Travels in the 2nd half

I Portoni della Brà “Always check the calendar for places you are planning to visit.” This truism is something that should be emblazoned into the mind of every traveler. It helps to know when local holidays are. However, sometimes knowing about a holiday is not enough to avoid some major issues. April 25th is Italy’s Liberation Day. It marks the defeat of the fascist government by the Allies during World War II, and it is one of the countries biggest holidays. It also came just three days after the Easter Monday holiday which meant that a lot of people took the whole week off, so my plans of traveling in April to avoid big crowds was dashed on the rocks. The best I could do was walk around the crowds during my visit to Verona. Like many Italian cities, Verona can trace its history back over 2000 years, but its early history was not as part of an Italian Duchy. It was controlled by Goths and the Lombards, who were Germanic, until 774 ACE when Charlemagne destroyed the Lombardi ...

I don’t often have the chance to explore some of the smaller cities on my trips to Europe. So, knowing I had a car this time, I set for Padua. Have always wanted to see the cities that Shakespeare wrote about, and it would make a good base for other explorations in the Veneto area. Since I was traveling by car, my first job was to find a hotel that offered parking, which meant outside of the center of town, but close enough that the bus ride would not be too long. My choice was the Hotel Giovanni , Northeast of the historic center of town. This hotel seemed to operated mostly for people on business, although it was packed for the national holiday. It offered reasonable prices, and an excellent breakfast buffet. Padua , which claims to be the oldest city in northern Europe, is 40 Km (25 mi) west of Venice. It is home to second oldest university in Italy. Padua was able to maintain its independence during most of the Middle Ages, but it fell under Venetian rule in...

When you are looking for art in New York City you can spend your time fighting the crowds at the Metropolitan Museum, MOMA or The Whitney, me,  I prefer looking for the smaller museums and galleries. They offer excellent exhibits without having to push my way through throngs of humanity to see the art. One excellent choice is the Asia Society. John D Rockfeller III photo by José Arturo Quarracino via Wikipedia The Asia Society was founded in 1956 bu John D. Rockefeller III to promote greater knowledge of Asia in the United States. Its mission is to build awareness about Asian politics, business, education, arts, and culture, through education. It sponsors art exhibitions, film showings, performances, lectures, and educational programs. It covers the area from Iran to Japan and from Central Asia to the South Pacific. Their main offices, in New York City, were renovated in 1999 and expanded to include two floors of galleries along with a cafe in the lobby and an auditorium...