JIM'S MONTH-LONG TRAVEL TO ITALY; ROME, VENICE, FLORENCE AND TUSCANY COUNTRY-SIDE

For a month from mid-April through mid-May I traveled in Italy beginning with five nights in Rome, four nights in Venice, seven nights in Florence and the Tuscan countryside, and then my final ten nights in Rome again.  I was blessed with absolutely the best weather with which anyone could imagine.  The temperatures were always in the 70's and 80's with only my last day in Rome hitting ninety degrees.  During the entire month, I had exactly one-half hour of rain when I first arrived in Venice, and that was it.  I love history, art and architecture, walking cities for hours, exploring residential neighborhoods, visiting museums, sitting for hours in sidewalk cafes and people watching, visiting with everybody with whom I conversed, and eating some of the finest cuisine in the world.  Italy was everything I had dreamt it would be and more.

Below you will find one album link and seven story links of my travels.  Many stories offer a narration as well, especially the album.  I had more narrations on some of the others, but Google Plus messed me up.  I hope in time to do one more album of the art in the Guggenheim Museum in Venice.  I loved the works in the museum, so I only showed a sample in the Venice story below.  I may also edit all the emails I sent to friends during my time in Italy, and link them as well.  Time will tell.

I hope you enjoy whatever you choose to view, that it brings back memories for those of you who may have visited the same sights at one time, and that the album and stories may whet your appetites to visit Italia if you have not already done so.  Hopefully, in the process you may also learn something more about another culture and some of its contributions to Western Civilization. (Sorry, you are not going to get the teacher and the curriculum and instructional administrator out of me.)


The album is entitled, "The Trastevere Area of Rome".  Click on the link and it will take you to the album.  You will be able to view all of the photos on display.  If you wish to see each photo close-up, you click on the photo, and you will also be able to read the narration when applicable to the particular photo.  If you click on for the full photo and wish to continue in the mode with the narration, just click the arrow under each of the photos to forward to the next photo:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111741036841400152108/albums/6156599381480496913?authkey=CKfXu9PXwMfkRQ


The following links are stories organized by Google Plus as I uploaded my photos from my camera to the computer,  and Google Plus further organized all the photos in chronological order during my travels,  I deleted or added photos not originally used by Google Plus for the story, and I wrote my own comments or narration:  (If the comments are not fully visible, you need to click your down key when you are at the end of the comment to continue reading.)  Also, a broader narration is provided for many photos when you click on the actual photo:


Friday in Rome:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/9f3ce333-7ae5-3b84-83c8-33e6dc691cf214d79e0fe4c


Venice:  Jim on the Heels of Marco Polo:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/eecea690-422a-39e2-b87e-134ef2f9a56614d77a2e72c


Thursday in Venice:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/360c56d2-451c-38e9-af8c-04dfd6583d9514d77a2e72b


Trip to Florence and Siena:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/3bf5c574-8929-36cb-a547-5a7b5e69723d14d77a2e72a


Trip to Rome:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/483d920f-4bed-3327-8072-235635ac9ca714d77a2e727


Wednesday in Tivoli:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/3d310407-c572-3460-ba42-ba2726b3e21014d77ada90a


Final Weekend in Rome:  A Story by James Mola

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111741036841400152108/stories/6fc60dfa-7f63-3f9e-b0e7-3f824d7f503a14d77ada90a