Castello di Nipozzano wine tasting flight, Pelago

Castello di Nipozzano wine tasting flight, Pelago

Pelago (Florence), Italy — Amy, Dan Falato, and Elizabeth at a table set for a wine-tasting flight and luncheon at the Castello di Nipozzano in the Chianti Rufina area. Built in the year 1000 as a defensive fortress, the...

Westin Excelsior hotel, Florence, Italy

Westin Excelsior hotel, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy — The bright lights of the Westin Excelsior hotel are reflected in the River Arno at night. The slightly larger section on the right originated as the Casa Rucellai in 1504 and later became the Hotel Italie....

Italian gold jewelry, Florence, Italy

Italian gold jewelry, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy — Italian gold jewelry, including gold chains, bracelets, gold earrings, necklaces, and rings, is displayed for sale by one of the many jewelers' shops on the Ponte Vecchio, a famous hot spot for merchants...

Ponte Vecchio view of Arno River at dusk, Florence, Italy

Ponte Vecchio view of Arno River at dusk, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy — The Arno River, seen looking east from the Ponte Vecchio at dusk. The Ponte alle Grazie crosses the river in the distance, and the south end of the Uffizi Gallery's courtyard is at left.[includeme...

Piazza della Repubblica: Arcone, Florence, Italy

Piazza della Repubblica: Arcone, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy — The triumphal Arcone ("arch") on the west side of the Piazza della Repubblica, the city's ancient center, the site of its original Roman Forum, its former Mercato Vecchio ("old market") and former Jewish...

Giotto’s Campanile at dusk, Florence, Italy

Giotto’s Campanile at dusk, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy — The west side of Giotto's Campanile (bell tower) is seen at dusk from street level on the Via de' Pecori. Obscured at left is the Battistero di San Giovanni, and behind that is the dome of Florence...

Campanile di Giotto from Duomo, Florence, Italy

Campanile di Giotto from Duomo, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy — The east side of Giotto's Campanile (bell tower) is seen from atop the dome of Florence Cathedral (the Duomo — or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore). Designed by the early Italian Renaissance painter and...

Florence, Italy: Duomo view to Santa Croce, Bargello

Florence, Italy: Duomo view to Santa Croce, Bargello

Florence, Italy — View from the cupola atop Florence's Duomo toward the southeast. The church at left is the Basilica of Santa Croce. The tower near the lower right edge is the Bargello. Running along the foot of the hills...

Florence, Italy: Duomo view to Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio

Florence, Italy: Duomo view to Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio

Florence, Italy — View from the cupola atop Florence's Duomo over rooftops toward the southeast. Running along the foot of the hills in the distance is the River Arno. Just across the river near the photo's left edge is the...

Michelangelo’s tomb, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence

Michelangelo’s tomb, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence

Florence, Italy — The tomb of Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Basilica of Santa Croce, designed by Giorgio Vasari. Above the tomb are three sculptures representing the personifications of Painting, Sculpture, and...

Dante Alighieri cenotaph, Santa Croce, Florence

Dante Alighieri cenotaph, Santa Croce, Florence

Florence, Italy — The cenotaph (empty tomb) for Dante Alighieri in the Basilica of Santa Croce, erected in 1829. The Italian poet was exiled from Florence (that sentence was rescinded in 2008) and residing in Ravenna when he...

Siena, Italy: Four young women singing

Siena, Italy: Four young women singing

Siena, Italy — An older couple listens to the beautiful harmonies of a quartet of young women singing for donations on the west entrance ramp into Piazza del Campo from Via dei Pellegrini....

Antichita Mazzoni antique store, Siena, Italy

Antichita Mazzoni antique store, Siena, Italy

Siena, Italy — Antichita Mazzoni SNC, an antique dealer at 8 Piazza San Giovanni, just off the back steps of Siena Cathedral, the marble of which is visible in the upper left corner. You can step inside the store on Google...

Fruit baskets, wine shop in Siena, Italy

Fruit baskets, wine shop in Siena, Italy

Siena, Italy — Baskets of fresh fruit displayed in front of the old food shop at Via di Città 158 (Antica Bottega Di Marchetti Massimo E Khalimova Galina): Fresh grapes, apples, peaches, plums, oranges, and melons in baskets...

Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy

Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy

Siena, Italy — The Torre del Mangia ("Tower of the Eater," left) and the Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) on the Piazza del Campo. Built between 1338 and 1348, the 289-foot tower was designed to be of equal height to Siena...

San Gimignano towers from agriturismo in Tuscany

San Gimignano towers from agriturismo in Tuscany

Gambassi Terme, Tuscany, Italy — The towers of San Gimignano, on the horizon at top left, seen looking south-southwest from the vineyards and olive groves of Agriturismo Renai e Monte, a working farm in the Chianti hills of...

Colle di Val d-Elsa: Via San Sebastiano

Colle di Val d-Elsa: Via San Sebastiano

Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy — Two people walk up Via San Sebastiano. which connects “Colle Bassa,” the lower, more modern portion of Colle di Val d'Elsa, with “Colle Alta,” the ancient town up on the hill. Colle di Val d'Elsa...

Colle di Val d’Elsa: Piazza Canonica

Colle di Val d’Elsa: Piazza Canonica

Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy — Outdoor cafe in Piazza Canonica, up on the hill in the older, "colle alta" part of Colle di Val d'Elsa, a town of 20,000 in Tuscany southeast of San Gimignano....

Agriturismo in Tuscany near San Gimignano, Italy

Agriturismo in Tuscany near San Gimignano, Italy

Gambassi Terme, Tuscany, Italy — The swimming pool and Monte houses at Agriturismo Renai e Monte, about 20 kilometers northwest of San Gimignano. Centered among vineyards and olive groves in the Tuscan hills of Val d’Elsa,...

Wedding chapel at Kemper Center, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Wedding chapel at Kemper Center, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Kenosha, Wisconsin — Wedding chapel interior at Kemper Center, the former Episcopal girls' school Kemper Hall, run by the Sisters of Saint Mary until 1975. The campus became a Kenosha County park in 1976 and Kemper Center,...

Ronald Reagan house side yard, Dixon, Illinois

Ronald Reagan house side yard, Dixon, Illinois

Dixon, Illinois — President Ronald Reagan spent hours during his boyhood playing football with his brother Neil and their friends in this yard on the north side of the Reagan family's 2-story, Queen Anne-style house at 816...

Reagan Way sign, Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home, Dixon

Reagan Way sign, Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home, Dixon

Dixon, Illinois — The brass historical marker sign at Reagan Memorial Park describing "Reagan Way." It reads: REAGAN WAY Hennepin Avenue was often walked by a young Ronald Reagan from home to downtown and back. The street...

Ronald Reagan statue, Boyhood Home, Dixon, Illinois

Ronald Reagan statue, Boyhood Home, Dixon, Illinois

Dixon, Illinois — The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home, at 816 S. Hennepin Avenue, adjoins this small park, centered around a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan holding corn kernels in his hand. The sculpture was a gift from Dwayne...

Ronald Reagan statue, Dixon, Illinois

Ronald Reagan statue, Dixon, Illinois

Dixon, Illinois — This statue of Ronald Reagan holding corn kernels in his hand stands at the center of the small park next to the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home at 816 S. Hennepin Avenue. Designed by Stan Efran of Inocast...

Ronald Reagan boyhood kitchen, Dixon, Illinois

Ronald Reagan boyhood kitchen, Dixon, Illinois

Dixon, Illinois — The kitchen of the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home at 816 S. Hennepin Ave., with kitchen cabinets, Detroit Jewel ("They bake better") gas stove and oven, tea kettle, and coffee pot. The Reagan family moved here...