The Slow Road | Category: Italy

It’s hard to beat Italy for history, art, architecture, scenic beauty, friendly and outgoing people, and great food. We spent two months crisscrossing the country in the spring of 2008, from the northern lakes at the foot of the Alps to the dusty plains south of Naples. We returned in 2015 to explore the island of Sicily and in 2017 and 2018 for house sits in Rome. Italy feels like a hundred countries crammed into one medium-sized nation. So much of Western history was made here, and it’s visible around every corner.

When we visited

April to June 2008, September to October 2015, February to March 2017, June 2018

Major stops

Lucca, Siena, Florence, Assisi, Cortona, Rome, Orvieto, Mantua, Como, Venice, Vincenza, Naples, Salerno, Amalfi Coast, Sicily (Siracusa, Modica, Palermo, Agrigento, Enna, Favignana)

Memorable Moment

First walking into St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and being awed by its huge scale, beautiful decoration, and ability to absorb immense crowds

Did you know?

Tourists throw more than $3,000 worth of coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome every day. The coins are collected and donated to Catholic charities.

Photo Galleries

The dramatic scenery of the Amalfi Coast, where a string of seaside villages hug the mountains between Sorrento and Salerno

Under the wealthy Medici family, Florence became the artistic center of Renaissance Italy. Tourists flock here to see the famous cathedral and art museums. Sadly, rain and restrictions on photos in museums and churches kept us from taking many pictures.

The 12th-century Palazzo del Popolo was Orivetio's city hall during the town's heyday (it's still used for public meetings)

Paestum, on the southeastern coast of Italy near Salerno, was a Greek colony founded in the 6th century BC. The ruins include three large, dramatic Doric temples, considered some of the best in Europe.

The Chapel of St. Bernard in Santa Maria in Aracoeli church in Rome, painted by one of Chris's favorite Renaissance artists, Pinturicchio, who was active in central Italy in the 1490s and 1500s.

Sixth-century Byzantine mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna

The site of Marc Antony's funeral oration for Julius Caesar, next to the Temple of Saturn

Besides being a place of ancient ruins and Baroque churches, Rome is a living, breathing city: Workers at the flower market in Campo de' Fiori

Statue outside the Castel Sant'Angelo in the Vatican

Sunset over the Ponte Sisto bridge and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica

A Phoenician-style gold cup in the Agrigento archaeological museum

Agrigento's Ancient Greek temples sit on a ridge in the rolling countryside below the modern town

View from central Enna along the hilltop to the 13th-century Castello di Lombardia

The beautiful blue waters of Favignana

The cathedral of Monreale was built in the 1170s under the Norman King William II of Sicily

The cathedral (or duomo) of Syracuse

Francesca tries being an archaeologist at the ancient Greek theater in Syracuse

Remains of the family baths at Villa Romana del Casale, which were warmed with hot air under the floors

While working on a farm nearby, we had a chance to explore the pretty little hilltop town of Cortona in southern Tuscany

St. Peter's Basilica, seat of the Roman Catholic Church, dominates tiny Vatican City. There are also office buildings, papal apartments, an ancient Egyptian obelisk, and vast museums.

Gondolas lined up along the Grand Canal, waiting to give rides to tourists like us. The Grand Canal snakes through Venice, bisecting the city.

Italy

Photo Galleries

Blog Posts