mkiksmtlnslrqe

Are You Soccer Mad?Soccer Crazy? Then try these Rome Soccer Tours

If you are fanatical about soccer, as you read through this article you're going to learn that it's easier than you think to travel to Rome, and see a classic soccer match, with the fans of Roma or Lazio at your side. Wouldn't it be amazing to tell your friends that you were there, in the Stadio Olimpico, when the winning goal was scored!

Whether you are coming to Rome on vacation or business, you simply have to experience the thrill of a football match! Rome soccer tour packages give you tickets to AS Roma or SS Lazio home games, hotel accommodation and breakfast daily. But don't delay, tickets sell out quickly because both teams attract fanatical support.

The Stadio Olimpico is home to both Roma and Lazio and was built for the 1960 Olympic games. An impressive 82,000 plus venue it has housed European Cup Finals and the 1990 World Cup Final. It is also the first choice home of the Italian national team, and a great venue for these Rome soccer tours.

And you can be reassured... it's easy to get there. Romes principal airport, Fiumicino, lies 30kms south of the city and connects to Romes major train station, Termini by regular hourly trains. The second airport, Ciampino, lies 15km south east of the city and is connected to the centre by bus to Anagnina metro station, where a direct train and then a tram will quickly get you to the stadium.

You can even save time and money and book your airport transfer services before you go! You can use a shuttle service that will take you from Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport to your Rome Hotel, without the hassle of picking up a rental car, negotiating unfamiliar traffic and maps.

The history of both Roman Football Clubs is equally littered with glory and frustration.

AS Roma were born in 1927 from the fusion of three different clubs - Alba, Fortitudo and Roman. A fine record in the 1930s eventually led to the first Giallorossi Scudetto in 1942.

Difficult years followed until their one and only relegation in 1951. With an immediate return to the top flight, Roma quickly captured a third place and the 1961 UEFA Cup. The Coppa Italia came in 1964, the first of seven in this competition.

Romas most glorious years were the 1980s as aside from the two Italian Cups, the clubs second Scudetto was lifted by Coach Nils Liedholm in 1983. The following year only a penalty shoot-out against Liverpool at the Stadio Olimpico kept them from winning the European Cup.

Fabio Capellos Roma led the 2000-01 Serie A table from start to finish for their third Scudetto and the clubs first medal in a decade.

Rivals Lazio were founded in 1900 as Societa Spotiva Lazio, a multi-purpose sports club. The Biancocelesti began football full-time in 1906. Winning one wartime Roman title in 1944, the club lifted their first national trophy - a Coppa Italia - in 1958 but were relegated three seasons later.

Several trips up and down the Divisions preceded Lazios first Scudetto in 1973-74 when they were led by the legendary Giorgio Chinaglia. But within five years came the clubs darkest hour as Lazio was relegated for financial irregularities and only a play-off prevented the club from slipping into Serie C in 1987.

Sergio Cragnotti took over the club in 1992 and with his financial backing Lazio have become a force both in Italy and Europe. Since 1997 the Biancocelesti have won their second Scudetto, a Cup-Winners Cup, an Italian and European Super Cup and two Italian Cups. However, only massive sales and a restructuring of contracts allowed the club to avoid bankruptcy.

Both clubs continue to ride close to the top of Italy's Serie A, and the rivalry is intense, especially during the annual "derby" matches where the teams and tifosi face each other. So, if your passion is football, then don't miss the opportunity to see your favorite Roman team play a home game this season, and be there with The Ultras!

Why book ahead?.. Well, here are my thoughts:

* The most popular matches can sell out well in advance. Don't risk being disappointed!

* Reduce stress! Don't waste time haggling with the hotel concierge for matchday tickets.

* Lock in your price! Currency dips & price hikes won't effect you.

* Save vacation time! Plan & book now, not when you're there.

* Balance your vacation budget! Charge tours on this month's credit card bill.

Believe me (and I've been in Rome during a major soccer tournament!) there's nothing like the atmosphere of a match day, and the city buzzes with excitment. So, try one of these great value Rome soccer tours. Take the easy way - and book this efficient service online now and save time in Rome. You could have your match tickets secured in the next fifteen minutes!

I hope you'll agree that these special Rome soccer tours offer real value, and I know that you'll return home with some special memories of your stay in the Eternal City.

As an extra resource for readers, I have posted this article onto my website, and provided quick links to these great tours. Lets-Travel-Rome.com/RomeSoccerTours

Best wishes for a great trip, and let me know the score!

Les Sheppard

posted by jkgfjfjqwfmxr @ 6:31 PM 0 comments

How to Buy an Oriental Rug

What exactly is an Oriental rug?

This is always a good place to start if one is considering a purchase as just this information alone will give one clarification and insight into what one is seeking. As the countries in the East have always been considered the Orient, a hand woven rug, made from wool, silk or cotton, from this part of the world is the genuine article. A little further delineation could be made if one also added in Western Europe, Northern Africa and Russia. I have seen beautiful handmade rugs from Romania, Uzbekistan and Egypt as well as the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea above Iran. The most famous rug weaving countries are Iran, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, India and Turkey. This is a tradition that dates back thousands of years.

The oldest complete rug found in recent times was discovered in 1949 in a burial site of a Prince in the Pazarik Valley of the Altai Mountains in Siberia. It was frozen in permafrost for over 2500 years! The Pazyrk Carpet is permanently on display at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. You will find it depicted in the front of almost any rug book in living color. The rug scholars are still arguing as to where it was woven but the exact same weaving techniques are still in use today.

Oriental rugs are not made in the Unites States although we do produce many machine made copies. These would be classified as "Oriental design" rugs.

An average 9 x 12 hand woven rug takes a minimum of 3000 hours of weaving, to say nothing of the time spent on the design, dye preparation, spinning of the wool and the setting up of the loom.

A Persian rug is an Oriental rug but specifically woven in the country of Iran or if an antique (100 years old or more) woven in the former Persian Empire.

All Persian rugs ARE Oriental rugs but not all Oriental rugs are Persian rugs. Hopefully, that makes sense. Probably the reason for this classification is the fact that the Persian weavers of the past were always leaders in design and quality. Proof of this can be found in any major museum in the world and is evidenced most thoroughly by the fact that the majority of designs even today, were originated by Persian weavers.

Lets talk about basics. All Oriental rugs are woven on a loom by hand. If made in a small village the loom is usually constructed of wood and not perfectly straight but if made in a professional workshop the loom would most likely be metal and more exactly designed.

The loom is strung with vertical threads, which would be the starting point of any rug. These threads are called warps and can be of cotton, wool or silk. Tying loops around a pair of the warps creates the design of the rug. Each knot is tied and individually cut by hand. One by one, variously colored strands of wool are used to create the design, one row at a time. After one row of knots have been completed, the weft is then inserted between the just completed row and the next one to be done. The wefts function to secure the knots in place and hold the rug together. Some weavers insert only one row of wefts between the rows of knots, others 2, 3, 4 and more.

Most weavers are taught to weave at an early age by a family member and the choice of how many wefts or what type of knot to tie is influenced mainly by heritage and location of the weavers. Although many of the former nomadic (pastoral) weavers now reside in villages their rugs are more often than not a reflection of patterns woven for many generations in their area, each design motif being committed to memory.

In the professional rug workshops the choice of design styles is normally dictated by the demands of the market, either overseas or locally. The warps and wefts are nearly always cotton or silk and the knot count is usually higher than that of village production. In rug workshops the weaving is carefully supervised by a master weaver who is responsible for every loom under his watchful eye. In these workshops the weavers are following an exact design drawn out on graph paper with all color choices predetermined. Tribal or village rugs are often woven in the home with many of the design elements committed to memory. The opportunity for creativity in this arena is much greater. Tribal rugs often are woven on a wool or cotton foundation. The "foundation" being another term for the warps and the wefts. There are of course exceptions to these general rules but basically these concepts hold true.

Prior to the mid 19th century, many of the weaver's color choices were dictated by the availability of certain plants in their region or what could be obtained by trade. Before the seminal year of 1860, when chemicle based dyes first appeared on the scene, these plant based dyes were all that were available. These dyes are called vegetable dyes and have a distinct look about them. They age beautifully, work harmoniously together and the indigo dye, which creates all the ranges of blue, even preserves the wool. Usually with vegetable dyes one will see a slight or not so slight (depending on the skill of the dyer) variation in the color itself. Also affecting this is the consideration of the wool being used. Handspun wool, being less perfectly spun will accept the colors of the dyes at different depths of the same shade and will show more variation in color than machine spun wool. Deeply saturated wool will also show less color variation which will only appear after the rug begins to age. This variation of color is termed "abrash" and adds a certain artistic quality and charm if not too pronounced.

More recently, new production using vegetable dyes and hand-spun wool has begun to appear in various areas. Started in Turkey in the 1980's by a government sponsored program, Iran quickly followed and now there are a number or areas where these great dyes, excellent quality hand-spun wool and traditional designs are being used to create new rugs or more precisely, new works of art!

These rugs could easily be the "antiques" of tomorrow as the weavers creativity and skill is beautifully brought to fruition.

Additionally, there is another weaving technique, which is similar to a Navajo rug called a kelim. This rug is virtually all warps and wefts as there is no pile. This also is an Oriental rug but not as time consuming to weave. The patterns on kelims are normally geometric based designs using large areas of color. These rugs work quite well in contemporary interiors and are often used as wall hangings. Many are quite unique and beautiful although not as hard wearing as a knotted rug. In the past most of these kelims were woven for the weaver's own use and have only recently become more common in the marketplace.

What is important in evaluating an Oriental Rug? After my many hundreds of hours spent purchasing rugs for my retail business I have come up with the following basics. One of the most important factors in a rug are the colors used and their combinations. Following this would be the actual design elements and how they are put together. Are they pleasing to the eye? Does the rug improve as one looks at it? Is there a sense of balance and depth?

Another important factor is the quality of the wool. What one wants to avoid is "dead wool" taken off an already butchered sheep with a caustic lye type substance. This wool is very dry to the touch, has a dull cast and very inexpensive for the weavers to purchase. Rugs woven with this type of wool do not wear well and are often sold for next to nothing which is exactly what they are worth. A rug woven with excellent wool can easily survive 50 years or more with very little wear if cared for properly.

Good quality wool will actually improve the more it is walked on and will developed an antique patina or sheen that is highly sought after by rug collectors. The moral of the story is to touch the wool, rub the palm of your hand across the face of the rugs. Compare it to another rug. It should not feel overly dry or stiff. Pick the rug up by the edge and see how much it weighs! A hard wearing rug will have some "body" to it. This of course, would not apply to silk as the weight of a silk rug is much lighter. Silk will feel cold to the touch and will have a distinctive shine! Examine the rug carefully by walking around it and viewing it from every possible angle.

Glossy wool often reflects light and sometimes on rugs woven with handspun wool you will have a dark and a light side. If the rug is old, one would look for any signs of moth damage where the pile has been eaten away. With moth eggs on the backside of the rug one will see little white lines. This is not good as the wool on the back may have been eaten so that when one vacuums the front of the rug, the wool comes out! If the rug is new, moth damage would be most unusual and is not a concern.

On older rugs one would also look for signs of repairs, such as a patch sewn in to replace a worn area or holes. Also, inspect the rug in the best possible light to ensure the pile is full as some lazy restorers just paint in the color on worn areas and the rug will have very little life left in it. If the rug is a great deal and these facts have been indicated beforehand, then fine, but if discovered by your own inspection and not indicated, simply pass on the purchase.

These beautiful works of art never completely reveal themselves on first glance but just like the most fascinating and unique person you've had the pleasure to meet, a good rug will spark your interest and demand your attention. The longer you gaze upon it, the more it's beauty and many nuances will be revealed. Always take your time when making a purchase and if possible it is usually best to try the rug in your home for a day or two. This is called taking the rug on approval and any dealer of merit will easily agree to this in home trial period.

Find a retailer that you like, feel confident with and one that offers the types of rugs that you find most pleasing and you're on your way!

http://www.paradiseorientalrugs.com

Penny Krieger 2005

posted by jkgfjfjqwfmxr @ 6:01 PM 0 comments