Imagine spending more than 20 years of your life crafting a set of doors, and beginning that daunting project when you're just 21 years old. But the result is perhaps the most beautiful doors that have ever been made. Then think of...
Because it is believed the ships are threatening the sinking city, the Italian Government will reduce by 20% the number of cruise ships allowed into the lagoon starting in January. Here's that link if you're interested in reading...
Verona from the hills, looking toward St. Anastasia and the Ponte Pietra My visit to Verona last summer was almost an accident—but a lucky one. It wasn’t on the original plan for our three weeks in Northern Italy, but online...
" The Treasures of Naples" opens in Rome. Photo: AFP Photo: Reuters
Birthplace of the Renaissance, home of such great artists as Michelangelo and Donatello, Florence's influential roll in beginning the Renaissance is widely known. The city is very worth visiting for it's great art, fascinating architecture...
(Padova -- Piazza Dei Signori) There are several good day trips one can make from Venice, one of the easiest being to the fun small city of Padova (which we Anglophiles often call Padua). The city is an easy half hour train ride from...
(The canals of Murano) Venice is just an “island community” (actually it’s an amalgamation of 100 smaller islands) in the shallow brackish waters of the Laguna Veneta. There are several other island communities in this...
(Grand Canal, Salut Church, Old Custom House) So it was finally our time to visit the legendary travel destination of Venice. With increasing excitement we journeyed from Florence through Tuscany and finally over the long...
(View of Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo) It’s hard to imagine a prettier setting for an historic city than the heart of Tuscany; that’s where you’ll find Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance and...
(Mural of Pope John Paul II, St. Peter's Square, The Vatican) When visiting the Vatican you leave Italy and enter another country, albeit a very small (110 acre) country with only a few hundred permanent residents. Yet the Vatican...
(Overview of the city, viewed from "Rome from the Sky") I'd previously discussed the old Roman Ruins, which you can read about here. After the fall of the Roman Empire around 500 A.D., Rome entered a dark age that lasted a thousand years. ...
(Interior of the Colosseum, revealing tunnels below the floor) One of the challenges in crafting these blog posts is deciding how to best convey my impressions of a travel destination. How to best discuss a city as fascinating and historic as...
At night, after the day-trippers leave, Venice takes on a quieter and more mysterious personality. Here, a narrow residential calle connects one of Venice’s small canals, in the Cannaregio district, to a small square with...