Category: Travel

Leaving Sicily and Exploring The West Coast of Italy: Tropea Stop – April 28 – 30, 2018 – Tropea, Italy

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By Tom Allin

We left Siracusa, Sicily about 10:15 for a quick drive to Messina, the ferry and on to
Tropea. The first hour of our drive was easy and uneventful. Then things went a
little wrong – seems we typed in the state of Messina, not the city of Messina to
Google Maps.

This route took us to the west of Mt. Etna (snow covered peak in above photograph)
through gorgeous mountains and wild flowers, on a dirt road, the occasional small
town or village, farm houses and you get the idea. I wish we had stopped here for a
night to give us more time to explore this area of Sicily.

Complete article posted on iEXPOSED.us — click here to read the article

Bernini Sculptures and Villa Borghese – February 19, 2018 – Rome, Italy

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Although we weren’t out and about every waking hour during the last several days,
this doesn’t mean we were loafing. While we rebounded at home from our colds we
also planned for our last week in Rome. I very much wanted to tour the Villa
Borghese and see its art. Nancy went online to purchase tickets and discovered the
Bernini, The Sculptures exhibit’s last day was Monday, February 19. We bought
tickets for the 9:00 am English speaking tour for that day.

Several things to note: (1) we don’t do too many tours and this was a great one to
do, (2) our tour guide was very enthusiastic and informative, (3) all tickets for the
Villa Borghese are for two hour durations and then they empty the Villa and let the
next group in – two hours isn’t nearly enough time to see everything and hopefully
we will make time to visit Villa Borghese and Rome again, and (4) Bernini is another
artist whose name I knew but now understand why many think he is a great artist –
my opinion is his sculpture of Pluto and Proserpina puts him in the category of the
greats.

Complete story posted at iEXPOSED.us — click here to view the article.

Two Churches – February 17, 2018 – Rome, Italy

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By Tom Allin

We are still recovering from our London colds. Spending more time in our Rome
apartment than out exploring but we make an effort to go for short trips every day.
We decided this afternoon to pick up on Rick Steves’ Heart of Rome tour where we
left off the day before.

Shortly after we left our apartment we came across this small piece of street art.

To read the complete article — click here.

Piazza Navona – February 16, 2018 – Rome, Italy

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By Tom Allin

Nancy in one of her late night searches found Rich Steves’ online tour walks of Italy.
She downloaded these to our iPhones, downloaded Goggle Maps where the tour was
taking us, and we layered up with clothes and stepped outside.

The first tour we began with was Heart of Rome. This was an easy tour to do since it
began less than five minutes from our front door.

First stop is Campo de’ Fiori. During daylight hours the square is a large market of
mostly fruits and vegetables. Of course, a different sale table caught my attention.

Complete article posted on iEXPOSED.us — click here to read the article

Vatican City at Night – February 15, 2018 – Rome, Italy

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We had a light lunch late this afternoon and we are hungry. So we bundled up: long
underwear top, shirt, sweater, leather jacket, and gloves for me and Nancy dressed
similarly.

We walked to the end of our street or about five blocks. We then walked into a
small restaurant that had a single couple occupying an indoor table. We made a
mistake – we only ate here one more time! Our two meals at Osteria Le Streghie are
as good as it gets. And by the time we left this evening over half the tables were
occupied – we are early dinners and had arrived a few minutes after 8:00 pm.
Note: this photograph was taken in the late afternoon on our second visit, not our
first visit at night.

To read the complete article– click here