On Our Way To Milan and the Italian Lakes, June 7, 2025

It’s interesting, isn’t it.  Here we are on June 7th, 2025, sitting on British Airways flight 66 from Philadelphia to London, talking about our upcoming trip to Milan and the Italian Lakes.  We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and at last we are on our way;  Philadelphia to London, London to Milan.

Some of you, mostly friends, have been following my blog for a number of trips/years; and there are others, occasional blog viewers, who I don’t know but would like to meet.  All of you are, of course, welcome and the fact that you spend some time with me is greatly appreciated.  I am here, writing and photographing for me and for you, and especially for my family and friends.  I want to share with all of you our, JoAnn and my, travels and experiences. 

I often say that I work to travel and nothing could be truer than that.  We have been fortunate to travel and visit interesting places and to meet diverse people and experience different cultures.  Today, this trip just adds to our list.  We’ve been to Italy before (and we love this country) and we are looking for more and diverse experiences with new travel companions, now and in the future.  But, what excites me the most is the ability to look through the lens and share our experiences with you.

By now you know I love cathedrals and local churches.  More often than not the beauty is in the churches, especially in Europe.  Forgive me if I concentrate on the past but I can’t help visiting churches, big and small.  For centuries the church was the lifeblood of the community and is where history comes alive.  I especially like the stained glass windows which tell stories of life and the religious past.  So, expect a lot of visits to churches and pictures of stained glass on this trip.

But, there is more to Milan than Churches and stained glass.  Follow along as we visit the various parts of the city, from glitzy buildings to canals and cemeteries.  Milan has it all.

We are also visiting the lakes of northern Italy.  I expect absolute beauty on lake Maggiore and on lake Como. Bellagio is more than its namesake casino in Las Vegas. Wait and watch for photos from the Lakes.  Watch for photos of the Last Supper, a fresco painting in a nunnery’s dining room (hopefully we will be able to take photos there) when we travel back to Milan on our Smithsonian Journey.

I don’t know how many blogs I have left.  I hope you enjoy the entires to come. I expect nothing but the best as we are traveling to Milan and the Italian Lakes and I will do my best to capture life and landscapes for your enjoyment.  Please, let me know if I have lived up to your expectations and to my goals.  I would like to be remembered as a person who captured life and art as I saw it. 

I often wonder what you think of my efforts and when I will write my last post.  I also wonder why I started in the first place and what it all means to me.  Is it hubris, thinking that my photos, certainly not my dialogue, are good and interesting, demonstrating life as it is lived or is it something else.  It’s my goal; capturing life in the towns we visit and the people we meet, capturing everyday life and photographing interesting sites.  I do it for me and for you.

Some day my blog will cease to grow; I will have posted my last trip.  I hope that my blog will last on and that our travels will, hopefully, entertain you and others for years to come.  In the meantime, I expect to continue traveling and enjoying life; traveling with JoAnn, my wife of 57 years as we celebrate our 58th anniversary on this trip.