Rome - The Vatican. If this is the first picture you're seeing, the other pictures of Rome are at the end. But anyway, the Vatican is one of the smallest nations on earth, located entirely within the city of Rome. It may be small,.but it is one of the largest customers of Swiss Banks, even after all the payouts to lawsuits. It is certainly imposing and home to St Peter's Cathedral and the residence of the Pope. 

The Paris Opera House. Yes, the Phantom lived in catacombs underneath, but he died in the story. It is a beautiful building. Wished I had got a chance to see inside. 

Paris - View of the River Seine near the Lourve. What more can I say? 

The Lourve Musuem in Paris and the new pyramid court finished in 1989. The Louvre buildings are a little older. 

Notre Dame Cathedral - very majestic and famed Paris landmark. They told me the hunchback died. I thought about applying for the job, but had to move on. 

Paris - a street painter. Near Notre Dame. On a bridge over the Seine. Does this conjur up enough visions of romance for you? 

The Eiffel Tower at night. This is THE Paris landmark since 1889, although there was a movement during WWII to tear it down and use the iron in the war movement. I wonder if that was before or after Germany invaded it. Anyway it still stands today. 

Now to Paris - (I just thought, that since you are probably looking at the last pictures first, this doesn't make any sense to you) Anyway this is a scene of the Seine River during a sunset cruise. Kind of romantic. 

A view of the Royal Gardens as seen from The Royal Palace. They are huge, but really nice. Impressive. I was going to make an inappropriate political comment, but since I like the French (can I say that, being American without getting in trouble at home?), I decided better of it. 

A Versailles city scene. I got 3 windows and some chimneys in this shot. 

Ok, back to Versailles. This is of a Cathedral in the city proper. 

Well back to Versailles in a bit, but on to Paris and the Arch de Triomphe, which was ordered built by Napoleon but only completed after his demise and exile. He would have liked it. 

On to France and Versailles. This young lady was catching a few quick winks at The Royal Palace. Maybe she had walked as much as I had.  

Mt. Titlis - view from the summit of this 10,000 foot mountain. Blue skies still prevailed, views were wonderful. We had to take a series of 3 cable cars to get to the top. 

View of the River Reuss and bridge (I also like bridges) early morning.  

Lucerne - sunrise from the battlements They have a lot of spires in Lucerne, which adds to the charm of this town of 600,000. 

Lucerne - a harbor shot at night. I like the mood of this pic. 

Kalli (see I used her English name) enjoying the peaceful sunset cruise on Lake Lucerne. 

A long bus ride and on to my favorite city of the trip - Lucerne (well, that's the American spelling, also known as Luzern). This is a picture at sunset from our lake cruise. 

Milan's Sforza Castle, built in 1450 as a military fortress, later converted to the Royal Residence, now a rememberence of grandor days 

Milan - painter at work. Nice mood piece, I think. 

Milan Galleria (the Arcades) is not your typical shopping mall, dating back to 1877.  

Kai Ling (her new English name is Kalli) and daughter Diana. Looks like they are enjoying themselves. 

Milan - a typical street scene (really). Milan has some great buildings, neat sidewalk cafes, and so much more that I didn't have time to see in our 3 short hours (including lunch) 

The Cathedral in Milan (The Duomo). St. Peter's may be the largest in the world, Notre Dame may be better known, but for my money this is the most beautiful - inside and out. 

Venice - Window. I don't always take doorways, I like windows as well. This was rather nice, I think. 

One of the workmen in Venice. I was going to say a gondelier but then I realized I am not sure how to spell it. 

The Rialto Bridge (Ponte Di Rialto) in Venice - the first permanent bridge built in Venice erected in the 1500's. Must have made it a little difficult to call on your neighbor across the street before. 

St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) - the center of Venice's social life (or at least this is what the guidebook said) 

Ah, the famous Venice Canals. Romantic. I understand Venice has a lot of fog, but all was clear when we were there. 

The Basilica of San Marco in Venice, originally built to house the body of St. Mark in 828. It is located in St. Mark's Square, or as the Italians cal it "Piazza San Marco).  

Prato, in Tuscany, was a quick stop, but I shot some shots around the neighborhood near the hotel. This is representative of its charm 

Trevi Fountain - which is favorite locale for movies (Roman Holiday for one, but then you probably don't remember Audry Hepburn as the Royal Princess, unless you like old old movies like I do) 

Rome - man and daughter waiting on church steps. Very photogenic 

Rome - street scene. If you ever make it through all my pictures on my site, you will notice I have a thing about doorways - maybe because I wonder what's on the other side? 

The Colesseum - almost 2,000 years old and showing its age. Didn't see any lions when I went inside. 

St. Peter's Cathederal - the largest in the world, built above St. Peter's tomb 

Our Trip

Tiring journey - Practice for around the world in 80 days (maybe 40). We arrived in Rome after an all-night flight from HK, jumped on a bus and visited The Vatican, glimpsed at the Colesseum, had lunch then another stop at Trevi Fountain, then back on the bus to the outskirts of Prato where we spent the night. Anyway, you get the idea by now that we spent a lot of time on the bus, briefly saw a few highlights and most of the HK tourists were satisfied to just get off the bus so they could take their picture in front of some landmark so they could show their friends where all they had been, then eat, shop or sleep their way through Europe, while the tour guide talked non-stop on the bus in Cantonese. Thank God I had Kai Ling's iPod to listen to to drown out the PA.

I did stretch the tour by getting up early, staying up late, eating a quick meal or skipping meals altogher and doing sightseeing on my own while others were shopping, etc.