ITALY | Saturday, 16 Oct 2021 | Views [157]
THE PROBLEM WITH A VISIT to the “Heart of Tuscany” is deciding wether to Drink or Drive! Since this was an “Under the Tuscan Sun” sort of day, I drove, despite the offerings of relentlessness wine shop owners of Montepulciano.... Read more >
ITALY | Friday, 15 Oct 2021 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Thursday, 14 Oct 2021 | Views [184]
IF YOU ARE AN AMERICAN TRAVELING IN TUSCANY, you won’t find a better guidebook than Rick Steve’s ITALY. And if you’ve forgotten to buy a copy, you can download tips, itineraries and even walking tours. If you are especially lucky you ... Read more >
ITALY | Thursday, 14 Oct 2021 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Wednesday, 13 Oct 2021 | Views [169]
HAVING A RENTAL CAR GIVES US a lot of freedom. But we also need a place to park, free parking if possible, which can make finding lodging difficult. In Siena, where cars have been banned since 1966, parking is verboten so we’re staying outside ... Read more >
ITALY | Tuesday, 12 Oct 2021 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Monday, 11 Oct 2021 | Views [144]
WE DIDN’T COUNT 'EM, OF COURSE, but Lucca is said to be the “City of 100 Churches.” As a matter of fact, on our visit ten years ago we barely noticed them. In truth, the only mention I gave Lucca in my “vagabonds” journal ... Read more >
ITALY | Monday, 11 Oct 2021 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Sunday, 10 Oct 2021 | Views [122]
THE VIA DELL’ AMORE—LOVERS’ LANE—is the most famous and romantic stretch of the Cinque Terre coastline, connecting the picturesque villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola. Since the trail remains closed there we skipped the Cinque ... Read more >
ITALY | Saturday, 9 Oct 2021 | Views [107]
WE ARE HAPPY TO REPORT THAT Cinque Terre is back in business. Well almost. The hiking trail that runs from town to town is open only from Corniglia to Vernazza and from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare, the two more difficult sections. It won’t be ... Read more >
ITALY | Friday, 8 Oct 2021 | Views [131]
RENTAL CAR PRICES IN EUROPE ARE DOUBLE what we remember from a decade ago. Europcar still had the best deal—€37/day including the Pisa-Bologna drop off charge. The Fiat 500 is probably the smallest rental we’ve ever had but with the ... Read more >
ITALY | Friday, 8 Oct 2021 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Thursday, 7 Oct 2021 | Views [120]
WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE WAITED to visit the Sinopie Museum until we had seen the original frescoes at the Campo Santo Cemetery. Offically Camposanto Monumentale, Campo Santo was originally constructed to house the graves that were scattered ... Read more >
ITALY | Tuesday, 5 Oct 2021 | Views [134]
EVEN THE THUNDER, LIGHTENING AND RAIN drumming on the skylight didn’t keep us from a good sleep. After breakfast we walked to the Field of Miracles where the famous Tower of Pisa still leans. As any freshman engineering student could tell you, ... Read more >
ITALY | Monday, 4 Oct 2021 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Monday, 4 Oct 2021 | Views [129]
PISA IS ONLY AN HOUR BY TRAIN from Florence so most visitors make it a day trip as we did ten years ago. Now that we have more time, more money and more patience we decided to stay a while.
Worth ... Read more >
ITALY | Sunday, 3 Oct 2021 | Views [123]
AN OLD WOODY ALLEN SCHTICK GOES “My wife is and atheist and I’m agnostic. We argue about which religion not to bring the children up in.” Like Woody I am a heathen without much use for religion.
Oppulence ... Read more >
ITALY | Thursday, 30 Sep 2021 | Views [117]
THE CHURCH OF ORSANMICHELE HAS BEEN—in turn—part of a monestary, a granary, a church and a museum. Remnants like iron rings on the ceiling that once hoisted grain are reminders of its former life. During the Renaissance the various trade ... Read more >
ITALY | Tuesday, 28 Sep 2021 | Views [116]
WITH SO MUCH ART AND HISTORY in Florence you can forget life is taking place around you. Like Buck O’Neill, the famous Negro League baseball player once advised, “Son, in this life, you never walk by a red dress.”
... Read more >
ITALY | Monday, 27 Sep 2021 | Views [140]
IN CASE YOUR HISTORICAL RECALL is a little bit fuzzy, Renaissance means “rebirth”— a return to ancient Greek and Roman thinking and styles. In Italy the perception was that the power and glory that was ancient Rome could be reborn. ... Read more >
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