Destination: Italy

Iconic Pompeii

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [177]

IF YOU WERE A ROMAN IN POMPEII, August 24 in the year 79 AD would have been a good day to be out of town. That’s because a 79 AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, only ten kilometers away, initially covered Pompeii with three-meters of ash. The pyroclastic ... Read more >

The Names Have Changed But Paestum Is the Same

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [158]

PAESTUM, THE CITY FORMERLY KNOWN as Poseidonia, was a thriving Greek port in the 6 th Century BCE—the Romans changed its name when they took over in 273 BCE. When the river silted up creating a malarial swamp, Paestum suffered from increasingly ... Read more >

Roman Ruins at Herculaneum

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [158]

CASA CINQUE DOESN’T HAVE MUCH CURB APPEAL. Our neighbors fight like Ralph and Alice and the bar downstairs is jumping on weekends, so we keep our earplugs nearby. The fourth floor flat— terzo piano —does have two bedrooms, a practical ... Read more >

Photos: Pompeii, Herculaneum and Paestum

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Photo Gallery

Porano and Spoleto

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [170]

PORANO ISN’T A HILL TOWN—IT’S MORE of a “Hill Hamlet” but it has just as much charm as its big brother across the valley. Lo Sperone , our AirBnB of the moment, is simply wonderful—an entire house with two bedrooms, ... Read more >

Autumn in Orvieto

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [135]

LIVING IN A HILL TOWN LIKE ORVIETO must be inconvenient. For us just getting there was a pain in the tuchus. Besides the narrow, winding, one-way streets and lack of parking, Orvieto is old. Medieval old. It’s charming to tourists like us but the ... Read more >

Photos: Orvieto and Spoleto

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Photo Gallery

Sunday in Bologna

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [136]

WE JOINED THE THRONG HEADING FOR Piazza Maggiore; Sunday strollers, young lovers, families with kids, gaggles of girls, herds of guys and dog walkers including a group with about 30 greyhounds—dog racing (amateurs only, no betting) is popular in ... Read more >

Michelangelo Sculptures in Bologna

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [206]

IT SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES being in Bologna, not that we’ve been here before. The car was due back at 10:30, check in’s not until four and now we’re standing on the corner with no idea where we’re at, where we’re going or what ... Read more >

Photos: Ravenna and Bologna

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Photo Gallery

Revisiting Ravenna

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [137]

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY to Ravenna—Autumn arrived. With the all the road construction, impromptu stops to photograph the fall colors and time for a picnic lunch, the 90-minute drive from Arezzo took nearly twice as long. Back in 2012 ... Read more >

High on Arezzo

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [165]

THE CHURCH OF SAN DOMENICO IS THE ZENITH of Arezzo. It isn’t the best thing, by far, but it may be the highest and this morning Connie lead me, huffing and puffing, for a visit. And I said Arezzo wasn’t a hill town!     ... Read more >

Photos: Arezzo, the Forgotten Town

Sun, 17 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Photo Gallery

If You're Going to San Francesco...

Sun, 17 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [164]

YOU MIGHT HAVE TROUBLE FINDING AREZZO in your Italy guidebook—even Rick doesn’t bother with it. Arezzo is older than Florence but it didn’t have Michelangelo. It is in Tuscany but it isn’t a hill town but it . The Sunday morning ... Read more >

The ❤️ of Tuscany: Montepulciano and Pienza

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 | By graynomadsusa | Views [156]

THE PROBLEM WITH A VISIT to the “Heart of Tuscany” is deciding wether to Drink or Drive! Since this was an “Under the Tuscan Sun” sort of day, I drove, despite the offerings of relentlessness wine shop owners of Montepulciano.... Read more >