Although the videos are in Turkish, the English subtitles allow you to follow along and get an authentic first hand view of Istanbul. If you are headed to Istanbul be sure to watch some of their videos for inspiration.

Pizzaiolo Time in Rome

Pizza baking in the oven

Holidays in Italy should include learning about what makes Italians proud, such as the proper preparation of a famous Italian culinary miracle, the pizza. Arrive early in the morning to an authentic Roman restaurant in a quaint part of town and meet the Master “Pizzaiolo” personally. Your day will be filled with learning, tasting and actually cooking authentic Italian pizza as well as a class in the best selection of drinks to accompany pizza. This is a family friendly event so you can bring the kids too, especially if you like the idea of one day being pampered by the little ones as they recreate wonderful Italian pizza for you in the heart of your own home. Learn how to properly prepare the dough and see the different types of original pizza ovens used by the professionals. Lunch is included so you need not worry about packing any snacks.

Mass at the Vatican

Italians are very religious people, loving life and all the beauty it has to offer. A visit to the Vatican in Rome is something all travellers should try to do on any Italian holiday. Located in Vatican City, home to the Pope, the Vatican is one of many special attractions in Vatican City including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. You can attend Mass at the Vatican any day of the week at 9am, 10am, 11am, 12 noon and 5 pm on Monday to Saturday with Sunday Mass offering more times but equally more busy. You can enjoy Mass with the Pope on Wednesdays if you book tickets in advance. Tickets are free and ticket booking is only required for crowd control.

Paint like the Pros with Painting Classes in Rome

Art class in Rome

Italian holiday goers can only admire Italian artisans of the past as they etched their impressions throughout Italian architecture. Artists, such as Raphael, painted and sculptured Italian culture into unforgettable pieces of art, worthy of any artistic eye. How would you like to learn how to paint just like these great artists? Okay, you might not get to reproduce anything near the technical and artistic skill of the The Parnassus but you can give it a try by taking part an art workshop in Rome. Learn from top Italian painters with classes ranging from half or full day time slots to a full two week tour incorporating a two week workshop.

This post was written by Martin.  He is a keen traveller who one day hopes to have visited every country in Europe. His site Low Cost Airline Guide is particularly useful when planning your next Italian holiday.

images by: Chodaboy, florianrieder & __maurice

The highlights of Budapest are many, and there’s plenty to keep you entertained for several days almost regardless of what your interests are.

The city has an interesting history and is home to many historic monuments and buildings, but to have the centuries put into perspective for you it’s helpful to visit one of the city’s museums – including the Budapest National Museum, Holocaust Memorial Center, and House of Terror. Hungarian food may be terrifying to vegetarians, but as long as you’re a meat eater you’ll do just fine – indeed, you’ll eat like a king and may well take advantage of your vacation status to enjoy a few afternoon naps after gigantic lunches, too.

The “Paris of the 20s” reference is, however, almost always made when discussing a city’s arts scene, and Budapest is no slouch in that department, either. The city’s Museum of Fine Arts houses ancient art as well as masterpieces from the 13th to 18th centuries. The Kunsthalle, across from the Museum of Fine Arts, is a major contemporary arts museum in Hungary. Budapest’s Palace of Arts and National Theatre sit next to one another and together make up some of the city’s best performing arts venues.

Beyond the massive art museums and performance halls, however, there are small and independent contemporary art galleries and artist studios all over the city. Some of them aren’t regularly open to the public, and some of them are private studios, so if you’d like to see Budapest’s arts scene from an insider’s perspective it’s worth looking into guided tours that will grant you access. It’s also a good idea to check with the tourist information office when you get into the city to find out what arts events are going on while you’re visiting.

Whether today’s Budapest is actually anything like the Paris of the 20s or not is almost not important – it’s whether you enjoy visiting Budapest that really matters.

- by Jessica of BootsnAll

photos by IK’s World Trip, Jess & Peter, Square Head, Paul Mannix, Walt Hubis

Caravaggio, whose real name is Michelangelo Merrisi, was a very interesting character in the history of art as well as the history of Rome! Caravaggio has been the subject of a great many number of books (see below for a list of recommended reading) over the centuries, and his work has seen a resurgence of interest in the past couple of decades. His paintings are quite extraordinary for their time because of the exceptional realism, theatrics and use of lighting (tenebrism) in his works. Like Bernini, Caravaggio had a way of capturing “the moment” in his works, and they are definitely worth seeing on your trip to Rome.

Rome is fortunate to have the most number of Caravaggio paintings than any other city in the world, dispersed throughout Rome in museums, chapels and churches. While it might be easier to see all of Caravaggio’s works in a single museum, trekking through the streets of Rome not only allows you to explore the Eternal City but also to experience Rome as Caravaggio might have done as well as seeing Caravaggio’s works in the context for which they were created. Typically, works of art were commissioned for homes, chapels and public display as a way for patrons to demonstrate their wealth, power and prestige. As I discussed in my piece on Rome’s fountains, artwork often survived centuries beyond the life of the patron, and not only did these works of art serve their patron during his lifetime, but they continue to serve as vestiges of their power and wealth today.

Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

A great place to start your walking tour would be in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, the French national church in Rome and not far from the Piazza Navona. In this church you will find three works of Caravaggio as well as frescoes of Domenichino (Bolognese School), featuring the life of Saint Cecilia. In this church, Caravaggio’s works are located in one of the chapels. Chapels were often purchased by wealthy patrons in churches that had special significance for them, as is the case with Matthieu Cointrel (or Contarelli, in Italian), a French cardinal who instructed upon his death that the chapel be decorated with scenes from the life of his name saint, Matthew. It took quite a long time for Contarelli’s chapel to be decorated, and the Pope at the time, Clement VIII, felt that the national church of France should echo the recent conversion of the king back to Catholicism. Wasting no time, the clergy of San Luigi dei Francesi, fearing that the Pope’s wishes would conflict with wishes of the now deceased Cointrel, pushed for the chapel to be quickly decorated before the Pope’s wishes could be executed. Caravaggio created three paintings for the Contarelli Chapel all centered around the life of Saint Matthew: The Calling of Saint Matthew, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew. These three paintings took Caravaggio three years to complete (the contracts were signed in 1599 and the final painting installed in 1602), and you can see how Caravaggio agonized over them with the exquisite attention not only to the details but also the scenes themselves, creating a sense of theatrics and emotional energy that are hallmarks of Italian Baroque art. Caravaggio also understood his environment, taking into account the church’s low light levels (the interior and chapel are quite dark) in producing works which allow the central theme of Saint Matthew to come out of the darkness.

Madonna of Loreto (Madonna of the Pilgrims), oil on canvas

As you leave San Luigi dei Francesi, head north to the Church of Sant’Agostino in Rome. Not only does this church have a work by Caravaggio, but the church is worth seeing in its own right with its marble facade built from marble taken from the Colosseum as well as a fresco by Raphael of the prophet, Isaiah. The sole work by Caravaggio, Madonna of Loreto (oil on canvas, c. 1604), is located in the Cavaletti Chapel within the church. Here we can see one of Caravaggio’s most distinctive works because of the way in which it depicts the Virgin Mary (barefoot) and the Baby Jesus (nude, barely covered by a cloth, as if to emphasize the mother and child’s poverty). Caravaggio also uses as the model for his painting a known courtesan (who, it is argued, appears in several of his other paintings). The use of this figure as a model for the Virgin Mary is ironic given the congregation of Sant’Agostino regularly featured courtesans of Rome. Also, the locale in which these two iconic figures are placed is controversial with Caravaggio placing them in what could be a slum rather than the usual regal setting that the Virgin and Child are usually placed. Note also the placement of the pilgrims as they kneel before the Virgin and baby. Their bare feet jut into the foreground of the painting, which isolates the Virgin and Baby Jesus by displacing them further into the paintings background, even when they are clearly the subject of the painting. This is a common technique of Caravaggio’s works as he goes to great lengths to push the viewer of the work away from the subject matter much the same way that a stage separates actors from the audience.

Head north once again to the Piazza del Popolo and the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, which contains two of Caravaggio’s works in the Cerasi Chapel: The Crucifixion of Saint Peter and The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus. The Cerasi Chapel is an excellent example of contrasting styles during the Baroque. Cerasi commissioned Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci to decorate his chapel, two artists with opposing styles during the Baroque period in Rome. This chapel provides us with an excellent comparison of the the artistic currents in Rome at the time, the one camp who painted in the style of Caravaggio, while the other, who like Annibale, sought a revival of Renaissance use of color and light. Again, we see Caravaggio use his surroundings to his advantage, knowing full well that his works would be viewed from the side rather than straight on and constructing paintings to reflect this. The subject matter of Peter and Paul, two of the central founders of the Catholic Church who represented martyrdom and conversion, two tenets in vogue at the time that these works were commissioned. The church itself also contains frescoes by Raphael in the ceiling (Creation of the World) as well as sculptures by Bernini and works by Pinturicchio.

Head back south to the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini which houses Saint Francis in Meditation, a work recently attributed to Caravaggio although there is a fierce debate over whether this work is Caravaggio’s or not. Controversy swirls over whether this is even a work by Caravaggio at all, but documents show that during a lawsuit, one of Caravaggio’s contemporaries testified that he lent the artist a monk’s robe, perhaps the same robe worn by the model in this painting. This helps us to understand the work but also to narrow down the state when the work may have been completed, roughly between 1602-1604. After seeing this work in the church, head over to the Palazzo Barberini, which houses not only another copy of this work (which many art historians believe is the true Caravaggio) but a handful of others by the artist. Judge for yourself which work you feel is the true Caravaggio while taking in the sites and splendors of the Palazzo Barberini. The church itself is also worthy of a visit with its altarpiece by Guido Reni as well as the crypt and ossuary!

Judith beheading Holofernes, oil on canvas

While at the Palazzo Barberini, be sure to check out one of Caravaggio’s most striking works, Judith beheading Holofernes. In this painting, Judith, being urged on by her maid, surprises the sleeping Holofernes and begins to decapitate him. Caravaggio’s stunning realism captures the murder in a most grizzly fashion, capturing a popular Biblical theme and taking it to new dramatic heights. Even the blood spurting from Holofernes’s massing neck wound is so real, with Caravaggio presumably having witnessed a public execution or two that were common in Rome at the time. Caravaggio’s painting is a snapshot of the most dramatic and tense moments in the story: The young Judith, with her furrowed brow and tense arms, pulls back on Holofernes hair while her maid waits to help her clean up the mess while the doomed Holofernes, his eyes bulging, his face contorted in pain and his mouth crying out!

As our tour of Caravaggio’s works through the streets of Rome concludes, you have not only learned and experienced the works of this enigmatic artist but have also visited and explored Rome’s environs!

NB: An exhibition entitled Caravaggio a Roma is being held at the Archivio di Stato di Roma until May 15, 2011!

Further reading:

There is a lot on Caravaggio but the following books (all in print and available from your favorite bookstore) are excellent resources for learning more about this artist:

• Caravaggio, Michelangelo M, F Marini, and Miriam Hurley. Caravaggio. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 2006.
• Puglisi, Catherine, and Caravaggio. Caravaggio. London: Phaidon, 2000
• Schütze, Sebastian, Michelangelo M. Caravaggio, and Benedikt Taschen. Caravaggio: The Complete Works. Köln: Taschen, 2009

Don’t forget to download mTrip’s Rome Travel Guide for your trip navigation!

The “Perspectives” exhibition begins September 5th at Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Address: 101 Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Phone: +33-1-53-57-52-03

Download mTrip’s Paris Travel Guide

Image by max_trudo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/max_trudolubov/

Art lovers assemble at Art Amsterdam each year for professional guided tours, educational workshops for beginner collectors, lectures, debates, and a special program for recognized Dutch and foreign collectors.

Address: Europaplein 8, 1078 GZ Amsterdam

Dates/Opening Hours:

Wednesday, May 26: 18-22 hrs
Thursday, May 27: 11-19 hrs
Friday, May 28: 11-21 hrs
Saturday, May 29: 11-19 hrs
Sunday, May 30: 11-19 hrs

Admission:

20 euro per person per visit
10 euro per person per visit for holders of a cultural youth pass, a student pass and a 65+ pass
10 euro per person per visit after 17.00 hrs from 27 to 30 May

Art Amsterdam 2010 for more info.

Download mTrip’s Amsterdam Travel Guide

Image source: joiseyshowaa at http://www.flickr.com/photos/joiseyshowaa/

My Generation: The Glory Years of British Rock – April 30– October 24, 2010

It was 1964 when BBC began filming the famous TV show, Top of the Pops and it was photographer Harry Goodwin who was capturing legendary rock stars in the in the most striking and unforgettable moments. From the Rolling Stones, to Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, Goodwin had a way of capturing the mood, the essence and the musical influence on an era that couldn’t be forgotten. The exhibition celebrates Goodwin’s most striking photographs including both musicians held in memory and those who are still part of the music scene to date.

Grace Kelly: Style Icon – April 17-September 26, 2010

As a tribute to style icon Grace Kelly, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum will feature the actresses magnificent wardrobe beginning next Saturday. Spanning 50 years of one of Holywood’s most famous actresses, visitors will get a peak at her ensembles from her films, her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier, couture gowns by Dior, Yves St Laurent, Balenciaga, Givenchy and more.

Modern Masters: Matisse, Picasso, Dali and Warhol – May 1- June 23, 2010

The 20^th century represents one of the most unique artistic periods in the history of western art. In celebration of this, the V&A will be showcasing four of the greatest artists from this time period – Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. There will be a focus on print mediums with both popular and unfamiliar prints showcased.

Admission to the V&A is free but prices may vary on some exhibits and events.

V&A Address

Phone: +44 (0)20 7942 2000

More about Victoria & Albert Museum

Download mTrip’s London Travel Guide

Image source: Elsa Dorfman at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ginsberg-dylan.jpg

Where: 7 W 34th St., New York
When: Thursday May 6 – Sunday May 9, 2010
Private Preview: Wednesday May 5, 2010

Admission: $20 – General Admission. $15 Student/Senior, $10 Group Rate.

Check out The Affordable Art Fair website for fair hours and fair details!

Download mTrip’s New York Travel Guide