein on

When I browse the photos in Gadling’s photo pool to look for a “Photo of the Day” post, inspirational, lush, funky and interesting shots are aplenty. It’s hard to choose between them. Yesterday’s choice, David Farley’s shot of the restaurant, La Grotta dei Germogli gives a hint of the pleasure of being there which is one reason it caught my attention. It left me intrigued, prompting me to find out more about it. Oh, my goodness! This is a reason to head to Italy.

Calcata, where the restaurant is located, is a medieval village in the hills, 30 miles from Rome, thus a day trip suggestion. The town, over the years, has been taken over by the artsy crowd. When the government condemned it back in the 1930 because officials worried that the volcanic rock cliffs that it sits on would crumble, people moved out. But, the 1960s happened and hippies and artists moved in turning the town into a happening place.

I came across this New York Times article that details Calcata’s path from ghost town to groovy. It has something to do with the positive energy the village exudes. If you’re going to be in Rome, this looks like a terrific gallery and eatery filled spot to mellow out. There’s the blue chair folding chair on the balcony overlooking the hills with your name on it. It’s at the La Grotta dei Germogli. If you go, the gnocchi with almond pesto sounds delicious.

Photo of the Day (4/26/08)

by Jamie Rhein on

The days for sitting outside overlooking a view and sipping a glass of wine are here. This shot of La Grotta dei Germogli, a restaurant in Calcata, Italy looks like the most perfect place. Imagine sitting in that blue folding chair, with a glass of earthy red wine to savor. This looks like the type of place one stumbles upon and thinks, what a find. David Farley, who snapped this took the shot in November, had an autumn experience. Just think about how the flower boxes must be blooming now.

Share the shots of places you’ve come across by posting them at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool and one might be picked for Photo of the Day.

I see dead people

by Jamie Rhein on

I have succumbed to the fascination in viewing dead people. I’m not talking about funerals, but about viewing dead people who have been dead awhile, as in years and years. The recent public viewing of Padre Pio, a Catholic saint, in San Giovani Rotondo, Italy has brought back memories.

Ho Chi Minh was my first preserved body tourist attraction. Mao Zedong was the second one. I wasn’t really comparing which of the two looked better when I went back for a second gander at Ho Chi Minh, but preservation has treated him better, in my opinion. Neither of these former leaders looked real, though–more like odd wax dolls.

Of all the interesting sites one can see in Beijing and Hanoi, the draw to their mausoleums is impressive. Tourists line up in the midst of people who come for patriotic, reverent reasons. The pomp of such attractions interests me as much as the attractions do themselves. Each place has rules to follow. For example, line up single file and check your umbrella. There are no umbrellas allowed Ho Chih Minh’s masouleum from what I recall. I have a memory of chekcing mine.

The changing of the guards and the hushed tones as people file past the glass sarcophagus, perhaps thinking how similar the glass case reminds one of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty, also add to the mood. But, there will be no waking up here. There is no lingering, no stepping back for a second glance. When one walks past Mao and Minh, it’s in single file at a steady slow pace and then, whoosh, you’re out the door.

In San Giovani Rotondo, it looks like people have some time to linger for a decent look at Padre Pio–even snap a photo. Padre Pio, was a mystic monk who is said to have had stigmata, bleeding on his hands and feet, similar to where Jesus’ wounds would have been. Death seems to have taken the stigmata away. There aren’t even traces.

The picture I saw of Padre Pio startled me at first. “Wow! he looks great,” I thought, but then read that the face is covered by a silicon mask made to look like his face. Evidently, his actual face isn’t quite as pristine. It’s not clear how long the saint will be on view before he’s buried again.

One of these days, I may head to see Lenin. His is the first body to have been preserved for generations to come. There are rumors that perhaps all of his body parts aren’t real anymore, even though these bodies go through special cleanings to keep them in shape for onlookers and admirers.

The photo by steepways is tagged as Lenin’s death mask. If I’m feeling ambitious, there’s Kim Il-sung, the former North Korean leader. He’s in Pyongyang. Neil has been there as chronicled in his series “Infiltrating North Korea.” Here’s a post on Kim to get you in the mood.