Tour de France Team Time Trial Hits Montpellier, France Today

The Tour de France Team Time Trial Hits Montpellier, France Today… and I’m not ready for it.

Jeffrey White: An Inspiration To Us All

Jeffrey White, an award-winning foreign correspondent who reported from 15 countries and was married just weeks ago, died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer that he fought with quiet dignity and courage. He was 32.

He was also my cousin, and he will be missed by all who knew and loved him. For those of you who did not know him, I give you his own words, which I hope will inspire you to live the life you’ve imagined:

“Take a leap, go some place foreign where everything that crosses your eyes in a glance is new and different, where you don’t know what the signs say,” he once wrote to a friend. “Pack that life of yours up into a few duffel bags, turn up at the airport and just jump into a new life somewhere else. I promise you won’t regret it.”

My Secret Garden in Rome

Vincenzo invited me along one day for a walk with Pepino, treasured mascot of via del Mandrione. We ambled down a road we had driven many times, lined by the aqueduct on one side and tiny homes on the other. And then much to our surprise, the homes gave way to a beautiful public garden we had never noticed before.

The Winsome Light of European Street Lamps

While quiet night streets in America remind me of slasher films, those in Europe are just plain magical. The lamps bathe everything in a soft light that could tell a thousand stories.

Pictures of Paris at Night

Yeah, hi, me again with yet another photo post. Nighttime pictures of the City of Lights. Enjoy!

Pictures of Rome at Night

I swear, I’ll get off my photo kick soon. But after organizing all my pictures, I fell back in love with so many of them. Here are some of my favorites from nighttime in the Eternal City. I still have a long way to go in developing my night photographic skills, but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless as they capture how I feel about Rome at night.

Passionate Roman Sports Graffiti

I’m not going to pretend I know or care anything about calcio – what us Yankees call soccer, and the rest of the world calls football (or, alternatively, futbol). But here in Rome, Associazione Sportiva Roma (A.S. Roma) is the hometown team – and S.S. Lazio, the regional team that sounds like it’s about to sail off on a three-hour tour, is not so well loved by the ever-faithful.

Join me after the jump for more passionate Roman sports graffiti.

Your Daily Dose of Amusement, in Photographs

Your Photographic Admonishment for the Day: Live Your Dream

Best. Grafitto. Ever.

Pictures: Old Signage I Love

I’ve just organized all my photos on Flickr, placing them into thematic groups. You can find out more about that Herculean feat here. I must warn you, though – it’s a huge time suck.  If you’ve got somewhere to be in the next several hours, I instead invite you to look at some pictures I’ve taken of the words one comes across while traveling – whether on signs, or painted directly onto walls. Confession: Signage like this is one of the reasons why I love Europe so much.

This sign is usually covered by wet-glue posters for politicians, bands, beauty products and the like. But recently, it’d been stripped to reveal its original purpose. Note the “SPQR” at the top – that’s the acronym for the motto of Rome, and can be seen on all items of public works from signs like this to manhole covers.

Pictures: Roman Aqueduct Graffiti

As promised, here are some pictures of a graffiti artist’s work inside the aqueducts of Rome.

Free Angels & Demons Guide to Rome

Back in the halcyon days of summer 2004, my best friend from college visited me in Rome. On a whim while in the airport she picked up a copy of Angels & Demons, and promptly became engrossed in the story – not only because it’s a good read, but because she had the unique advantage of being able to visit the exact locations featured in the book!  In case you don’t believe me, I have photographic evidence of her one fine afternoon, unable to tear herself away from it.

Remembering how she dragged me all over Rome to look at fountains, floor tiles and chapels is one of the reasons why I readily agreed when Angela Nickerson, author of A Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome, asked me if I would take some pictures for a free Angels & Demons guide to Rome she was compiling to coincide with the release of the movie recently.

Angela has done a wonderful job of putting the guide together, and it’s now available – FOR FREE – to anyone who’d like to know where to find the good stuff, and what it all means once you get there.

It’s an ebook, which means you can download it as a pdf to your computer, and print out the pages you’ll need each day – instead of lugging around a big book. And it’s a free guide to Rome – what more could you ask for?

So, if you’re going to be in Rome anytime soon, I highly recommend downloading this free Angels & Demons Insider’s Guide to Rome and checking out the locations you’ve read about in the book or seen on the big screen.  But you don’t have to take my word for it – check out what Gadling had to say about this brilliant, comprehensive and well-written guide.

Have fun, and happy sleuthing!

Pictures: Life in the Roman Aqueducts

As I’ve mentioned before, Marco’s house is built into an aqueduct that runs along the streets of Rome. Here is the view from his door:

Join me after the jump for more innovative residential construction on the back streets of Rome.

Epic Day Trip: The Aegadian Island of Levanzo, Sicily

I’m now going to tell you about Levanzo. You won’t believe me, nor will you trust your eyes when looking at the photos. But I was there, and all this happened, and you just need to do what I tell you after the jump to experience it yourself. Don’t forget to take me along with you, though. I have got to get back there.

10 Things I Noticed In Trapani, Sicily

I seem to be gearing up for a full Trapani report in the strangest way – first the pictures, now these peculiar observations. If you’re looking for Trapani information, including where to eat and traveling around the area, please check back and/or do a word search for “Trapani” in the window on the home page. I gotta get this out of my system, though!

Join me after the jump for things I noticed, and can probably be explained by someone who knows way more about Sicily than I do. Me? I just like noticing things and wondering about them.

Pictures from Trapani, Sicily

I’m going to give you the entire low-down on my recent foray into Sicily – which included Trapani, and the Egadi Islands of Favignana and Levanzo. But first, a few photos of Trapani to get you in the mood.

Getting to and Eating in Perugia, Italy

You might remember that Perugia was not my favorite day trip from Rome – if anything, the distance alone would probably make it a better day trip from Florence. But, it’s worth visiting, if only to check out the freaky train station waiting rooms.  I’ve only been to Perugia once, and only for a short time; but, without further ado, here’s what I have to say about getting there and eating – my two favorite subjects. All other information should be treated as highly suspect, as you’ll see after the jump.

Getting to and Eating in Orvieto, Italy

Many of my dear readers seemed to agree: Orvieto beats out Perugia in my battle of the day trips. I’ll be doing a similar post to this about Perugia, too; but first, let’s talk about the particulars of a day trip to Orvieto from Rome.

Perfect Lunchtime Trip from Rome: Frascati, Italy

I don’t normally recommend day trips or really, much running around at all, for people who are on vacation. This is probably why I would make a terrible tour guide. But, if even a lazy bones like me can haul my ass up the hill to Frascati for a delightful afternoon, you should too. Here is everything you need to know about having lunch in Frascati, according to me.

My New Favorite Rooftop Bar in Rome

For years, I told people to go to the rooftop bar at the Hotel Mediterraneo, on via Cavour, which boasts stunning views and Italo, the most charming old waiter in town.  But recently I went there, and it was CLOSED.  Now they only serve dinner up there, and it’s LOCKED the rest of the time.  There oughta be a law.

I remained inconsolable until one day I raised my eyes heavenward – most likely shaking my fist at the gods for casting me this cruel fate, or maybe to check out a bus stop sign – and I saw, high above me, like a vision, a bar.  A bar in the sky. Like a dream, it was. So, I took my friend, who was visiting and who is famous for never, ever turning down a cocktail, and up, up, up we went to the bar in the sky.

This bar is like Brett Easton Ellis and Edward Hopper had a baby. A baby made of gin and love. Oh, it is so glorious. Gentlemen, BEHOLD: