l'Abside d'Assisi

Assisi, famous for its patron Saint Francis, has a variety of churches and relics scattered throughout the medieval stone hill town. This is a view of the main abbey with its Christmas tree.

Le Finestre di Orvieto

The earthen colored windows of the Orvieto duomo. The brown floor reflects the light to scatter the russet tones across the black and white stripes of the remaining interior.

Le Mura di Orvieto

The city of Orvieto is perched atop cliffs augmented with russet ramparts. Many overlooks from the city grant views to hill towns and rolling Tuscan colline.

Il Battistero degli Ariani

One of the many mosaics in Ravenna, this baptismal scene covering a domed ceiling comes from when the city was the capital of the Empire, when the later emperors moved the capital due to instability in Rome.

Il Palazzo Papale

A view through the Loggia of the Papal Palace in Viterbo. Various churches and the lion-headed fountain are in the background.

Caffe

A coffee with meringues and chocolates enjoyed streetside in Aosta.

Il Duomo di Pisa

The leaning tower of Pisa, despite being the most famous portion of the cathedral complex, barely seems noticeable in comparison to the massive tiered duomo and baptistery (not pictured). Green grass surrounds the area, providing a welcome contrast to the bright stone and throngs of people.

Vesuvio

Vesuvius, the infamous volcano that watches over Napoli and destroyed the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii now, sits quietly along the coast. Train lines ensnare it, trails cover it, and occasional puffs of sulfur and steam are released from it. The volcano is a ceaseless constant for the area, despite the prospect of a cataclysm.

Il Duomo di Orvieto (dentro)

The duomo of Orvieto is famous for its intricate facade and simple interior, containing thin rock windows dividing simple lined walls in the main body and intricate frescoes in the side chapels. The high clerestory windows allow a light-blue light to enter, creating a visual representation of unreachable heavens and the surrounding earth.

Le Rovine di Morgantina

Morgantina, an ongoing archaeological site, has a wide range of buildings and artifacts remaining, from theaters and markets to statues that are now hotly debated as to whom they should belong. The fog filled the entire area that day, making navigation along city streets almost impossible.

Il Duomo di Firenze (Dentro)

The construction of the cathedral took centuries, but they began decorating the inside before the dome was even completed. It still serves as a pilgrimage site today, albeit for a more modern, camera-wielding pilgrim.

Il Chiostro a Monreale

 The paired columns of the cloister feature intricate mosaic designs in Opus Sectile, or dry work, referring to the way pieces fit together seamlessly. The different patterns represent the different elements of nature, each expressed through varying motifs of stone design and color.

Le Fiori sulle Scale Spagnole

Each spring the Spanish Steps fill with flowers, covering the banisters and ledges with bushes and color. The regular hundreds still flock there, now interspersed between stone and blossom.

L'alba del Mediterraneo

From the costal towns south of Roma and north of Napoli, rosy-fingered dawn still visits as she once did two thousand years ago. Here the mountains dividing the towns from Napoli are visible.

Il Necropolo Etrusco di Tarquinia

Tarquinia still has its Etruscan necropolis intact, albeit emptied of the treasures and offerings that would have originally filled it. However, the emptiness now allows visitors to climb into the 2000-2500 year old tombs and explore the artificial caverns for themselves.

Le Luci dal Colosseo

The Colosseum of Rome is surrounded by a piazza. With the right light, the sun shines through the hundred of portals to cast shadows and highlights across the roads.

La Fontana di Leonforte

Leonforte, a small, hopsitable town in Sicily, contains a single, massive fountain with 22 spigots. It brings good luck (and soaked shoes) to drink from every one.

Vernazza

Hiking along the vinyards and coast of the Cinque Terre exposed the tourist filled yet still marvelous countryside, spotted with colored towns. The pastel-faced, fading structures of Vernazza carry the collapsing air of the land.

La Biblioteca Piccolomini

The Piccolomini library of Siena contains brilliantly rendered frescoes adjacent to ancient music books, finely detailed with gold and lapis lazuli drawings to fill the space of sacred hymns.

Arte Publico di Torino

The public art of Torino fills many piazze, juxtaposing churches and palaces with colored lights and planets. It is a fantastic place for wandering at night.

Il Grotto di Tiberio

The pleasure grotto of Tiberius still has many stone structures remaining, overall the perfectly clear pool that reflects the surrounding hills, ruins, and cave.

Le Luci di Firenze

The lampposts of Firenze have a lot of personality, due to their lion legs that seem to permit them to scuttle across bridges and through parks.

Valle dei Templi

Agrigento was noisy, mostly due to our school group, but the perfection and symmetry of the temples still struck me, even if interrupted by screaming

Colosseo

The colosseum was a point of reference and reflection for me. I found myself often returning to it throughout the year. Charles, a friend of mine who lives in Rome, took me there for the first time.

Pantheon

I first walked into the Pantheon carrying a bag of potatoes across Rome. I just stared at the ceiling, clutching the shopping bag in one hand and my camera in the other. I went back several times later.

Mole Antonelliana

After getting a bit lost as to which side-alley to take to the Mole, we felt rather silly once we turned a corner and found it looming above us.

San Marco

I took this across San Marco square while flooded at two in the morning. Quite the night of sloshy tramping!