WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Old

Yes, I’m getting a late start on last week’s challenge, but better late than never! This past week’s WordPress Photo Challenge theme was Old, and having just returned from Italy, I had plenty of “old” to choose from, but I wanted to shoot for the less obvious, so how about this: Old Graffiti!

Graffiti dates back to the 19th century in Raphael's Rooms in the Vatican

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Street Food Italiana

Roasted chestnuts in Romes Piazza Navona

I love food. Clear enough? And as far as I’m concerned, one of the major reasons to travel is to see what they’re eating “over there.” And in Italy, it doesn’t take a lot of rummaging to come up with tasty options. Indoors, outdoors, wherever you look, there’s always something worth munching on. And while I have to say that we did eat well–though maybe not often enough to suit me (the Mister’s Boot Camp School of Travel does not include many daylight hours for mundane things like eating, although in all fairness, night-time is a whole different story, not to mention an entirely different post!).

Confessions of a Closet Accordion Lover

**This post was “Freshly Pressed” on March 30, 2011

I have just come to realize that I have a thing about accordions. Weird, you say? Cheesy, maybe? Uncool, you think? Sorry, conclude away, but I am here to confess. Truth be told, it took me a long time to realize it, but I have been enamored of the instrument since Carmella Cartino brought hers to show and tell in 4^th grade. My parents didn’t take it very seriously that evening when I told them about it. We were neither Italian nor Polish—the two ethnic groups most associated with accordions in our neck of the woods.

Japanese Accordionist in Rome (I promise as soon as I find his card, I will include his name!)

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow of Venice

Venice, if ever a city conveyed a sense of shadows, this is it. A labyrinthine city of narrow passages that come to an unannounced halt at the water’s edge, where the sun only shines fully at noon, a city that revels in its own shadows.

Cachando Chile does Italy: Rome by the Book

Classic Rome: Accordion player in Trastevere

Amazing. If I had to describe Italy in one word, Amazing would be pretty high on my list of adjectives. So would intense, beautiful, hunger-producing (see that great trick? one little hyphen lets me sneak an extra word in there!). All of this is a round-about way of getting to my point, which is… it’s not easy to figure out where to start sharing the experience. So how about the by the book version?

Cachando Chile Does Italy Part 1: Flying the Funky Skies of Aerolíneas Argentinas

Starting at the End

Cachando Chile gets into the Carnevale spirit in Venice

Every new journey ends with its share of tales to tell, and the Cachando Chile Duo (that would be me and the Mister) have plenty to say about our recent trip to Italy. I had hoped to offer up regular doses of insights, tips, and tidbits from the road that recently took us through Rome, Florence, and Venice, but alas… the Chileno half of this expedition does not believe in leaving any sight unseen or step untaken. Forget about piazza-side espresso sipping and people watching; in fact, I think his feet keep moving even in his sleep. Remember, he’s of the “but we might die tomorrow” school of thought.