I am asked on numerous occasions, after traveling through almost 90 countries, where is my favorite. While that is a very difficult question, I love the majority of my travel locations, but inevitably the answer becomes Italy. What is not to love? The passion of the people, the history, the FOOD. It has a lot of everything. I was fortunate to see a lot of Italy, but not all of Italy. I have yet to see the far North, Milan or Turin or the mountain lakes. I have yet to see the “heel” or much of the East Coast. So though I have explored Rome, Florence, Naples, Sicily and Venice, the amount of what I have not experienced will need to be resolved. Regardless, my love for Italy most likely started when I was a pre-teen and my brother married into an Italian family. The times I spent with them is etched into my character. I learned to appreciate the culture, the passion and of course, the FOOD.

I was on a government contract which sent me to three main locations: Naples, Pisa and Sicily. I used my time off to great advantage. I also took additional time when I brought my family along and took a vacation. In more recent times, I celebrated my wife’s birthday with a trip through Venice, Florence and Rome. We went to a town named after her family (or vice versa, or maybe no connection at all?), which turned out to be one of the great intact Medieval towns (Viterbo). We took a Cruise from Rome that stopped on the way back in Naples. I have a strong pull to return and explore those regions I have yet to touch, revisit those regions I have; to re-taste the cuisines and vino from my earlier stops and find new delicacies throughout the country.

One of my favorite things was to get in my rental car and drive. Before GPS it was easy to get lost and that added to the excitement. I would stop at a small town where no one admitted to speaking English, ate what was presented and drank what was offered. There was always an abundance of smiles and acceptance. I want to share my existing experiences and make room for the forthcoming experiences. 

Because of the vastness of my Italian experience, I have created a page for each city I have visited. In places like Naples, I have broken out Pompeii and Herculaneum because of the amount of material. I hope you enjoy my pages as much as I enjoyed creating and reminiscing.