Once the vacation getaway for Roman emperors Augustus & Tiberius, today it's a scenic tourist-filled trap (of the nicest sorts of course). Ryan, Janel (my friend of LA & former Ogilvy PR colleague) and I opted to hike around instead of peruse the numerous gift shops, boutiques and high end designer collections, hence these photos give you a more serene view than the streets packed with German and American tour groups. Read More...

In April, we drove down to Napoli, got stuck in pre-soccer game traffic including cars, scalpers and fans (hence no photos) so we diverted to Sorrento and with that as our base, daytripped to Pompeii.
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Following is the report from our first stint in the big city. While Rome has an overall grittier, more urban feeling than some other Italian destinations, when you're wandering through the Forum, you expect to see a Caesar and his entourage walking down one of the stone paths.
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Ostia Antica

This is Rome's ancient seaport, less than an hour from downtown Rome. For more than 600 years it was the main port and a trading center, and at the time of Christ, 80,000 people lived there. It later became a ghost town and has now been excavated.
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Exploring the birthplace of the Rennaisance... Read More...

After arriving at the train station from La Spezia, we (Tamra & Laura) boarded a vaporetto, aka waterbus, to take us to San Marco. Since there are no cars in Venice, you either walk or take vaporetto to where you want to go... Read More...

The birthplace of Michelangelo's marble for his sculptures. Read More...

Italian Rivieria
 
"...the traffic-free, lowbrow, underappreciated alternative to the French Riviera."
Defined by Rick Steves, host of popular PBS series "Travel in Europe with Rick Steves" and paperback travel companion to a cult including every American 50 to 60-year- old we've met and my 27-year-old sister. Read More...