is it spring yet?

I don't know about you, but I could use a vacation. This is my least favorite time of the year.  Winter seems like it will never end, no fun holidays, no exciting sporting events.  Everyday is the same.  What we need now is a good, old-fashioned adventure.  There's no better cure for the mid-winter blues than a romp around Italy.  

We could go to Milan, where they let you climb on the exterior of the cathedral (You may have noticed that I took a lot of pictures of churches.  This one is among my favorites.  How often do you get to play around on the roof of a gothic cathedral?  It was so much fun.)

Milan Cathedral

 We could get lost in the wandering streets of medieval town of Urbino:

Urbino, Italy

Take in the view of the Adriatic Sea:

The Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea near Pesaro

Shop and stroll and sip espresso in Bologna:

Bologna

Or be completely overwhelmed by Naples (the layout of this town makes Venice look sane):

Naples, with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Maybe we can go back because I really want to go to Pompeii.

the art of structure

World War 1 fortification near Passchendale

Penn Avenue in the Strip District, Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, Mellon Arena, & Consol Energy Center

The Colosseum

northward

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi:

St. Mark's Basilica (seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice and a gorgeous example of Byzantine architecture):

Piazza San Marco:

Rialto Bridge (someday I'll be able to afford a meal at that restaurant):

One canal of many:

Famed and pricey gondolas (seriously, a ride will set you back $400):

Trying to make sense of Venice is like trying to figure out how spaghetti lies in a bowl.  For a good time check it out in Google Earth:

Addio, Italia.  See you again in 2003.

no words necessary

Ladies and gentlemen, The Colosseum:

The Forum (with the Senate building on the far left and Il Vittoriano in the background):

arena atop Palatine Hill:

my favorite kind of Rome...

is simply awesome.  It finds you and your friends first in line at Vatican Museum and then booking it to the Sistine Chapel just so you can enjoy one of the world's greatest works of art, however briefly, in peace and solitude;  it draws you out of bed before dawn to watch the sun rise from a cafe in the Piazza Navona;  it takes you to the necropolis beneath St. Peter's Basilica; it finds you and twenty-five other twenty-something Americans sharing a lively and amazing meal with twenty-something Italians in the home of a friend you met in Leuven.

It's also the view from the Castle Sant'Angelo:

Castle Sant'Angelo

The Spanish Steps:

Trevi Fountain:

and it's a Sunday in April spent in this place...

St. Peter's Basilica

with these people...

and this man...

Full disclosure: I did not take this picture, but I was there, I promise!
Thank you to whomever gave me this copy!

To be continued...

If

If you had one day to travel wherever you wanted to go, where would you go?  More to the point, if you   had one day to travel to wherever you wanted in Tuscany, where would you go?  Florence is a possibility, as are Siena and Lucca and Pisa.  You and a group of girlfriends could visit San Gimignano, a medieval hilltown in central Tuscany.   The afternoon could be spent wondering through the tiny town's meandering streets (after they helped you recover from the forty-five minute roller-coaster of a bus ride).  You could sip wine, soak up the sun, and marvel at both the built and natural landscape.  You could savor the slow pace of the day.  And maybe, as you take in the quiet countryside, you could reflect on your year of travel drawing to a close, and on the realization that where you go is not nearly as important as who you share the journey with.

San Gimignano:

April 1, 2001

The scene outside my window:

Want to go to Italy?  Me too.

April 1, 2001 marked our first full day in Italy, the beginning of the year's climatic trip.  We spent three days in Tuscany, four days in Rome, followed by six days to travel wherever we wanted (Venice for me, Capri or Naples for some others).  April 1, 2001 also marked my first time in Italy.  Florence was the perfect introduction for the neophyte to the Italian experience.   There's plenty to see and do, but the city isn't so big that it feels overwhelming.  The day began with a visit to the Uffizi to the see this and this, among others.  We toured the Duomo, ate gelato, and wrapped up the day with wine and olives at the Piazza de Michelangelo.  That's a day that's hard to top, but, as we discovered, in Italy, those kind of days are pretty frequent.

The Duomo:

Uffizi:

The kind of thing you encounter around nearly every corner:

Ponte Vecchio over the Arno

view of the surrounding countryside from the Boboli Gardens: