In America, we have the ability to just ignore the rest of the world now and then. When the news from abroad is too depressing, we turn it off and focus on more interesting American things instead, like a celebrity scandal or the new iPhone or a weirdly viral YouTube video. I think most Americans [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Italy’
Giving Thanks — And Ignoring The Falling Dominoes
Posted in America, Politics, World, tagged America, European Debt Crisis, Federal Debt, Italy, Politics, World on November 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »
We Americans have many reasons to be thankful this year, and one of the reasons is that we aren’t Italy — yet. I’ve written before about the debt problems in Europe. Things keep getting worse there. The dominoes are slowly falling and threatening to knock over larger and larger economies. The latest country to teeter [...]
Cain And Italy
Posted in America, Politics, World, tagged America, Herman Cain, Italy, News media, World on November 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The news coverage for the last few days has been dominated by allegations of sexual harassment by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. The steady drip, drip, drip of new information and accusations has knocked all other news off the front page. I don’t mean to downplay the importance of dealing properly with incidents of sexual [...]
Uh Oh (Again)
Posted in The Economy, World, tagged Euro, Europe, Eurozone, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, World, World Economy on September 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The news from Europe has not been good for some time now — but today may be a turning point into even more negative territory. As the United States enjoyed the Labor Day holiday, equity markets across Europe plunged by an average of 4 percent. Germany’s DAX took the hardest hit, falling by more than [...]
Eurotrip 2011: Florence and Pisa
Posted in Family, Food, Travel, tagged Academia, Brunelleschi, Duomo, Eurail, Eurotrip 2011, Family, Florence, Food, Interlaken, Italy, Laurentian Library, Leaning Tower of Pisa, McDonald's, Pazzi Chapel, Pisa, Richard Webner, Santo Spirito, Sette Santi Hostel, Travel, Uffizi, Youth hostels on April 16, 2011 | 3 Comments »
While I was in Florence, the dominant thought in my mind was that I was glad to be there. However, there was also a voice telling me how stupid I was to have spent ten nights in Rome and only six in Florence, which I like better. Every corner of Rome seems to be covered [...]
Eurotrip 2011: Rome pt. 2
Posted in Family, Travel, tagged Coliseum, Eurotrip 2011, Family, Florence, Italy, Ostia Antica, Palatine Hill, Pantheon, Richard Webner, Roman Forum, Roman Senate, Rome, San Giovanni, Santa Maria Maggiore, St. Paul's Outside The Walls, St. Peter's, Travel, Villa Borghese Park on April 11, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I had a conversation with a guy at my hostel about people who ponder for a long time at historical sights. He thought these people are “full of shit.” Although he enjoys going to historical sights and recognizes the significance of them, he sees no reason to spend a long time thinking about them, and [...]
Eurotrip 2011: Palermo
Posted in Family, Travel, tagged Capuchin Catacombs, Chiesa di San Cataldo, Eurotrip 2011, Greece, Italy, Monte Pellegrino, Palermo, Pallazzo dei Normanni, Richard Webner, Sicily, Travel, Youth Hostel Baia del Corallo on April 2, 2011 | 2 Comments »
After finally checking into our hostel in Palermo, Bryanna and I indulged in a meal at a nearby restaurant. I think my excitement over being in Italy and my exhaustion from the journey made me forget my usual obsession with spending as little money as possible. I spent eleven euros on a pizza and a [...]
Eurotrip 2011: The Journey to Palermo
Posted in Family, Travel, tagged Athens, Eurail, Eurotrip 2011, Greece, Italy, Naples, Palermo, Patras, Piazzi Garibaldi, Richard Webner, Sicily, Train Travel, Trains, Travel on March 31, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Traveling is never as easy as you think it will be. While planning my trip on my laptop at home, I imagined that my journey from Athens to Palermo, Sicily, would consist of a night on a ferry and two moderately long train rides. I expected it to take about a day. Instead, it took more than two days – the [...]
Venice Underwater
Posted in Travel, World, tagged Atlantis, Italy, ocean, Travel, Venice, Water, World on February 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Venice is sinking and the surrounding sea level is rising. In the last 100 years, Venice has sunk 11 inches. It doesn’t sound like much, but 11 inches is a lot when every building and square is bordered by canals or open water. If you visit Venice, you quickly realize that water is everywhere. You [...]
Save The Sistine Chapel
Posted in Art, World, tagged Art, Italy, Michelangelo, Rome, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, World on September 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The chief of the Vatican Museums has raised concerns that the enormous number of sweaty, dirty, dusty visitors to the Sistine Chapel are posing risks to Michelangelo’s monumental masterpiece. His comments raise the possibility that climate and dust controls, access controls, and other techniques may be instituted in hopes of preventing harm to the artwork. [...]
Italian Journal, Day 13
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Italian Journal, Italy, Travel, World on March 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
June 21, 2003: I’m writing this entry aboard our flight from Rome to JFK. It’s going to be a long flight — at least 8 hours, 30 minutes — and writing will help to pass the time somewhat. I thought I might jot down some thoughts on various topics. First, a few thoughts about my [...]
Italian Journal, Day 12
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Italian Journal, Italy, Pompeii, Travel, World on March 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
June 20, 2003: Our last full day in Italy began with a standard European breakfast at our hotel in Sorrento. It was another hot, brilliantly sunny day. The weather during our trip has been a bit hotter than we would choose, but we can’t complain about rain or the lack of sunshine. In the 11 [...]
Italian Journal, Day 11
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Italian Journal, Italy, La Badia, Orvieto, Sorrento, Travel, World on March 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
June 19, 2003: We were greeted by a bright, clear, sun-dappled morning as we awoke at La Badia. The air smelled of pine and flowers and it seemed that you could see for miles. Birds were chirping and swooping around the ruins of the monastery’s old bell tower. We had a good breakfast at La [...]
Italian Journal, Day 10
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Italian Journal, Italy, La Badia, Orvieto, Travel, World on March 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
June 18, 2003: Our Italian trip is winding to a close, and I am feeling somewhat wistful about it. But, we still have some adventures yet to experience. Today we left Venice and drove to Orvieto, our longest road trip on the vacation. We got up at around 7:30, packed up, had breakfast, and took [...]
Italian Journal, Day 9
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Italian Journal, Italy, Travel, Venice, World on March 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
June 17, 2003: We got up today at about 9 a.m. and went down for our complimentary breakfast at the hotel. All of our hotels — save the one in Florence — have included breakfast with the cost of the room, and the quality of the food and ambiance has varied widely. In Rome, the [...]
