Well overdue...

Highlights of week three in Rome -- now over sixth months ago, eeps -- included:

- the Baroque art nerd's holy grail, Caravaggio's St Matthew's chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi

- a compare and contrast of Rome's two main Oratorian edifices - the early Baroque Chiesa Nuova, and Borromini's flowing, dynamic facade for the neighbouring Oratory of the Filipini

- a behind the scenes tour of the Quirinal Palace - opulence central, once the Papal summer residence and now the private residence of the President of the Italian republic. Once we had seen the ballroom at the Quirinal Palace, no ballroom stood a chance of impressing us again

- a whistlestop trip around Rome's stational churches, including the vast Santa Maria Maggiore, and the stylistically disjointed San Giovanni in Laterano

- a rainy dinner in the backstreets around Piazza Navona.

Still to come: photo highlights from the fourth and final week in Rome, plus trips around Lazio, and the final Italian week in Siena and Florence. Whew. I am looking forward to being done with these Italian photoposts -- as nice as it is to reminisce, it's about time for some pics of what's happening in the here and now! Soon; soon I say.