In the fifth century BCE, Siracusa was the dominant military and economic power in the Greek world. The last of its remains now lies in the outskirts of modern Siracusa in the Neapolis Archeological Park. This is Siracusa's greatest concentration…
The Italian diaspora of 1880-1920 had a significant impact on the population of Italy. This was driven by poverty and harsh conditions, especially in the south. An estimated four million people left Italy for the United States at that time,…
We packed our bags, tipped our hats to the fine staff at the Excelsior Palace Hotel and bid adieu to Mt. Etna. We were moving to Siracusa. Leaving the Excelsior Palace Hotel and Mt. Etna On my way to the…
Mt. Etna was located due west of our hotel. We knew it was there, but we'd not yet seen it. It was always hidden in the clouds. Finally, one morning as I walked out of the hotel to check out…
We're heading to the theater today, a Greek one. Before that, however, we had to try our first Sicilian breakfast. I read that Sicilians, like other Italians, prefer to have a sweet rather than a savory breakfast. Our breakfasts were…
As you would expect to find in many large old European cities, Munich has palaces. The Residenz, on the edge of Old Town in central Munich, is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. It was not…
Sitting only 30 miles from the Alps, Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria. It's Germany's third-largest city behind Berlin and Hamburg. Many consider it to be one of the most livable cities in Europe. Arriving at…
We caught a train in Munich and headed south to Füssen, a small German town in the Bavarian Alps about a mile from the Austrian border. Though we had already visited castles on the Rhine River, we were on our…
