Italy A meeting in Rome and a trip up to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera.

Roman Forum: Temple of Castor and other year old things. It was on my morning stroll to the meeting.

Roman Coliseum. Also on my morning stroll.

Crypt of the Capucin Monks 4000 skeletons taken apart and rearranged into “art”. Circa 1500 AD. Kind of macabre.

The Catacombs of Rome: 100s of miles of tunnels and tens of thousands of tombs. By law no one could be buried within the Walls of Rome so tunnels were dug outside the city to house the dead. Many of these were raided by the Barbarians in the Middle Ages in search of riches. Construction circa AD

Italian City Views

The Trevi Fountain: A place for lovers (and for Big Macs at the McDonalds 50’ away)

The view from my hotel window. The capitol and old stuff.

The Pantheon: A really old giant church with a built-in skylight. Constructed in 125 AD with a 142’ high dome. And a McDonalds 50’ away.

Enough of all this “work” in Rome. Time to hit the Italian Riviera.

This is more like it!

Monterosso. My base camp and home of the best swordfish-stuffed ravioli in crab sauce you’ve ever tasted.

I spent the days hiking through vineyards between the coastal fishing villages and sampling this year’s crop.

The village of Manarola. The boats line the town streets and are lowered down the cliffs by a giant crane.

Village of Corniglia up on the cliffs.

Entrance to the nude beach. But beware the sting of the jellyfish!

The beautiful blue Med. my hiking trail

Vernazza. Village of 500 people and home of one of Italy’s best water polo teams. Until the league began requiring a pool (note the goal in the harbor), at which point they had to drop out.

Sunset on the Mediterranean. A perfect send-off.