Aug 13, 20194 minA Meet-up, a Memory, and Two EpiphaniesIt's a kick to meet expats and hear about their towns and experiences. I'd found Mark, a transplant from Seattle only two years ago, in o...
Jul 31, 20192 minTrastevere: Sacred & Profane, Anachronistic & Alive, Gorgeous & GrittyFestooned as it is with ivy and bougainvillea (or some other flower I've decided to call bougainvillea) and packed as it is with cool sho...
Apr 9, 20195 minLend me your ears.Well, friends, Romans, and others who get the idea... I’ve shamefully neglected this blog for weeks, in part because I’ve been low on mat...
Feb 17, 20194 minStrangers on Trains“Is there a train called an expresso here?,” the American 20-something shouted at the woman behind the ticket window at the Santa Lucia s...
Jan 24, 20193 minGenoa: Two Tales of One CityThe first and only time I visited Genoa prior to my stop there a few weeks ago, I had the distinct impression of a sinister city; positiv...
Jan 6, 20193 minVenice: Chiaroscuro and ColorWhen I rolled into Venice Tuesday evening, so did the fog. The moody atmosphere it created seemed just right for photographing the Bridge...
Dec 30, 20182 minChristmastime in RomeThe Nativity Scene There’s no place like Rome for a nativity scene, called in Italian a presepio or presepe. Both terms are correct, acco...
Dec 15, 20185 minA Venice state of mind“…For I think there can be nothing else in the world so full of glittering and exquisite surprise as that first glimpse of Venice which t...
Dec 4, 20183 minHave a good trip? I probably will. I’ll be going to Italy for several weeks right after Christmas. I’ll fly into Rome and spend a few days there and continue on to Genoa an...
Oct 25, 20181 minBologna bulletinIf you happen to be in Bologna in early 2019, you might want to look into this: Word on the street is that Abruzzese painter Gigino Falco...
Sep 5, 20182 minDeviled BolognaCheck out this image! This is the shadow thrown by the statue of Neptune built to represent Pope Pius IV in Bologna’s Piazza del Nettuno....