In Southeast Asia I visited Buddhist monasteries and temples. In Bali it was Hindu and Buddhist temples. On the African continent it was Moslem mosques, and in Singapore all the denominations were represented, peacefully co-existing alongside one another. Here in Rome, Catholicism reigns supreme, and there are literally hundreds of churches, chapels, and Basilicas waiting … Read more
Yesterday afternoon I was walking down a street in Rome, wondering, “What was the name of the second church I visited this morning?” A split second later a young man in front of me turned to his two companions and asked, “What was the name of that second bar we went to?” The place was … Read more
The Eternal City of Rome is a pigsty! Litter is everywhere. Dirt coats every surface and lies an inch think in the corners of the steps of every stairway. At the National Museum, right in the center of the city, trash had collected so deep in the wells surrounding the trees that the ground could … Read more
The Venetian streets I walk each day are paved in 300-year old herringbone pattern bricks that, despite bearing countless millions of footsteps each year, provide an enduring pavement. The houses are old and disintegrating on the outside, yet peeking through widows reveals modern interiors that have been painstakingly and lovingly restored. Of the 56 churches … Read more
More than the fishy, slightly salty taste of squid cooked in its own black ink or the melt-in-your-mouth sweetness of fruit-shaped marzipan candies. More than the play of sunlight over the narrow canals, their rippling green waters reflecting distorted houses each time a gondolier glides past. More than the vague scent of sewage and the … Read more
