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
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For years I have wanted to visit the medieval Marian shrine at Walsingham, which according to a few predates the Norman Conquest. The Anglican shrine was rebuilt on the edge of the village in the early 20th century. With its…
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At first I thought Norwich would be a convenient staging point for my journey to Walsingham, but upon arrival from London I was immediately enchanted with the town. The streets lined with medieval houses twist around the village center where…
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The Danube Delta is one of Europe’s largest wildlife refuges, a vast, confusing watery expanse of at least four navigable river channels, a number of lakes, a few small towns and villages. In the Black Sea, hovering near the entrance…
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Even though Romania is largely Orthodox Christian, it is a complicated religious landscape. In the heart of Saxon Transylvania clustered around Brasov and Sighisoara are large fortress churches (mostly Protestant), designed to offer shelter to entire villages during the periodic…
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The small village of Viscri is typical of countless small villages and cities across Romania: picturesque with an air of “almost unchanged.” Viscri is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site that benefits from its proximity to Bucharest. Many of the…
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At the top of the list of places I wanted to see in Romania were the painted monasteries of the Bukovina. These stone buildings are painted with images of saints, last judgments and biblical scenes both inside and outside. Most…
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Icons are everywhere in Romania, especially in the Orthodox and Uniate churches. Many are of what might be called a naïve, primitive style, but closer inspection reveals considerable sophistication. Unique to Romania are icons painted in reverse on glass (églomise),…
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Among my more vivid memories of Romania are the mountains. I hiked in the Carpathian Alps, and marveled at the Transylvanian countryside. My heart, however, was claimed by the beautiful rolling hills of the Bukovina, or Moldavia, in the northeast…
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We spent almost a week on our own at the beginning of the trip in Bucharest. The city, in spite of being a bit ragged and rough at the edges after years of Soviet domination, is a city of wonders…
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Our sibling trip just before the arrival of COVID was to Norway. My sisters and I, one niece and one brother-in-law met in Bergen where we spent a few days enjoying the city. We then boarded a Hurtigruten ship (a…