Pisa- Not Just The Tower

If you go to Tuscany, you think of hill towns, medieval villages, Florence, Siena, maybe Lucca. All great places to visit. But what is not far away from this part of Italy is the town of Pisa. And you all know what is in Pisa right? THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA, of course. If you […]

At Home in Italy

Several weeks before leaving for Italy, I read an incredible book –The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland. Set in Florence and Rome during the Renaissance, it placed me in a world of artists and benefactors, inquisitors and lovers. After reading the book, I wanted to experience that locale – not just as an observer, […]

Bicycling in Italy’s Po Valley

Twenty-three of us sat outside our country hotel around a large table, some sipping wine, as the September sun reflected off the yellowing rice fields that surrounded us. As pink clouds floated above our heads, the long, afternoon shadows accentuated the architectural splendor of the Carthusian Monastery of Pavia (Certosa di Pavia), which also seemed […]