We had high expectations for the Milan World’s Fair since they expect 20 million visitors over the course of the event. Plus, the opening provoked violent protests by 30,000 people so we figured there would be some content, maybe even politically incorrect content. The theme of the event is food sustainability and accessibility. A lot of countries exhibiting don’t have much to say since they can’t feed their population today and certainly won’t be able to do so tomorrow, in other words food is neither accessible or sustainable in their countries. Scant attention was paid to the issues of hunger and if you don't even talk about problems, how can you contemplate fixing them? E ven in the US where hunger is problem for 1/3 of the children in this country, you would have thought everyone ... read more

Lake Como is as beautiful as it is reputed to be. We boarded the ferry at 9 AM and for Varrena, but when we got to Bellagio it was a long wait for the next ferry so we decided to go to the Melzi Gardens. I have always said, "seen one tree…seen them all", but this was different. I need to eat my words, since the gardens were spectacularly beautiful and the trees were not like other trees I’ve seen only in a different place. Also, the gardens were pretty much empty so we could enjoy the beauty without fighting other tourists. I know we are also tourists, but I perceive us as better behaved than a lot of our colleagues. We do not cut in line, talk loudly, or yell at clerks when they are ... read more

Yoav and Orr, our Israeli friends who lived in Rome for 2 years, said we had to visit Orvieto. I took their advice, but only left a day for sightseeing and it was not nearly enough. We started by driving to Bolsena Lake. It is a huge lake formed from volcanic activity. The town of Bolsena seems to have minimal tourist activity. The market was really a market more for locals than tourists. In one area there were stalls selling used clothing. The people at these stalls were all North African immigrants. It really struck me that 600 years ago the sellers would have been Jews. I couldn’t resist some booties for TBD and replaced the sort-of leather belt I had with me that is falling apart. The woman who made it, adjusted it for me ... read more

When I wake up and the sun is shining, I’m so appreciative of warm, sunny weather. At home the weather doesn’t matter that much, but we are traveling it has a huge impact on how we spend our time and enjoy the place we are visiting. Today is an especially good morning to appreciate the sun because we are going on a 4-hour Vespa tour in the hills surrounding Florence. OK, we were going on a 4-hour Vespa tour until we got on the Vespa and Jack decided he wasn’t comfortable with me on the back. So we traded our Vespa for a teeny, tiny 1970’s Fiat 500. You can see how little it is in the picture. There were 3 other couples on the tour. Two were sort of our age and they both used ... read more

We met Alexandra at the Horne Museum. This is a small palazzo from the 15th Century that was fully restored by Herbert Horne in the late 1800s. As the restoration was completed, he died of tuberculosis and left the museum and his entire collection to the state. It is now managed by a foundation. The palazzo was charming and most of the time we had the museum to ourselves. Leon Battista Alberti in his Della Famiglia laid out the rules for family life (even though he was not married) and the Palazzo's layout clearly reflected the rules. Husbands and wives had separate bedrooms with a connecting private corridor so they you have discreet visits. Men had safes or entire rooms where they could stop papers that their wives shouldn't see. While holding several banquets each year ... read more