A poet at the world’s edge

Statue of Ovid in Sulmona

Ovid was born in Sulmona, in the province of L’Aquila, but was destined to die far from home. Joe Gartman tells his story… Photos by Patricia Gartman unless otherwise stated   In December of the year 8 AD, a Roman citizen named Publius Ovidius Naso left Rome on a long journey. After enduring ferocious storms […]

The Forgotten Garden, Florence

Beyond the palazzo… now, rising elegantly up the slope was a series of manicured terraces, and a grand stairway climbing with them Oltrarno means ‘beyond the Arno’, and refers to the part of Florence south of the river. Although you can find many famous sights there – the Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, and Piazzale Michelangelo […]

The lost ships of Nemi – Fast Culture

Diana’s shining face was not all that dwellers in the hills could see in the lake – there were dark and shadowy forms visible below the placid surface of the water In the Alban hills, 20 miles south of Rome, the little town of Nemi sits on a clifftop above a small, nearly circular, volcanic […]