March 8, 2018 - Exploring Rome in the Rain and 5 Monuments Around the World Dedicated to Women

Tanya's Daily Scoop
Covering the West Coast & the World
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: ROME

Rome in the Rain

OMG I just LOVE waking up in Rome!

What a glorious feeling!
​I don't care how much sleep I got or how early I chose to get up - it's amazing!

On a side note - ya know it really brings me down when anyone I know wakes up and isn't thrilled about getting on with a new day in their life.

Much to see and do today, but as you know the Daily Scoop is all about what about yesterday...

So are you ready to catch up???

Ahhh the sights and sounds of Rome in the Rain
​
Upon our arrival to wonderful Rome, I had looked up the forecast and found that it was suppose to rain each and every day that we were visiting. 

Oh well, I do love the rain and we sure as heck packed for it - because not only did Rome have rain in the forecast, but it seems like Ireland isn't the Green Isle for lack of the wet stuff!

Anyhow upon our arrival, there was in fact no rain. But after a few hours it started coming down.

Happy to be in Rome at FCO (c)travelincousins.com

One of my all time favorite sights in Rome is
​The Pantheon - it takes my breath away every time!

What a sight! (c)travelincousins.com

Once we had checked in and got an rooftop view of the Rotunda - Dominic was completely speechless!

From the roof top (c)travelincousin.com

It was all so surreal. These kids have been to Italy a couple of times before, but never to Rome and well Rome does have a way of leaving you speechless!

Fountain of the Pantheon (c)traveincousins.com

Then it was time to stroll.

We wandered the narrow streets with our umbrellas in hand and eventually made it to Piazza Popolo.

It was time for lunch and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be indulging in pasta for pretty much each and every meal while we are here in Italy!

I had to take the kids to one of my stops - Bar Canova for some lip smacking good hot and spicy (off the menu) Arrabiata! "Delizioso"

Lunch is served at Canova (c)travelincousins.com

Next up, we headed to see The Spanish Steps.
A short stroll on Via del Babuino and we were there...along with a number of other tourists! But I have seen it much worse.

Anyhow Cosette had imagined the stairs to go much higher and wondered "Why they are named the Spanish Steps?"

From the bottom (c)travelincousins.com

Thanks to Catherine Edwards at www.thelocal.it this is what we found out:

It may seem odd that a landmark in Italy's capital, designed by an Italian architect and funded by a French diplomat (Étienne Gueffier, whose bequest of 20,000 Scudi - an old Italian currency), gets its name from Spain.

The Piazza di Spagna at the foot of the steps is named after the Spanish Embassy there, so the name simply extended to the steps, which were built in the 18th century to connect both the Embassy and the Trinita dei Monti church (which was under French patronage) with the Holy See - the seat of the Catholic Church in Rome - in the square below.

More than half way up (c)travelincousins.com

And anytime you get a chance to catch a sunset over the roofs and domes in Rome you take it (the picture that is)!

From the top of the Spanish Stairs (c)travelincousins.com

Us three with Via de Condotti behind us (c)travelincousins.com

Another place to check off of the kids list was seeing the Trevi Fountain.

​So off we went to make a wish and guarantee our return visit by tossing our coins into the Trevi Fountain!

At the Trevi Fountain (c)travelincousins.com

Statue of Oceanus (c)travelincousins.com

DID YOU KNOW:
​The film Three Coins in the Fountain started the myth of:

• If you throw one coin: you will return to Rome.

(This has been nothing but true for me, so I will continue to toss in my coin and plan to return!)

• If you throw two coins: you will fall in love with an attractive Italian.
• If you throw three coins: you will marry the person that you met.

In order to achieve the desired effect, you should throw the coin with your right hand over your left shoulder.
​(Perhaps this is why is not a myth for me - I did not realize that there was a special way to toss in the coins and I always just do it any old way!)

About to toss in my coin (c)travelincousins.com

And then back to the Pantheon we went!

Here are a few bits of information about this site:

• The Pantheon is the most complete ancient building (125 AD) in Rome.
  
• It is the largest unsupported dome in the world!
• Contains the tombs of the famous artist Raphael and of several Italian Kings and poets.
• Visiting is still FREE!

Tell me this is not AMAZING! (c)travelincousins.com

What a view (c)travelincousins.com

Inside The Pantheon (c)travelincousins.com

Gorgeous interior (c)travelincousins.com

Kings buried here (c)travelincousins.com

The kids are loving Rome (c)travelincousins.com

We are all loving Rome (c)travelincousins.com

It's been great so far, as you can see and this is only just the beginning!!

Catch you back here tomorrow.

Ciao,
-Travelin' Tanya

Elisa's Daily Scoop
Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs
​CURRENTLY ON LONG ISLAND

5 Monuments Around the World Dedicated to Women

Thursday already?  This has been a strange week and for some reason, it just doesn't feel like Thursday.  

Anyhoo, while Tanya has been exploring The Eternal City in the rain, we've been pretty much home-bound from the rain, sleet and snow, here on Long Island.

The worst of this nor'easter hit Long Island yesterday (Wednesday) late afternoon and into the evening, making most of the day just fine to travel the roads and get around.  However, the schools were closed.  Today, the snow did not stick and the temps are not low with the sun brightly shining, so, I'm sure it will all melt away by this afternoon.  My kids had school per normal, although, it appears that many schools across Long Island are opening with two hour delays.

Winter is sure not going out gracefully!

With two major celebrations happening in the month of March - Irish History and Women's History Month - I'll be intermingling facts, information and illuminating features about both throughout this month.

So, let's take a look at what I've got today...

5 Monuments
​Around the World
Dedicated to Women

Joan of Arc, who led the French army to victory against England - statue at Place des Pyramides, Paris, France (photo credit: euratlas.com)

1. Joan of Arc 
​Place des Pyramides, Paris, France
Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" was a peasant girl living in medieval France, and believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England.

With no military training, Joan convinced the crown prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orléans, achieving a momentous victory over the English and their French allies, the Burgundians.

At the age of 19, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1431. 24 years later the Holy See found her innocent and Joan of Arc was declared a martyr, beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920.

Dedicated to France's only saint, this statue, made by Emmanuel Frémiet in 1874 depicts the most famous medieval French heroine riding a golden horse.
During my 2013 trip to Paris, I stayed at the Hotel Regina in Place des Pyramides, and fortunate enough to behold this formidable statue each day upon venturing out.

The Rosenstrasse Monument in Berlin, Germany (photo credit: Voices Education Project)

2. The Rosenstrasse Monument
Berlin, Germany

Located in the old Jewish quarter in Berlin, this memorial consists of several sculptures commemorating the German women who successfully freed their husbands through non-violent protests.

Between February 27 and March 6, 1943, a group of up to 200 non-Jewish Germans demonstrated outside the local Jewish community building at Rosenstraße 2-4, in Berlin. There, German police had incarcerated around 2,000 Jews—mostly Jewish males married to non-Jewish partners and the male children of these so-called mixed marriages.

As a result of their courage, more than 1,700 Jewish men were rescued after being held by the Gestapo to be deported. 

The memorial was sculpted by Ingeborg Hunzinger.
​ 

Statue of Sybil Ludington, heroine of the American Revolution in Carmel, NY (photo credit: en.wikipedia.org)

3. Sybil Ludington
Carmel, New York
Located on Route 52 beside Gleneida Lake in Carmel, New York is the imposing statue of Sybil Ludington, the daughter of a New York militia officer.

On the night of April 26, 1777, she was with her family, when word reached their home that the British were burning the town of Danbury, Connecticut where munitions and supplies for the entire region were stored. With permission from her father, Sybil leapt on her horse and rode more then 40 miles to summon volunteer militia to repel the British raid.

This statue, erected in 1961, celebrates Sybil Ludington as a heroine of the American Revolutionary War.

New York State Women Veterans Memorial located on Madison Avenue in Albany, New York, commemorates the role of women in military service. (photo credit: en.wikipedia.org)

4.  New York State Women Veterans Memorial 
Albany, New York
lLocated on Madison Avenue in Albany, New York, this memorial commemorates the role of women in military service.

It is comprised of three panels, each with a bronze bas-relief sculpture. The central panel features Liberty on the crown of England, holding the state flag aloft in her right hand. The other two panels show images of women veterans from various eras. The text on the memorial reads "Dedicated to the Women of New York State for their War Time Military Service in the Defense of this Nation"
​
Created by Glenmont artisan Hy Rosen and unveiled in December 1998, the 8 foot high monument symbolizes strength and commitment of women in defending the United States and its principles. 

Statue of Queen Victoria in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (photo credit: ottawahh.com)

5. Statue of Queen Victoria
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The longest reigning monarch in the UK history, Queen Victoria, is the person who officially chose Ottawa as Canada’s capital on December 31, 1857. 

As part of their royal tour of Canada in 1901, the Duke and Duchess of York and Cornwall visited Ottawa, and on September 21 they officiated at a “dual ceremony,” unveiling the statue of the late queen and presenting medals to Canadian soldiers returned from the Boer War in South Africa.

The ceremony thereby emphasised Canada’s participation in this essentially British imperial conflict. At the same time, the statue’s location on Parliament Hill, alongside monuments to Canadian leaders, brought it into a distinctly Canadian historical narrative.
​
The monument was sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hébert.

Hope you enjoy your day and don't forget to check out Tanya's side, filled with lots of pics from Rome!!

In fact, here are a few of my memories from Rome in the summer of 2014.

Piazza Novona (c) travelincousins.com

ME AND MOM WITH THE CARABINIERI (ITALIAN POLICE) - VERY HAPPY TO TAKE A PICTURE WITH US! (c) travelincousins.com

HALF WAY UP THE SPANISH STEPS (Via dei Condotti in background - straight up) (c) travelincousins.com

The Colloseum (c) travelincousins.com

My girls looking out at the Colloseum (c) travelincousins.com

Kelsey on the ruins at the Colloseum (c) travelincousins.com

JOHN PAUL II CRYPT (mom praying) (c) travelincousins.com

Eating a croissant and Lemon Iced tea on our food tour with Rome Illuminated Tours (c) travelincousins.com

-E
xoxo