Just by accident we were in Paris when France beat Croatia in the World Cup semifinals. People poured out into the streets, the bells of Notre Dame rang out for a minute, and horns and cheers blared for hours. Then we were in Menton, France for the World Cup final against Belgium (everyone was excited that it was a francophone final) and the big win!
After touring the Coliseum, Forum and Palatine Hill, we welcomed a long train ride through beautiful Italy to a late night arrival over the border in France, in Menton, “Perle de la France.”
After a day of big, big sights, we sat down for a big, big meal at Osteria Il Quattro Mori. We were told that a trattoria is a restaurant that serves local cuisine using local ingredients, but at an osteria you are eating at the host’s table and he decides what you will be served. No menu, just two choices: meat or fish, red or white. And then the food started coming and kept coming, in seven courses.
I became obsessed with beautiful Italian floors, from the Parthenon to the Vatican Museums, from our hotel hall to St. Peter’s to ancient ruins.
Everything is big, big, big at the Vatican, so these are big photos.
Here is the best 2,000-year-old remnant of Rome. If this is a ransacked remnant, what must Rome have looked like in its prime?
Everyone in the neighborhood is finishing the day in Piazza Navona.
The oculus gives plenty of light; rain disappears into drains hidden in the marble floor.
Michelangelo captured David’s indignation and determination in his expression.
The Baptistery is green and white marble only, no flowers; the newly baptized would emerge through the Gates of Paradise to enter the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Flower, made from green, white and pink marble, with stylized flowers everywhere.
This beautiful building is topped with Brunelleschi’s famous Dome.
Not throwing myself off the Ponte Vecchio into the Arno, rather enjoying sunset over Florence. Those old Italian landscapes are not making up those weird shapes or the colors!
Peter on the Bernina Express
Glacier and lake at Bernina pass
Stop to see the view
