Minori on the Amalfi Coast in Italy was our favorite stop on the summer Beyond Vacation trip. We spent a week in an apartment 87 stairs up from the street. This gave our little terrace a wonderful view of the town from above. As I have done a few “from above” posts lately (Nice and […]
During our week in Minori, I got up early one morning to take pictures of the town before the people came out. So here is a look at Minori in it quietness. Our Terrace Terracotta tiles often too hot to step on during the day are night cool and smooth under my feet as I […]
Rome is a city of 7 hills, a thousand piazzas and a million tourists. Historic Rome is cuddled in the bend of the Tiber river. Across the river to the south is Trastavere, which translates roughly to “across the Tiber.” In this area though there is a hill. A hill which looks over Rome. It […]
Naples is not on the main tourist track in Italy. Sure if you are going to Pompeii you might base yourself here, but it is does not have much else to draw you. We were even warned by quite a few people to be very careful here. It does however have 3(!) castles. We had […]
The Colosseum is not a name for a amphitheater, it kind of just means “really big thing”. I should have realized it. I have brushed up against enough Latin in my day. I know what a Colossus is and we still use the word colossal in English today. The official name of the building was […]
I have a big sweet tooth. I like sweet and I like crunchy. Waffles (especially the type in Belgium) fulfill both of these well. We were in Belgium for a week and I was determined to get some good waffles. It was a few hit and miss to get the “good ones,” but we finally […]
Visiting the Vatican is usually on the top of the must-see list for Rome and a main reason for the Vatican tour seems to be the Sistine Chapel. We have all heard of it. Most have seen pictures and know more or less what is painted up there. While it was indeed interesting to see […]
After the floors, the Gallery of Maps was my favorite part of the Vatican. We got to walk through twice. Once very fast and once at normal walking speed. There was not much time to examine the walls very closely and part of the gallery was under construction at the time we visited as well. […]
Forget the ceilings, if you go to the Vatican, check out the floors. I have pretty bad eyes. In low light and at far distances, I lose details. I can still read and operate in my life without a big deal, but when it comes to appreciating museums they are lacking. This lack was especially […]
Neither Ali nor I are really into museums. They tend to get boring quickly, with paintings blending into each other like fish at an aquarium or fields of tulips. And yet I enjoyed the Boijmans in Rotterdam. It is quirky in places and has some neat interactive exhibits. Interactive Art I like things that I […]