Pantheon

Sometimes we all just need a cool fresh drink of water

Milan

Rainy day in Milano a few years ago. 

I think I ended up going to Milan 4 times that year. 

Those were the good old days..San Diego's getting so boring

Definitely ready for some serious travel again in 2014.

Popes

Time to add a new name to the list.
 (note: this is actually a list of the popes buried in St Peter's, which is why the last pope..Benedict XVI..and many others are not listed)

Pic taken inside St Peter's Basilica on my last visit to Rome with Chelsea in March 2010.

Snowy Venice

March 2005

My 3rd? trip to Venice. If it was indeed my third visit to the city of water then it must have been my mom's 2dozenth. If you need a reference just go count all the masks hanging on her wall.

I can distinctly remember being in Venice one time with her and my brother when it was very hot. So hot that the fan at night didn't do much to help the sleep. The fan and the open window with rattling alleyway noise all night. I can also remember watching strange Italian cartoons on the small hotel room tv and not understanding anything yet not caring because I was a kid and they were cartoons and that was good enough. If it wasn't in the middle of summer then it must have been sometime close to it. Getting chocolate chip ice cream cones in the small park area just up from St Marks. Eating them fast before they melted down. It's times and memories like that that I will remember always.

It was also what made this visit in March 2005 with my mom and sister so special. The complete opposite side of the spectrum. Venice in the sleet and snow is truly something unworldly. Almost so surreal it seems fake. Venice in the snow and cold is about as pure as the city can get. A real slow paced locals only affair. Hot chocolate for breakfast, hot pizza for lunch, and a hot furnace for cold feet at night. Riding out to the lido at night on the veporetto, the air and wind so cold off the water that my nose froze into an icicle. Still have to make it to the guggenheim one of these days.

Soon Venice will be gone..sunk below the sea and soon so will I. But even so I'll still have my memories and that's all that matters.

Top Of Rome

This is one of my favorite views in the world. This is looking out across Rome from the top of St Peter's Basilica, more specifically Michelangelo's Dome. I've been up here twice and I definitely have to say that the late afternoon is the optimum viewing time. In the late afternoon with the falling sun at your back Rome is set in perfect light. The view out across the city at this time of day is definitely eternal.

Morning View

Emerging onto the top of the Duomo in Florence

Buongiorno

Pesto and Mozzarella

Fresh from the neighborhood market in Prati.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

I went to Milan 4 times last year. I've been there so many times in my life that I really can't tell you the exact number. 10?15?20? I really have no idea.

BUT

however

I have never seen Da Vinci's The Last Supper

At least on my 4th visit this last year I was able to go the church/monastery (Santa Maria delle Grazie) where the painting is located.

It was pretty cool.

Maybe next time I'll luck out and get tickets inside to see it.

Raphael's "The School Of Athens"

Maybe I would've become successful in life if I had gone to this school instead of csusm.

Life Across the Arno

O Holy Night

Pope Land

High 5 Pope

All roads lead to...

It's Officially National Pizza Month!!!

Calzone

The Leaning Tower of Cheeza