Northern Rome, site of my B&B
The Spanish Steps, Rome
The View from the Top of the Spanish Steps, Rome
The Trevi Fountain, Rome
The Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I, known by the locals as the “macchina da scrivere,” or typewriter, in Rome
The Piazza Navona, Rome
Piazza San Pietro, and His Basilica Too, Vatican City
From a Very Interesting Exhibit at St. Peter's Basillica on the 80th Anniversary of the Lateran Accords That Created an Independent Vatican City (this is the signature page signed by Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini), Vatican City
Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tiber River, Rome
Cleaning up the Mess after the Daily Market at the Campo de' Fiori, Rome
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Rome
The Colosseum, Rome
The “Typewriter” as Seen from afar, Rome
The Villa Borghese, Rome
Piazza Santa Maria in the Trastevere Section of Rome
From a temporary exhibit on the Holocaust by Italian school children at the Museo del Risorgimento, Rome (this describes the murder of the disabled in Germany, Operation T4)
Also from the School Children's Exhibit on the Holocaust, Rome
The Roman Forum and the Colosseum
The Roman Forum
A Late Lunch at the Pantheon, Rome
The Dome of the Pantheon from within, Rome
The Crowd in the Pantheon on a Sunday Afternoon, Rome. No one looks happy.
The Cathedral, Florence
The Old Bridge over the Arno, Florence
The View to the East from the Old Bridge, Florence
Tourists on the Old Bridge at Dusk, Florence
A Gelateria in Florence (this one's for Prianka!)
The Old Bridge, Florence
The Tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
The Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (with a copy of Michelangelo's David near the bottom right)
By the minute, hundreds make this pose in front of the Leaning Tower of PIsa
The entire Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
It's about a 13-foot lean when you get to the top...
No, I did not deliberately try to make it look like it was resting on my shoulder...
The Arno River at Pisa
The sign says that Lovers' Lane at the Cinque Terre is open for business
A bit of the village of Riomaggiore is visible, along with the Ligurian Sea
Manorola, in the Cinque Terre
Manarola
Monument to those who died fighting the Fascists and Nazis, Bologna
Numbers in Bologna of those who fought, died, were wounded, arrested, shot in reprisals, died in Nazi camps, and received the two highest Italian medals of honor
A small portion of the wall honoring those who fell fighting the Nazis and Fascists, Bologna
Looking for one photo to focus on, I chose the man on the wall of the fallen in Bologna whose last name started with the same two letters as mine
Monument in Bologna to “Victims of Fascist Terrorism” in bombings in 1974, 1980, and 1984
Pasta for sale, Bologna
Pasta shop, Bologna
Deserts in the window, Bologna. The one at the bottom left claims to be the most famous pie in the world, the Sacher
Bologna has lots of towers, but these two leaning ones are its symbol
Funny how a transit strike has been called for next Monday, when next Tuesday is already a public holiday...
Amazing lighting made me reach for my camera. Bologna at dusk as a shower begins to clear
I've received pamphlets from the far left (Communists like those who are holding this musical rally) and the far right (the Northern League). There seem to be half a dozen or so more parties in contention for local elections the weekend after next.
Bologna's basilica, the fifth largest in the world, although the scale is hard to make out in this photo from across a large plaza
The statue of Neptune, Bologna
One of hundreds of porticos in Bologna, its true hallmark
Another of the many porticos, Bologna
A beautiful clear morning in Ravenna
The courtyard outside the Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
The Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
Ceiling mosaic, Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
Mosaic, Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
The story of Abraham and Isaac in mosaic, Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna
Ceiling mosaic, Battistero Neoniano, Ravenna
Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
Mosaic of the Virgin Mary, Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
Dante's Tomb, Ravenna
The local sandwich in Ravenna: the Piadina, folded circular bread lightly coated with oil and briefly fried.
A loose translation: “We've been making piadine (sandwiches) for 42 years and will continue for another 1,000, because people say they're the best”
Ferrara
Palazzo Municipale, Ferrara
Cathedral of Ferrara
Procession as part of the festival known as Il Palio, Ferrara
Il Palio procession, Ferrara
Market next to the cathedral, Ferrara
It has a real moat
Modena Cathedral
Modena's Cathedral and the Ghirlandina Tower as they look today (refurbishment underway)
Modena's Cathedral and the Ghirlandina Tower as they would have looked on a sunny day without scaffolding (thanks to a nearby poster)
One of dozens of statues of Giuseppe Garibaldi I've seen, this time in front of the elaborate sundial on the municipal building of Parma
(At least) three symbols: the Italian flag hangs on June 2, the Italian National Holiday (Festa della Repubblica), a statue of Dante, and a photo of Aung San Suu Kyi, the jailed Burmese dissident who's been made an honorary citizen of Parma
The Parma Cathedral tower (left) and the beautiful baptistery next door
Parma Cathedral
The Parma Cathedral tower and the baptistery
Italy's third-largest square (after St. Peter's in Rome and San Marco in Venice), Carpi (near Modena)
The room of names of those deported to Nazi camps at the Memorial Museum to those deported for political and racial reasons in the Second World War, in Carpi
The courtyard of the Memorial Museum, Carpi
It's election time: a few dozen of the thousands of posters I've seen over the past few months, here in Carpi
Memorial tablet in the Carpi train station explaining that those deported from Italy to Nazi camps left from this train station in 1944 and 1945
The Verona Arena, 2000 years old and still being used
Coming attractions at the Verona Arena
The Lamberti Tower, Verona
Looking across the Adige River from the center of Verona
I tried to experiment with a little clandestine photography. Here's a happy couple on a bench on the bank of the Adige River, Verona, shot while I walked briskly past
The Adige River, Verona
The Church of San Giorgio, Verona
The Piazza beside the Verona Arena
A street sign in Sirmione on Lake Garda, unintentionally greeting thousands of Germans who were there today
The Castello Scaligero, Sirmione, on Lake Garda
Sirmione on Lake Garda, as seen from the top of the Castello Scaligero
At the top of the Castello Scaligero, Sirmione on Lake Garda
The public beach at Sirmione on Lake Garda
The “Juliet House,” in Verona, said to be the model for Shakespeare's Capulet home and the balcony where all the good speeches were made. There's nothing to the story, and it's about like branding some rural Georgia mansion the “Real Tara.” But it draws us tourists anyway.
The balcony at the Capulet's house. Is that her up there?
Grafitti and post-its by the thousands testify to undying love at Juliet's house.
Some of the declarations at the Juliet House
