Editor’s note: As a result of the 2020 pandemic, Context Travel has introduced an excellent series of virtual seminars. These live, scholar-led courses even allow time for discussion and questions. … Read more
The winged lion is the symbol of both Saint Mark the Evangelist and the city of Venice. You see it pretty much everywhere. There is some dispute of the origin … Read more
We’re staying near the Rialto Bridge in Venice, a very nice neighborhood to just walk around and enjoy the view. There’s a lot of architecture and painting and sculpture here, … Read more
We arrived on the train from Ljubljana in Venice late afternoon, when the sun was already low in the sky, and the lines to get into San Marco Basilica were … Read more
From Montreux it was an easy train ride to Zermatt, which we visited just to see the Matterhorn. It was worth it. From Zermatt, which is pretty much a ski … Read more
They’ve removed the original statues from the facade of the Siena Cathedral and replaced them with reproductions. The soft marble originals certainly suffered from the pollution and elements over hundreds … Read more
I posted about Rome six days ago, and at the time promised to go on endlessly about our subsequent visits to the sites that were destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 AD, or as the secularists say, 79 CE. Since I’m a Latin guy though, I’m sticking with AD.
So, here goes. First there was a train ride from Rome to Naples, then a change for Pompeii. We had decided to stay in Pompeii, instead of Naples, for a couple of reasons. Number one is that Naples is pretty much of a shit hole, and I can’t remember the second one.