An Italian visit is not just Rome, Florence, and Venice

    I will grant you that Rome, Florence and Venice are great places to go. There is lots of history and Italian culture there. It is fun to pet the pig or visit some Roman icons. It is wonderful to sit along a canal in Venice watching the lights after all the tourists have gone back to their ship. Here it comes: However, Verona is a compact lower key Italian city which much to say for itself. The photo above is of the Colosseum in Verona. It is still in use. The Italian Alps rise to the north and are amazing. Then there are Milan and Pisa. You can also head to the coast with its cities hanging on hillsides.  If you want your breath take away, visit the lakes between Lecco and Bergamo.  There is also southern Italian with a whole different vibe. Indeed you cannot cover this unless you have a free month. But, work one of these "extras" in and you will not be sorry.

 

A lot of bull: Granada Spain

This stuffed bull resides outside a shop in Granada Spain.

At the same time that it is intimidating, it is also surprisingly small.

Bullfighting is so much a part of Spain's culture it was nice to get this close safely. 

 

Airbnb in Paris

    All Airbnbs are not created equal. Let's talk about about Paris. We have booked three of them for a stay of over a week. Two of them were one bedroom with a hide-a-bed in the main room. Both of these were in killer locations. One was a half block from the Louvre and the second a couple of blocks from the Eiffel Tower. They were not fancy. The third one was near Napoleon's  Tomb and it was two bedrooms. 

    All of them were above ground level and had lifts. A word about lifts. Most of the buildings are old and the lifts were added. There is hardly room for a person and luggage. You will get used to it.

    We like to make our own breakfast and all the places had coffeemakers. All of them were close to grocery stores (read tiny mom and pop shops). The eggs in France are free-range and tough to crack. I got good at it within days. Two of the places had everything but pepper. I do not know about this pepper thing, but we bought it twice and now have souvenirs.  The third place was complete. SEE THE PHOTO ABOVE. All of them had laundry facilities. We were welcomed by each one by the owner or rental agent. 

    Hint: make sure you see photos of the unit and email the agent before committing and communicate with references, if possible.

    Interesting was that two had no personal items and the third had shelves' of books, statues, and lots of items that could be stolen. 

    You will not be in them long, but A/C is a plus in the middle of summer. It is also  rare.

    This is ten-times better than a hotel for three people as most hotels' rooms are for two. While we have stayed at hotels, the Airbnb seems like a more authentic experience. 

 

Big Truck, Little Bridge in Amsterdam

There are certainly a good many bridges in Amsterdam.

Lots of canals a people going here and there.

I liked this photo of the truck on one of the older bridges.

The truck is being watched by folks using the #1 form  of transport: The Bike.

Footbridge over the Zambezi River, Zambia

 

Walk in the spray of the Victoria Falls. In Zambia or Zimbabwe you will need to bring a poncho.

Bridge over the Danube at Bratislava Slovakia

Bratislava is an interesting, if not little visited, capitol of Slovakia.

On our trip down the Danube we stopped there. It was foggy which made for some spookiness.

The Slovakia Republic borders on Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Austria.

The Fog made their famous castle look infamous.

This is the modern bridge over the Danube.

The Forth Bridge (Rail)

Small portion of the Forth Bridge a railroad bridge over the Firth of Forth

Near Edinburgh Scotland.