Architecture · Faith · Observations · Rome

Saints John and Paul on the ceiling of the Roman basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Good day to you from the holy Roman martyrs John and Paul, with their palm branches, on the coffered ceiling of the Roman basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, built in 398 over the house of the saintly brothers. The church was plundered and rebuilt more than once.

NB! · Observations · Education · Society · Humour

It turns out that applicants to the Higher School of Economics can get +2 points for a gold Ready for Labour and Defence badge: almost the same as for a gold medal, which takes a decade of slogging to earn

Geography · Maps · Observations · Humour

The Omnes Viae website calculates travel times on Roman roads using an interactive map

If air links with Europe are this difficult, perhaps it is time to turn to the routes of Ancient Rome? A website has appeared with an interactive map on which you can plan a journey along roads laid down 2,000 years ago. Any journey in the days of the

Monarchies · Observations · Heritage · Paris

Monument at the Place Where Princess Diana Died

Shared by a reader

NB! · Faith · Observations

And which theological school do you incline to?

Art · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Nature

Potato flowers in the hairstyle of an 1783 portrait by Alexander Roslin

This portrait of 1783 by the eighteenth-century Swedish painter Alexander Roslin is sometimes called a portrait of Marie Antoinette, more rarely of Madame de Lamballe; in catalogues the picture passes as a portrait of an unknown lady, which sounds closer to the truth. But what is interesting is not

NB! · Archive · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Don't tell me I'm the only one who finds reading Russian manuscripts of the early seventeenth century reminiscent of the Wonnie meme universe

Don't tell me I'm the only one who finds reading Russian manuscripts of the early seventeenth century reminiscent of the Wonnie meme universe. And don't you dare even hint that you don't read such things!

A large chandelier of blue, pink and silver glass beads hangs in a vaulted hall with a wrought-iron railing and a painting of birds on the wall.

Art · Museums · Observations · Paris

Jean-Michel Othoniel’s “Crown of Night” is displayed as a chandelier in the Petit Palais

The exquisite "Crown of the Night" is the work of the contemporary French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel. It is currently on show as a chandelier in the Petit Palais. Incidentally, I have an antique Christmas garland of glass baubles that is not merely in the same style but

Faith · The East · Observations · Society · People

The Syracusan moneylender Timon and the finances of the Delian sanctuary in the 2nd century BC

Met an interesting character. Timon of Syracuse lived on Delos in the 2nd century BC and was a moneylender. The very sacred island on which Apollo was born proved quite conducive to the growth of commerce and the financial sector. Among Timon's borrowers, we know, was the federation

Brick wall of a Venetian building with an arch filled in with brick where a canal once ran, beside a staircase and a paved square.

NB! · Architecture · Geography · Observations · Heritage

Venice's Filled-In Canals from the Period of Austrian and French Rule

During the years of Austrian and French rule in Venice, many canals were filled in to ease pedestrian traffic through the city. It is now hard to imagine how greatly this altered the look of the place. But the drained and covered canals are now part of its history

Books · Observations · Humour

Captain Haddock from the Tintin comics and his dislike of tourism

"Travel? What next? I hate tourism, the industry of shipping people who would be better off at home to places that would be better off without them." Captain Haddock really is my favourite comic-book hero of all time. He lives in his castle of white stone, recalls

Granite paving slabs on a pavement with sandy gaps between them and a bicycle wheel at the top.

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Society · Paris · Humour

Paving on rue du Temple in Paris compared with street improvement in Moscow

Paris paving on the rue du Temple sends envious greetings to Moscow's street improvements. Whenever I feel like complaining about some oversight of Sobyanin's, I remember that somewhere in the heart of Europe there is Anne Hidalgo, and, you know, all my discontent vanishes as if