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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In the southern part of the country are the extraordinary Uyuni Salt Flats and a vast wildlife sanctuary. We were lucky to visit when we did, as the flats were covered with a thin layer of water, creating in effect…
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Bolivia was a country of considerable natural beauty. An exception was the city of Potosí, the western hemisphere’s wealthiest city in the 16th and 17th centuries. The city’s wealth came from a conical shaped mountain riddled with tunnels for mining…
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Bolivia has two capitals: La Paz, the legislative center; and Sucre, the judicial capital. Sucre was (in terms of elevation) the lowest altitude of the trip (an oxygen-rich 9,000 feet). The colonial buildings of the city are well-maintained, most in…
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Bolivia’s first peoples pre-date the better known Incan civilization, which moved south through present-day Bolivia soon after the collapse around 1000 CE of the Tiwanaku culture. We visited the remarkable ruins at Tiwanaku (less than 10% has been excavated), and…
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At 14,000 feet La Paz is among the world’s loftiest capital cities. The city lines the walls of a deep canyon, almost 1,000 feet deep. The only level streets are on the floor of the canyon. Recently installed aerial gondolas…
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Long on my list of must-visit cities in Italy is Vicenza, home to Andrea Palladio, one of the Renaissance’s greatest architects. His genius lay in his understanding and respect of proportion. Vicenza is crammed with Palladio’s buildings including the grand…
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Ferrara was a great surprise. Once home to the Este family, the city today is more bustling working city than tourist mecca. The city is, however, rich in museums. At the center of everything is the moated Castello Estense, a…
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One of Italy’s more remarkable cities is Ravenna, last home of the Roman Empire in the West after the fall of Rome. Ravenna, especially in its churches, has an eastern church feel with its splendid mosaics, among the world’s best.…
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In 2016 I passed through Bologna for the first time and fell in love with this stylish city, its churches and museums and its superb food. The food is good everywhere in Italy, but Bologna is undoubtedly the best. This…
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Certainly one of the most vertical of English cathedral towns, Lincoln’s cathedral sits atop a very steep hill, so steep I took a taxi from the train station. The cathedral is among the best of the English gothic and I…