This city is so amazing...so beautiful...so big....so little.....so old....so delicious!!!!!  I know I just "feel" different when I am in Rome (this was my third visit) but I couldn't put my finger on why.  Maybe because I had never stayed in an apartment that was a block away from the Colosseum.  The answer came to... Continue Reading →

Wednesday morning I made my way to the market to purchase the food I needed to make dinner for us and the Kent State girls. I planned to make salami and cheese, a Caprese salad (copied from last night), spaghetti carbonara, steak, and broccoli. Jen and I spent the morning exploring the Uffizi museum and... Continue Reading →

We woke up Sunday on our entrance to Venice to find out we were encased in fog.  Nothing moving but the fog horn.  We were anchored outside the harbor and not going anywhere soon.  It took about 6 hours for the fog to lift and we had a window of time to get into the... Continue Reading →

After a day at sea (meaning in the spa), we sailed overnight thru the Ionian and Adriatic seas to wake up in Split.  Our stateroom porter has been leaving us towel animals with one of the best: a monkey/sloth The old city was a palace/town/fortification years ago.  Today, it is more like a walled city... Continue Reading →

I will remember this day for the rest of my life.  I have had the wonderful opportunity to see great sites and "jaw-dropping" places and nothing compares with what was started over 2500 years ago and stands still to this day in this city.  From most vantage points in the city you can see the... Continue Reading →

What a surprise to wake up in a lovely bay with mountains on both sides of the ship.  I mean BIG mountains.  The geography makes this a magical place.  We got off the boat and took the local bus for a ride to some other towns along the bay: They built the big dock for cruise... Continue Reading →

I have to start by telling you that this ship (Norwegian Star) is about as American as you can get.  Everyone/staff speaks English, the ATM gives you dollars and the menus dropped right out of the US of A.  I am not good with organized group trips, structured tour, and cafeteria food.  Surprisingly, I have... Continue Reading →

Before I get started with Venice, I need to share the picture of Donnatella and me as well as a picture of Nino's book on Vincent. (The wifi on my Verizon plan did not work on the cruise ship and the ship's wifi cost $$$$$ so it took a while to upload the pic's: I... Continue Reading →

(I didn't go back to Strasbourg--I did realize I had not published this post) I had to take 4 trains to go from Cologne, Germany to Strasbourg.  They were not hard to figure out--- biggest issue was that smaller stations don't have escalators and I have to carry my suitcase up and down stairs.  I... Continue Reading →

The train ride from Lugano through northern Italy is lovely.  Rome train terminal is a crazy place.  I found my way to the buses to visit my Roman friends: Donnatella and Nino.  I met them thirty five years ago when they came to Pittsburgh to go to graduate school in architecture at CMU.  Donna and... Continue Reading →