In the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, there are lots of Van Gogh paintings. What was surprising to me, though, was how close you could get to them to be able to see all the details of the impasto in his paintings. Their abstraction, when viewed up close, was often just as interesting as the painting itself. That’s why I took a bunch of such pics and put them into a TikTok video.
Author: Digital Citizen
St. Peter’s Square at Night
Those in Rome, especially those there for the first time, are likely to visit the Vatican, or at least St. Peter’s Square if they couldn’t get tickets to the Vatican that are mostly booked in advanced for a while. While amazing, the Vatican hardly feels holy with the streams of people being flushed through all day, practically everyday. St. Peter’s Square outside of the Vatican is also quite crowded during the day that it is a very unfulfilling experience, in my opinion.
However, I was at St. Peter’s Square one night at about 9 p.m., and saw it was rather empty. Sure, there were people around, but it was empty enough it felt like I was in God’s private waiting room given the vast space around me, rather than among the throngs in a protest or pilgrimage, depending on how you think people judge God’s handling of the world these days. If you can, I would highly recommend you go to St. Peter’s Square at night after 9 to get a more fulfilling experience, though the homeless sleeping under the roofs of buildings extending over their entrance stairs leading to the Square isn’t exactly fulfilling. But you know, seeing those in need and suffering does remind you of the range of states the world is in far more touching to the core than the armies of tourists during the day where many are doing idiotic things.
Inside the Vatican and St Chapelle
Europe has many breath-taking cathedrals. Quite many, in fact! Each time I was in one while I was in Europe, I said a lot of prayers. Most of the time I was in them, I just enjoyed the experience without my smart phones. However, the occasional time I was in them, I took a minute to pull out the phone and did a panoramic capture of the space just by rotating around. Here are the two I did, the Vatican inside of Rome, and St. Chapelle in Paris.
Descending the Stairs of Sacre-Coeur in Paris
Sacre-Coeur is a glorious church in Paris. Inside are two very tight spiral stairways, of which I have captured the one used to go down after knowing what to expect in having gone up. It would be boring to watch me go down at regular speed, though, so I sped it up and accompanied it with what I deemed to be a dizzying piece of music at breakneck speed to it, The Flight of the Bumblebee, by Rimsky-Korsakov.
The view at the top was breath-taking, by the way. I would highly recommended. However, I didn’t capture any footage because I was having a personal visit with God, and They don’t like it when They don’t have your full attention. 😉
Thanks for the time and advice, God. I hope you’ll keep your promise on all those prayers I gave You! 😉
Eiffel Tower Night Light Shows
On the hour after dark during evenings, the Eiffel Tower has a little light show lasting almost five minutes. While in Paris, I was able to be ready to enjoy and capture that, knowing it would be nothing compared to what one will be able to see during the Olympics and afterwards when I am sure they will really put on a show with the tower!
Digital Citizen 