Holy shit. Nothing prepared me for the sadistic and grotesque fresco that covered the ceiling of the Duomo in Firenze (Florence for you uncultured folks). Our first day in Italy, we went into the Duomo but didn’t want to wait in the line to climb up to the top. However, I did catch a glimpse of the grim reaper in the painting, and that was pretty cool:

But until we got to the top and were making our way out, I was clueless as to the subject matter of the church’s centerpiece. At this point, I was doing the whole “yeah yeah another old church and some awesome art I get it” so I wasn’t expecting anything to particularly peak my senses. So to say I was pleasantly surprised would be a gross understatement.

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There is lots of death and murder in Rome’s history, and the artwork throughout the city reflects that. For a region that has gone through several different eras of religious worship, government styles, ways of life, signs of struggle and the dark side permeate modern culture.

Statues and buildings were covered with all sorts of gargoyles and reliefs, too numerous to count. In the Piazza Navona, I found several interesting pieces.

First we have this predator bird guy on Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi:

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Apologies for the abrupt first Italy posting, but I was a) squeezing in the internets while the woman wasn’t paying attention, and b) was so excited about vampire lizard fast food icons that I just needed to get that one out of my system.

So as you know by now from Vincent’s reflections on Japan, we here at the Devil’s Demons are world travelers supreme. This is just how we roll.

While Vincent opted for the land of raw fish and Japornimation, I chose a country that has a history rife with murder, bloodshed, religious war, and statues. I chose Italy, quite possibly the most brutal country in history.

My trip looked like so:

Day 1 – 3 Rome
Day 4 – 6 Florence
Day 7 – Naples
Day 8 – Naples/Pompeii
Day 9 – Naples
Day 10 – Rome

On our first night, we unintentionally (I love how I always do that) stumbled into an Australian bar that had a dungeon/vampire theme to it, and found a restaurant called Lucifero. I obviously couldn’t resist.

The bar itself felt like a dungeon, dark and depressing. I was home. Here’s some of the interior:

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Vampire lizards selling frozen dinners? Badass. Go Sofficini.