Thirty Three years have past

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In 1975 I was able to live in Florence for five months. I had a semester off of school and I sold my car to finance a semester in Florence. I arrived in Florence six weeks before my semester began and I rented the room where I would live during the school sessions and left my luggage behind and took off with a small book bag with enough clothes for an overnight trip, but I was on the road for the next four weeks. I had a eurail pass and traveled everwhere in Italy that I had ever heard about, staying in youth hostels. Often at the hostel I would hear a comment about an interesting town or some festival in another region and I would be off for an adventure.

Since 1975 I have been back to Italy 15 times for visits. There is always something more to see. Once I stayed three weeks in Rome and was amazed that there was still a lot of undiscovered treasures. I like staying in different neighborhoods each time. That way I get to know the city neighborhood by neighborhood. I find little shops or places to eat or some new church. There is always more to find.

If you only have a day or two in a city you are likely to visit all of your favorite places but when you have more time you get all of these popular sights out of you system and can take a day trip or invest a morning walking to a church that you never got to visit before. By accident I have found many out of the way treasures. One year I decided that I enjoy Frascati wine so why not go to the city for dinner. It is an easy commuter run from Rome. I was pleased not only by the wine but also by the local roast pork served in the market. The views from the wine shops over the valley are impressive. One time I was staying in a hotel near the Vatican and decided to walk to Santa Maria Trastevere. Usually I enjoy the walk along the river but it was a beautiful day and I decided to walk up the Janiculum Hill. It was a more difficult walk than the river walk but I stumbled upon San Peitro Montorio and the Tempio, both are gems.

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