Vienna to Rome by way of Zagreb

Welcome! This website began in 2016 with a nine week journey from Vienna to Rome, hence the name of the website. The self-directed leisurely itinerary wandered through eight countries. Stops along the way included well known cities and many less well known but enchanting places such as Pécs, Zagreb, Lakes Bled and Bohinj, the Istrian peninsula, Mostar, Kotor, Bari, Ravenna. It was a travel dream come to life.

Over the years I added other trips to the website — Romania, Norway, England, several trips to Italy, Malta, Bolivia, as well as travels in the US and photos closer to home in Hartford. This year, however, troubles arose. Photos migrated aimlessly across the website: images from Bolivia appeared on pages dedicated to Romania, photos from Malta on a page on Lincoln Cathedral. The mess was too daunting to right. The best solution was to start over.

Travels are organized by year. Click on the year below my photo (below) or one of the categories below that and select a destination, or scroll down for posts arranged from most recent; click the date on the post to view images. In time I hope to restore some of the lost pages of the earlier website. Enjoy what is here and may these travels inspire travels for you.

Joseph Pace

  • A lovely late fall weekend in South Yarmouth. Thursday and Friday we had rains and high winds from a hurricane dying somewhere in the Atlantic. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days. We enjoyed walks on a nearby beach as well…

  • Most of today was spent at the shrine of Saint Anthony, a large Franciscan church erected in the 13th century. The church was large, with many chapels and a steady stream of pilgrims. Mass said hourly to full congregations. In…

  • Heavy rain was predicted so much of the day was spent inside in a museum and window shopping. The heavy rain — first rain of the trip — was little more than a light shower. The Prato Della Valle is…

  • The University claims to be the world’s oldest, founded in 1088. (Al Azhar in Egypt claims to be older, founded before 1000.). Little does it matter….the University of Bologna is old. We visited what was once the entire university campus,…

  • Scenes from the Padua Botanical Garden, a department of the University of Padua, one of Europe’s oldest. The garden was founded in 1545.

  • Vicenza is only 20 minutes from Padua by rail, but another world. While Vicenza is quiet and very polished, Padua is far more big city, busier and noisier. We spent a big part of the afternoon in the cathedral Baptistry,…

  • Across the road from Villa Rotonda is Villa ai Nani, owned by another branch of the Valmarana family. The Villa, built in 1670, is not as old as La Rotonda. It is set in more extensive formal gardens and in…

  • Certainly Palladio’s most famous country villa is La Rotonda. Each side of the villa is identical to the other three, and the interiors open off a rotunda that soars from the main floor. The walls are sumptuously painted. A long…

  • Santa Corona, a 13th century church, houses many treasures including Bellini’s Baptism of Christ and Veronese’s Adoration of the Magi. The early 13th century Dominican church was also seat of the Inquisition in Vicenza until the early 19th century. I…

  • Vicenza is a small city, although many blocks are lined with palaces. There are palaces everywhere, some designed by Palladio in the 1500s. Two of the better preserved are Palazzo Thiene and Palazzo Leoni Montanari,the second, also known as galleria…