Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

July 6, 2026July 6, 2026

Relaxing Arezzo

Arezzo is one of those small towns in The Central part of Italy which can give you a good rest from the famous big tourist cities. I highly recommend just taking a break and try Relaxing Arezzo.

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Fruit and vegetable shop relaxing Arezzo — Everywhere you go you see beautiful tomatoes if you go to the private stands. You also see giant garlic. You may not find as fresh fruit and vegetables in the large chain markets. Venture into the private Small vendors.

Post and telegraph office Bill Smale — Before the Internet there was a telegraph and so the post and telegraph in many countries became one of the largest government services and as a result the buildings were also massive. They still have some of these in Italy which I find pretty interesting

Old pharmacy Bill Smale — I just like this old pharmacy

Red currents Bill Smale — These are very popular, red currents. They are sour but kind of interesting

Darrell Street — The narrow streets going up and down hills are really fun to visit

Old Fiat panda — And here is an old Fiat panda

Cigar shop — I was tempted to go in but I’m cutting down on cigars and my tendency is for the smaller cigars like the Toscanello

Gelato — And of course I had to have peach or mango on top of coconut on top of chocolate

Interesting building — Just an interesting building

Screenshot

Big organ — That’s quite a dual set of pipes

Sugar Shop — This is an interesting name and theme for a restaurant

Not expensive — As you can see the prices are half of what you pay in a tourist city

Speedy coffee shop — Nice name for a coffee shop. I came here for some coffee. It’s a good local place where people meet to relax and talk

Coffee shop — This was also pretty good cappuccino with a pistachio croissant

Nesting pigeons — While I was having coffee the pigeons were flying right over my head, creating some small turbulence in my face and nesting above. So they would come down, search for twigs for their nest and then fly back up here to create the nest.

July 5, 2026July 5, 2026

When We think of Parma we need to focus on the fact that it is one of the most important cities and areas in the world. This area around the city brings us Parmesan cheese, prosciutto, Lambrusco wine (like champagne), tortellini soup, Balsamic vinegar, Baloney, Bolognese sauce (ミットソース) (Ragu sauce), Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. What other area of the world has brought us so much?

Amazing library Bill Smale — An amazing library we were not able to enter since they are working on it

Mannequin Bill Smale — You can see how many of the statues were not marble or even completely clay. Many of them were filled with wood and sticks to create a basic form and then with a plaster over them

These are the different types of Italian mayonnaise which I found interesting

Vegan mayonnaise — Heinz was there with a vegan mayonnaise

Taking a break — It’s important to take a break at the end of the day

Hat stand — It’s nice to have a place to put your hat

Pigeon house — The pigeons have a pretty big house

Renovating a building — This building is being renovated

Old style electric buses — It’s nice to see electric buses

So a spritz in Parma has balsamic vinegar. Maybe I should’ve tried that

Asti wine — This is a nice wine for the evening even after dinner

A lot of people sitting around the Palazzo

You can tell this is Parma. They’re selling Parmigiano Reggiano And salami along with their small food and coffee shop

July 3, 2026July 3, 2026

A Day in Marseille

a friend who lived and worked in this area for several years told me there are three things to see in Marseille and then you can leave. one is the basilica on the hill, the other one is the old port and having bouillabaisse soup and the other one is maybe less interesting but probably the beach area. For me the soup was something I had been looking forward to for more than 16 years. The first time I tried to get to Marseille from Barcelona the whole country, France, shut down due to a strike against the Social Security system, if I remember correctly. So there were no toll roads or trains or buses or control towers working. So I missed my chance. But I finally made it and I will say the soup was very delicious and very interesting.

Toast in the soup A Day in Marseille — The waiter was very exciting and excited. He showed me how to eat the soup. The first thing you do is spread the cheese on top, dipped the toast in the yellow sauce and then dip the toast with the sauce in the soup, eat the toast and then enjoy the soup

The Bill A Day in Marseille — This was the total for the lunch. It was well worth the adventure

Political commentary Bill Smale — Some political commentary, cover of a magazine, paste it on the wall

Used bookstore Bill Smale — Used Book market

Good coloring Bill Smale — I like the way they just colored everything. It’s very attractive

This is the famous Basilica on the hill, one of the things you need to visit

Curve to building — I like the way they curve the building to use the space available

People swimming — People were enjoying the swimming

Armistice memorial — Attribute to the armistice in 1918, World War I

John Kennedy memorial — a tribute to John Kennedy

Interesting Shop — This was an interesting shop which sold some very strange and interesting things

Graffiti — of course people need to put graffiti everywhere

Palais Longchamp — I thought this was a museum or exhibit but there was really nothing open, just the outside and then the back area which was being set up for a concert

June 30, 2026June 30, 2026

Park in Empoli

The reason I recommend you “Park in Empoli” is the location of this town. You can spend a day going around and seeing almost everything there is to see inside Empoli. but what I found to be something really attractive about this city is its location to some of the interesting places in this area. You could take a bus for about 45 minutes to the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, a town called Vinci. Within 40 minutes train ride you can be in Firenze (Florence). within an hour and a half train ride you can be in Siena, an amazingly interesting UNESCO heritage site. The other attraction of this city is the cost of living which is as much as 1/2 the cost of staying in Firenze. so you can spend three days staying in Empoli, spend the morning you arrive going around the city, the next day you go to Vinci. and two days after that you spend some time in Firenze. one night. if you do that it would be good to stay four nights in Empoli. if you don’t want to stay in Siena add another night or two. after all, what is a visit to Italy if you don’t get to see the birthplace of Leonardo, the beauty of Firenze and the medieval atmosphere of Siena?

Riding a lion Park in Empoli — During the daytime you never know who’s going to want to ride one of the lions

Firenze architecture Park in Empoli — So much like the architecture in Firenze

Jim Croce home Bill Smale — If your music habits were from the 1970s you will remember Jim Croce. I highly suspect his family came from this area generations ago

Jazz festival Bill Smale — And of course this small town has some very good entertainment

Salt warehouse Bill Smale — This is the local museum highlighting they well-known glass manufacturing industry of the town and it used to be a warehouse for salt

Dual container Bill Smale — So you have two contents possible in this container. Could it be for vinegar and oil?

Famous glass manufacturer Bill Smale — They were a famous glass manufacturer in this town

June 27, 2026June 27, 2026

Pisa Museums

Right around the famous tower there are a number of museums containing history of the importance of this city to the main city of Firenze. it’s good for you to take some time and to look around these museums and get a feeling of the history and the importance of this city and area to the economy of the northern part of Italy.

Sinopie museum Pisa Museums — Screenshot

Look at the concept Pisa Museums — You can make out the general concept and then look at the reproduction picture below

Huge frescoes Bill Smale — These frescoes are really huge

Incredible artwork Bill Smale — There is some incredible artwork to be discovered here

Part of the Camposanto — These frescoes were part of the Camposanto

Camposanto courtyard — a reproduction of one of the frescoes showing the courtyard in the Camposanto

Artistic license Bill Smale — Just like with books like the Bible what you see is an original here and then if you look down below at the reproduction you see they have taken off this fellow’s beard. This is artistic license which was so prevalent long ago as it is today

The whole complex — The shows the whole complex

Baptistry

Cathedral

Burial site — This is a huge building which is actually a burial site for famous people

God holding up the universe — What do you see here is God up above, behind the whole circle holding up the universe

Well preserved fresco — A well preserved fresco

Fibonacci — Any computer scientist knows this guy

Artifact museum

Incredible artwork in the hymnal — The artwork in this hymnal is incredible

June 27, 2026July 6, 2026

Scenic Siena

i know this town for some reason but I can’t yet remember why. I arrived thinking it was jist to be a stop over on the way south but it is a fascinating place. If you visit italy put this on your top 10 list. The city sits high on top a hill and so everywhere you go in the city you’re managing walking on a dome which is kind of interesting and maybe one reason why it was so easy to defend and to maintain its medieval history. Scenic Siena is a UNESCO world Heritage site so you must go see it.

Medieval characteristics Scenic Siena — This church has such medieval and simple characteristics

900 year history Scenic Siena — The history goes back more than 900 years

Saved frescoes Bill Smale — They have saved some of the frescoes from hundreds of years ago

Secluded café Bill Smale — There are so many places to sit and relax, enjoy the people walking by and find some secluded café with very few people walking

Poké bowl Bill Smale — Hawaiian imperialism raises its head

Medieval town Bill Smale — This is one of the few cities that maintains its medieval characteristics almost completely

Bandini statue — I don’t know who this guy is but you’re free to look him up

Beautiful paintings — Not only does this building in the Piazza have beautiful statues on the pillars but they also have these amazing and beautiful paintings on the ceilings outside

Beautiful Piazza — A sign indicated this is the main area for people to look around. It’s in a circle with the Palazzo on one side and buildings all around which now have restaurants on the ground floor with the same red terrace covers. What you probably noticed is this is a bowl. The area on the left slopes down to the right and below you will see where the rainwater is draining. This is a very interesting way to build a Piazza.

Palazzo entrance — You can pay to go inside the Palazzo

Center of the Palazzo — This is just the middle area you can walk in without a ticket

Repeating the legend — And of course you need to keep repeating Romulus and Remus were raised by a wolf and founded Rome

This is where all of the rainwater will follow the slope down and drain to go downhill

Nice view — I just like this view. It reminds me when I lived in the middle ages

Giant pizza — These are the biggest pizzas I have seen available for sale in a pizza restaurant. How many people do you think it would take to eat one of these?

Looking downhill — of course there are beautiful views all the way around looking downhill

Adjoining Hills churches — Even beautiful churches on the adjoining Hill

On a hill — You have to walk up to go down, or down to go up

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026

Walking around Pisa

I stayed near the train station so I got quite a bit of a distance away but had a lot of fun Walking around Pisa And seeing all the different sites you normally would not see if you were living close to the center. This is very much our living and working city, people enjoying their life and also many working in the tourist industry. So take your chance to walk around the city and see what people are doing.

The cathedral complex Walking around Pisa — We all talk about the tower but there is so much more since the tower was built as a compliment to the cathedral which sits in the middle of the complex

Baptistery Walking around Pisa — closest is the Baptist tree the next is a cathedral and then you can see the tower in the background

Working on the cathedral Bill Smale — The cathedral in front of the tower

Beautiful baptistery Bill Smale — Baptistery itself is quite a work of art

Local marble Bill Smale — I’m sure this is all sourced from local marble since you can see the marble Quarries in the mountains as you come into the city

Marble quarries — in the distance you see the marble quarries

The statue which represents the folkloric tradition of Romulus and Remus who were raised by a wolf. And you all know that Rome was named after Romulus

Have a drink Bill Smale — It’s a good time to sit and relax and to have a Campari spritz

Flowering trees — The trees along the pathway are flowering. I’m sure they were planted here to help with the heat

Station close to the tower — This is the station before the central station and The closest one to the tower complex

I was amazed to see the southbound train leaning to the left which I have seen at no other train station in Italy. Was this on purpose to support the atmosphere of the leaning tower?

Like In Firenze Horse drawn carriages are provided for the tourist to go around

Red Fiat — I was a little bit slow to get the phone out of my pocket and catch the photo of the old red Fiat which is now turning the corner. But I realized this is a good shot of people just hanging around and enjoy enjoying the city

Small utility vehicle — Here is one of the cute three Wheel utility vehicles, just the right size to get around the narrow streets

Outside artwork — But when you get Close Up you can see the artwork on the outside needs some renovation

Guy on a pillar — I don’t know how this guy got up there and I also don’t know how he’s going to get down.

Cosmo Medici statue — A statue dedicated to Cosmo Medici

Another photo — Here’s another one down a narrow street

Electric car — If it’s an electric car to be had this is the one I want

The graffiti underneath the train tracks which is extremely well organized and painted

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026

Lucca near Pisa

Lucca near Pisa is a short ride on the train and acute little town which I found amazingly was filled with Italian tourists. I think it’s worth a one day visit to walk around and see the different things available in the city. And it’s not as expensive as Pisa.

Red Vespa Lucca near Pisa — I haven’t decided yet what color Vespa I would buy but red is definitely an alluring color

Seasonal shows Lucca near Pisa — There are some seasonal things going on

One of the ports Bill Smale — This is one of the ports where you enter the city. Many of the walls are still standing

Surrounding wall Bill Smale — Much of the walls still surround the city

Old door Bill Smale — A very old port door

Old building — I’m surprised they haven’t refurbished this building

Unknown band — I don’t know who this band is

King of Italy — One of the unifying kings of Italy

Local cheese — These cheeses looked so enticing. Two of them in red were completely covered in red pepper. I was thinking about buying some but I already had some back in the room

Piazza San Giovanni there were more than three Piazza with used artifacts being sold by individuals. You could find all different kinds of interesting things here

And opticians instrument making guide — And of course this is one of the books everybody needs

Used items for sale — I think this city is known for its used artifact market because all of these markets were just packed with people and it’s the only city I have seen so far with so many used artifact areas

Out-of-the-way restaurant — This is the kind of little restaurant I would pick to have a meal. It’s not crowded, looks family owned and I bet the food is very good and not as expensive as the tourist restaurants

Piazza San Michele. One of the tourist cafés

Important person — Obviously a very important person

Amazing artwork — The artwork on this is really amazing

St. Davino — The Saint is buried right there in front of you

Another crypt — I didn’t see any identification of this particular crypt looking alter. But I suspect somebody is buried there

Statue — I approached around the corner from behind and I thought this was the statue of Michael Jackson. You can translate the explanation below if you’re interested

Getting rid of the mafia — getting rid of the mafia is good for business

Two family crests — Two family crestS Put together. The one on the left with the eagle probably has something to do with Germany or Austria which used the eagle

Marriage room — This room was decorated for the wedding of one of the sons. You see the two crests Together. The one on the left is the Paso family

Beautiful decorations — Incredibly going on for three rooms. Beautifully decorated

Bedroom — This is the bedroom for the couple

Beautiful tapestry — I found this to be very interesting and extremely well made tapestry

Beautiful ceiling — The ceiling was also beautifully decorated of course

Cute three wheel vehicle — These are interesting little carts which you see going around the narrow streets. They are perfectly shaped utility vehicles for the very narrow ancient streets of the cities

Window protection — This is typical protection on windows in the Palazzo In Italy. You can see down below there is also protection for the basement

Gold viper — This is also an interesting color for a Vespa. I might prefer gold over red

Hawaiians continue to imperialized the world with Poké bowl

Look at the list of entertainers that will be here, even Tom Jones who is still alive

Old aqueduct — The other side of the railroad tracks has the old Aquaduct

June 24, 2026July 5, 2026

Martigues and Port-De-Bouc

Martigues and Port-De-Bouc Are two villages are a short distance from Marseille by bus and I recommend staying in this area if you were trying to save money since the big cities can be fairly expensive.

Martigues

this little village has almost everything you need and it’s a very attractive Port town. It seems to get lively on the weekends. All of the tourists I heard talking were French so it seems to be a local place to hang out.

Into the ocean Martigues and Port-De-Bouc — This is where the river comes into the ocean

Real estate agent Martigues and Port-De-Bouc — This is a real estate agent and if you call this number and meet somebody I think you will find out why it is named after Vientiane

Old church Bill Smale — This is not that well maintained on the outside but it’s still standing and very nice inside

A helpful person Bill Smale — A dedication at the church to a young fellow who is very helpful for others

Walking area Bill Smale — Down the main walking area

Local celebration Bill Smale — There was a celebration going on with many local Vendors selling food from all over the world

Port-De-Bouc

this is where I stayed at the port. It’s a very quiet little town with almost nothing going on so I wouldn’t recommend it. But the nice thing about staying in these small towns is almost everywhere you go the food is really nice and good quality.

Appetizer — This was just the appetizer bread provided before the meal

Relaxing atmosphere — The atmosphere and the food was really great and very relaxing

Black Vespa — This Vespa is very well kept up. I’m not sure I would like a black one though

June 23, 2026July 5, 2026

Leonardo from Vinci

many people from long ago were named after the place they came from especially if they were nobility or their profession or what they look like. Leonardo was from Vinci. This is a cute little town you can get to buy Bus number 49 from Empoli Which is not far from Firenze. There were not that many tourists visiting when I was there so it was very quiet and not very crowded.