Sunday, May 19, 2013

Rome Tennis Open May 2013

the great roger federer

 Federer practicing

Federer

relaxing after practice

always gracious about signing  autographs

new area this year with the restaurant "Set" using existing buildings from the fascist era

Inside of "Set" in the old mussolini era fencing area

beautifully designed with wonderful light coming in through many long rectangular windows

fun cardboard cut outs were all around, newly done

aperitivo at Set

good shoes to wear to a tennis match! Only in Italy, really.

Obviously the Italian "hostesses" have black high heels as part of their uniform and are working hard

the grounds of the foro Italico, what used to be called the Foro Mussolini

View toward the center court arena (in distance)
Samantha Stosur, Australian
mosaic from time of Mussolini's foro 
mosaic and pool (decorative)
Fascist era building which was the fencing practice area, then in the 70's and 80's  the trials of the Red Brigades took place here. Basement was a prison at the time. THis year they are using the same for the wonderful restaurant "Set", run by the team of Settembrini which happens to be one of our favorites.
fascist era statues
smaller stadium
Had the fun opportunity to see Rafael Nadal practicing
Nadal and his coach, Uncle Tony
Rafa and Tony
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 Grigor Dimitrov, Maria Sharapova's boyfriend
















outdoor pool located in the same area as the tennis

the grounds were lovely, filled with roses

main stadium called the campo centrale


an athelite goes to war


the old main stadium, now called the pietroangeli stadium, where matches also take place




Saturday, May 18, 2013

Montpellier, France 2 May 2013

lovely architecture

lots of wonderful wrought iron on the buildings

trompe d'oeil paintings on some of the buildings, all of this is fake, people included!

another trompe d'oeil with fake reflection of the church

a medieval church

same church from the other side

lots of fun streets and stores


cute shop where I found some fun sandels

very pretty stone buildings

there were fun cafes everywhere


they have a triumphal arch

curved buildings are a favorite of mine

lots of people were out in the numerous cafes

very pretty streets

inside cathedral of saint pierre, dates back to 1536

St Peter

cathedral stained glass

side of cathedral of saint pierre

very different type of cathedral facade



walking away from the cathedral

courtyard of restaurant where we had lunch 

place de la comedie, main square

opera house from late 1800's in the place de la comedie
Montpellier is the capital of Languedoc- Roussillon region. we had a few hours to explore and eat lunch before getting our train to marseille for the plane to Rome. It is a fun city, not too large, great buildings, fun stores, streets, and cafes. Hopefully we will have the change to return and explore more of the city.