Lago di Braies, also known as the Prager Wildsee, is a picture of calm in a hectic world.

Photo of a stray dog sleeping among the ruins of Pompeii.

Postcard from Caffè Meletti, an historic bar in Le Marche.

Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, the hills, valleys, and trees of the Val d’Orcia “exemplify the beauty of well-managed Renaissance agricultural landscapes.”

The Colosseum is a fascinating structure no matter where you view it. But my favorite perch from which to view the Colosseum has to be on this footbridge that spans the busy streets of the Monti neighborhood. The footbridge is hardly a secret -- you'll find handfuls of tourists here at all ...

Walking daily among or near ruins, such as the Teatro Marcello, is one of the reasons why people fall in love with Rome. The Theater of Marcellus or Teatro Marcello, was inaugurated in 12 BCE by Emperor Augustus and named for his nephew Marcus Marcellus. It served as an arena for drama ...

Milan's Pinacoteca di Brera is a first class gallery on par with Italy's finest museums. The collection of Italian, mostly religious, art is spread out in 38 rooms and includes masterpieces by Andrea Mantegna, Piero Della Francesca, Raphael, and Caravaggio. Getting "lost" in front of ...

A view of pastel Procida from the mountain ridge above town.

I'm not much of a winter person. That's one reason I like Rome so much. It rarely snows here. The last time was in 2012 - six years ago. Despite that, I have always wanted to see Rome with a dusting of snow. This morning, I got my wish and then some. The snow started falling in the middle of ...

Snapshot of a Saturday morning shopping at the Mercato Nomentano, one of the few remaining traditional, covered markets in Rome.

While hundreds wait in lines in the harsh sun to get into Saint Peter's, the Archbasilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, also known as the Cathedral of Rome, is practically empty. San Giovanni is the oldest and largest papal basilica in Rome, although it has gone through many reconstructions over ...

Before Christianity became the dominant religion of Rome, many people worshipped Mithras, the pagan God depicted here. Adherents believed that the world was created from the blood of a bull, thus the symbolism here of Mithras slitting the throat of the bull. The scorpion (below the bull's ...