It's a great excuse to travel. Here are a few of the photos I took. More complete photo and slide shows can be arranged. Anyway...there's a story behind most every picture, but I don't type very quickly.
The interior courtyard of one of the pensions (hotels) that I stayed at in Rome.
The Tiber River in central Rome. At the time, my girlfriend worked for a managed healthcare consulting company called Tiber Group. Nice bridge.
Oh course I saw all the mandatory tourist sites. The interior was much more impressive than I ever would have guessed. Still, the place felt too easily trod upon to really have the feel of antiquity to it. If that makes any sense.
Walking the Appian Way from central Rome out for a few miles provided a better sense of history. Between cars, I could imagine the messengers running out to the Summer villas in the hills with important senatorial news.
Tiramisu is great stuff. Gelatti is great. The combination isn't half bad either. Italian food is everything the Italian military was unable to be.
The obilisks stolen by the Caesers from Egypt and set up in Rome were quite impressive. Also note that the Catholic Church has gone ahead and stolen them as well. Way to go Pope-boy.
Rome has a fascinating level of historical juxtaposition.
In the old Jewish Ghetto of Rome is one of my favorite restaurants in Italy. Note also the omnipresent cats, the entrance to the Theatre of Marcellus (yes?), and my University of Chicago officemate Mike Thayer.
This is the inside of the Medici compound in Florence. Cultured, sophisticated, and ruthless. Gotta love 'em.
Sure, the Catholic Church committed great acts of genocide and culturecide, but they sure built spectacular buildings. This is one small part of the inside of the Cathedral St. Paul in the Vatican. My advice, go to the Vatican Museum, but realize that you're going to be physically ill seeing the gold that was brought back from the new world from massacred and enslaved people.
On a completely different note, there's an interesting monument to the anti-fascist resistance just outside Rome proper. This monument is near the old air terminal. Bet the Vatican didn't help fund this one.
Vienna is a beautiful city, but I have never spent too much time there. Good coffee and desserts for sure. Plus the Third Man is showing just about every night in an old movie house. On the right is one of the flak towers from the German occupation.
Prague is great. Really amazingly vibrant and exciting. Here we have a quieter view of the riverfront.
Prague's great astrological clock. The story has it that the king had the clockmaker blinded after this clock was finished so that no better clock would be made elsewhere. Is that a true story?
Prague's Jewish cemetary has the grave of Kafka (not seen in this picture). It also serves as a reminder of how the Prague Jewish community came to an end.
My mother and her family are from Belgium. Brussels, alas, has only two monuments for which it is remembered. The Tintin museum pictures can't be posted due to copyright issues.
The beautiful cathedrals in Paris almost make the church seem worthwhile. This is of course the chapel of Notre Dame de Paris.
I can be a stereotypical tourist at times. It's good exercise to climb the stairs and look at the rivet-work.
The Rodin Museum is highly recommended. The first part of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (before RAH discovers the joy of sex) has an excellent piece on the appreciation of this particular sculpture.
I was just walking through the city (having switched to B&W film for the upcoming cemetary photos) when I spotted this shop. I don't know my family history all that well, but some relatives of mine might just have a fashionable clothing store in Paris.
The Paris cemetaries have an eclectic selection of Victorian and Victorian influenced grave markers. Unfortunately, many have been vandalized by worshipers of the not-exactly-martyred lead singer of the 1960s most highly over-rated bands. The third photo is the monument to the dead of the Paris Commune (the text is hard to read in the scanned photo). History books await you.
This is the newly opened (when I was there in 1995) Cite de la Musique in Paris. Subtle musical backgrounds filter in to you while walking through the hallways and the construction is all oriented towards heightening the accoustic experience. It's interesting also to see how the French have not abandoned modern and post-modern public construction despite the conservative backlash against it.
One last Europe photo, and this is the monument to the firefighters, air wardens, and medical personal of Britain during the Blitz. Cathedral by Christopher Wren.