The castle at Civitella Ranieri

 



On the swing



Editing my first novel, Suckerpunch

 



View outside my window

 



This is Diego. He works at Civitella. We liked Diego very much. In fact, I'm going to change my name to Diego and Lisa's going to call her second novel The Diegos.

 



The castle chefs (Patrizia, Patrizia, and Romana). They played a great joke on Diego: When he wasn't looking, they took the jeans he just bought at the market and slipped two condoms filled with yogurt in the front pockets.

 



David
(composer, London)

 



Antjie
(poet, South Africa)

 



Penelope (documentary filmmaker) and Mauro (composer)
from Venice

 



Lyn
(amazing visual artist from Massachusetts)

 



Eve (composer, New York) and Despina (actor, Greece)

 



A glowworm visits Civitella

 



Scorpion above our apartment doorway that I had to fight off with a stick. A very long stick.

 



Gelateria near Civitella where many o' gelatos were consumed

 



Perugia

 



Field of sunflowers on the train ride back from Perugia

 

 

 



So we were lost in Florence and asked a young man to help us find our hotel. He called his girlfriend on his cell phone and she came running down the street, stuck her hand out, and said, "Hi. I'm Giovanna." Then she ran back to her apartment and seconds later she rolled up on her vespa. "Follow me!" She was so great and helplful that we made plans to meet her the following night.

 



How happy were we when we turned on the TV in our hotel room and saw this man? You have no idea. We were having some serious Daily Show withdrawals.

 



Piazza Signoria

 



Giambologna's "The Rape of the Sabines"

 



Duomo, which only took about 114 years to build

 

Standing before Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise"



Italy wins the World Cup

 



Flag waving and celebration on the streets
(until 4 in the morning)

 



Donatello's freaky sculpture of Mary Magdalene.
Imagine the girl from The Ring had grown up and cut her bangs.

 



But I like my bangs

 



View from the end of the Uffizi gallery looking towards piazza Signoria

 



Lisa and the Arno River

 



Lisa and Giovanna at Antico Caffè Del Moro,
the coolest bar in Florence.

 



Taranta music and dancing at piazza Santo Spirito

 



Would you believe there are a few people in Europe
who despise the leader of the free world?

 



Okay, maybe more than a few

 



Museum guards shouted "No photo!" every five minutes,
but I still managed to snap a couple when they weren't looking.

 



Tailgating: the national sport of Italy

 



One of the many narrow and winding roads in Umbria

 

Monk on cell in Perugia



On the left is The Door of the Dead, which was built during the Plague years and was used solely for removing the deceased from the premises. It was built a couple feet off the ground so visitors wouldn't confuse it with the main entrance. The height was also convenient for the hearse, which would pull up to the elevated door and take the body as it was slid out. Right next door is a lingerie shop with a rotating mannequin in thong underwear. Only in Italy.