TravelswithCharie

It's a three hour drive to Caticlan from Roxas City, another beach town on the island of Panay. Then a short 15 minute hop by pump boat to the white sand beaches of Boracay. We stayed at White Beach where most of the action takes place. Our hotel was right on the beach, convenient for the many walks we took during our brief stay. We arrived in Boracay just about lunch time and we found a buffet restaurant close by. For two hundred pesos, we had our fill or more. While eating our lunch at this crowded beachfront resto, I watched how the pigs were prepared and slowly roasted for that evening's dinner. Soon the pigs were turning a golden hue with the patient manual rotation by these two men. A couple more hours and the "lechon" will be on the buffet table. We ate dinner at another restaurant, Mesa, where we savored their specialty - tinapa rolls along with what else, tinapa rice and fried tilapia. Tinapa is a tiny smoked fish. My friends and I th

"And the Word was made flesh And dwelt among us Full of grace and truth."  John 1:14

U.S. residents may help the victims of super typhoon Haiyan (YolandaPH) by texting AID to 27722 to donate $10.00. 0r text MKHUNGER to 50555 to donate $5.00.  All proceeds go to World Food Program (WFP) which organization is on the ground now distributing relief goods in the storm ravaged areas of Eastern and Western Visayas. Or donate online  https://www.wfp.org/donate/typhoon-philippines . Philippine residents may text RED space AMOUNT to 2899 for Globe subscribers and 4143 for Smart subscribers. Donations go to the Philippine Red Cross. "No amount is too small." Check also this list of organizations that are involved in relief and rescue operations in the Philippines:  http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/how-to-help-philippines-typhoon-victims/?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0 Thank you for your generosity. *  *  *

Eats  Near Santa Maria Maggiore Tempio di Mecenate Ristorante/Pizzeria Largo Leopardi, 14/18 (Via Merulana) www.tempiodimecenate.it This restaurant is always full of diners. There's usually a line in front of the outdoor dining room. The food is quite good and the bill for three with wine and bottled water adds up to €52.  Panella Via Merulana This is a bakery and restaurant in one. They have a buffet table for a fixed price. Outdoor seating. Attracts a young crowd. Cute animal shaped breads at Panella Near the Pantheon Capranica Enoteca and Taverna Piazza Capranica 99/100 www.enotecacapranica.it/en Bar at Capranica This is a beautiful taverna inside the Palazzo Capranica, a renaissance era palace.  The bar, in warm tones of brown, is the backdrop of this elegant dining room. I had their salmon with risotto and zucchini. Across from the Colosseo  Oppio Caffè Via delle Terme di Tito, 72 Colosseo, Roma www.oppioc

The emergence of Baroque art in the 17 th c (1600 – 1700) was driven in part by the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church responded to the Reformation movement by propagating Baroque art with its flamboyance and theatricality, in order to engage the faithful through religious art and architecture and bring back erring believers to the Church. The Cornaro Chapel is inside the Church of Santa Maria della Vittora in Rome. Here is Baroque art at its finest. St. Teresa of Ávila, a nun from the 16 th century, is seen with an angel who has pierced her heart. Rays of light emanate from the heavens to illuminate the scene. On the side walls of the altar are theatre boxes where spectators (modeled by the Cornaro family) are watching the scene unfolding in front of them. St. Teresa is experiencing an intense spiritual vision that leaves her “utterly consumed by the great love of God”. Here is St. Teresa’s account of her vision: “ It was our Lord's will that in th

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the job of the sculptor to discover it." Michaelangelo Buonarotti Moses - Church of St. Peter in Vincoli The statue of Moses at the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli was to have been part of a grandiose monument and tomb for Pope Julius II, a patron of Michelangelo Buonarotti. But this same pope pulled Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512), a project that lasted four years. Not surprisingly, the scaled down version of the tomb was not completed until 1515. At eight feet in height, Moses is an all powerful figure, his muscles bulging from his arms and legs and transparent through the folds of his gown. He has a crown of horns symbolizing the “ray of light”, a misinterpretation of the Hebrew word karan which may also refer to horn depending on how it is read. Pieta The Pieta in the Basilica of St. Peter's was once the object of a madman who hammered away at Mary

I spied this courtyard filled with antique statues on my way to Santa Susanna. It would have been lovely to take Venus or one of the busts home with me to adorn my ho-hum garden. How many interesting conversations it would have started! But I console myself that I didn't have to pay extra for excess baggage. These two turbaned gentlemen in orange robes sit here all day in perfect balance across from the Pantheon. One man holds the stick on which the second sits in mid air. Total concentration and control are needed to maintain this stance. Most importantly, how can they keep cool in the scorching summer heat? They must be thinking about winter! Yes, it's a pedal car but not for a child. I wonder if all the knock off bags and scarves hanging from the rack will be packed away in the back of this motorized tricycle? A smart car indeed! A piece of wall, a reminder of Rome's storied past, preserved in the center of the city and just down the stre