Once again a volcano on Iceland threatened my photographic expedition to Italy, just like last year. The cloud of volcanic ash had just reached and lead to the closing of the eastern most airports of Norway when I decided to book a new flight from Oslo to Rome. Being stuck in Oslo instead of being in Italy was not part of my plan. Being stuck in Italy on the other hand would not be a problem at all (Or so I thought. At the end of the week, I missed my wife and our kids so much I could not wait to get home)

Upon arriving in Rome, I was transported to the Piazza della Rotonda directly after landing and waiting for luggage for 40 minutes. My room was an open studio-ilke affair, with an open bedroom area on the second floor. I had two rather crappy TV sets, one of which gave me a cumbersome connection to the internet via a very short network cable. But that was the only negative thing about the room I think. I had a wonderful view over the Piazza and the Pantheon and spent little time sleeping and most of the time taking pictures.

A quick iPhone photo of the view from my room.

After freshening up after the flight from Oslo, I strolled around the piazza for a while shooting some pics and having a nice little dinner.

After dinner, I strolled around some more at the piazza, and walked into Amanda and Jeff. They were just finishing up the Rome part of the workshop, which I did not attend.

Even if I had just been there for a few hours, I noticed some "local heroes" on the piazza. They stayed there all day and long into the night for the next two days.

Getting ready for just a liiiitle nap.

Morning at about 0530. I awoke from my slumber, fully dressed on my bed. The piazza is empty and all mine to photograph.

The moon was up high as the sun rose. No people around except for a few ending their night shifts or cleaning the streets.

This building, the Pantheon, has a great history. (Wikipedia) Last year half of the building was covered in scaffolds, so taking nice pictures of its 2000 year old exterior was hard. Also, last year I was not out and about at sunrise so thousands of people were in my shots as well.

Fountain and Pantheon entrance in the background.