Spoleto - steeped in history

 About 10 years ago I spent a week in the small, ancient mountain town of Spoleto, there for the wedding of a friend. Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines.
Spoleto was situated on the eastern branch of the Via Flaminia, which forked into two roads at Narni and rejoined at Forum Flaminii, near Foligno.
An ancient road also ran hence to Nursia. The Ponte Sanguinario of the first century BCE still exists.
The Forum lies under today's marketplace.
 Located at the head of a large, broad valley, surrounded by mountains, Spoleto has long occupied a strategic geographical position.
It appears to have been an important town to the original Umbri tribes, who built walls around their settlement in the 5th century BC, some of which are visible today.
 The first historical mention of Spoletium is the notice of the foundation of a colony there in 241 BC;[1] and it was still, according to Cicero colonia latina in primis firma et illustris: a Latin colony in 95 BC. After the Battle of Lake Trasimene (217 BC) Spoletium was attacked by Hannibal, who was repulsed by the inhabitants.
During the Second Punic War the city was a useful ally to Rome. It suffered greatly during the civil wars of Gaius Marius and Sulla.
The latter, after his victory over Crassus, confiscated the territory of Spoletium (82 BC). From this time forth it was a municipium.

Palermo - A city of contrasts

Norman, Arabic, Romanic, gothic, baroque architecture in grandiose or derelict structures. If you can avoid it do not drive in Palermo. The other drivers could give Mother Teresa road rage.
Do the tourist visit bus, otherwise you'll miss a lot of the amazing architectural delights which are quite literally tucked away here and there between buildings.

Stunningly composed video about Venice!

Rome in 1 minute!

This 1 minute video highlights the stunning architecture and sights of Rome.

To the visitor what stands out is how world famous monuments - unlike, say, Paris -  are tucked away between narrow streets as everyday life surrounds them as it has done for 1000 years.

Lonely Planet writes that Rome may no longer be caput mundi (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis harbouring lost empires. One visit and you’ll be hooked.

Rome has a glorious monumentality that it wears without reverence. Its architectural heirlooms are buzzed around by car and Vespa as if they were no more than traffic islands.

The city bombards you with images: elderly ladies with dyed hair chatting in Trastevere; priests with cigars strolling the Imperial Forums; traffic jams around the Colosseum; plateloads of pasta in Piazza Navona; sinuous trees beside the Villa Borghese; barrages of pastel-coloured scooters revving up at traffic lights as if preparing for a race.

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Christian Dalera - Rome in a flash by ChristianDalera

Discovering Venice

Venice at the time of Palladio was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in Europe.
Venetian Gothic is a term given to an architectural style combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine and Moorish architecture influences. The style originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab influences from Moorish Spain and early Gothic forms from mainland Italy.

Source: Wired Tourist

Mapping Contemporary Venice

Mapping Contemporary Venice - from the city of today to the Venice of the future was a collateral event of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition in 2010.
It is a process, launched and promoted by Venice International University and Moleskine, involving intellectuals, designers, architects, artists and students, aimed at creating a new visual representation of contemporary Venice and its possible projections into the future.
Source: univiu

Stunning! Brunelleschi's Dome in Florence, Italy

Doubleback VW camper,