Folksy Travel by Bill Smale • Click on "Menu" below to search Country or City or to see Country Guide. Tip your phone sideways and you will see all aspects of the site.

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

And in a very busy area you have a Garibaldi statue

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, 2026June 24, 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, 2026June 23, 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.

Horse statue Leonardo from Vinci — A replica of the famous horse

Explanation of the horse statue Leonardo from Vinci — Explanation of the horse statue

Map of the attractions Bill Smale — At the welcome center you will receive this map of the different places and prices for the places you can visit. If you want to visit his “birthplace” you need to either go by car or walk 2 km.

Senior citizen ticket Bill Smale — Of course I got a discount ticket

Beautiful view Bill Smale — A beautiful view from the church of Vineyards and Olive GroveS

The town church Bill Smale — The church in town was built and redone several times and you can read the story when you get there

Leonardo baptized font — This baptismal font is celebrated as the one used to baptize Leonardo

Churchview — Another view from the church

As I start walking up the path to the house

Olive groves — Mostly Olive Groves Beginning at the town and going up the hill towards the house

All along the path almost the only trees where Olive trees

Difficult walk — I expected there would be a well maintained path up to the house. It was 37°C outside, walking uphill and almost half of the path is actually a rocky river bed. It was not the easy walk for 2 km I expected

Old house — There was nothing along the path except this will used House or farm or whatever

Thistles — Beautiful thistles on the path

Some orange red puppies along the second half of the walk

The birthplace — Finally I reached the birthplace

Living area — There is a video in this room explaining the life of Leonardo

Records — The records do not indicate this is the birthplace of Leonardo. They do indicate that after Leonardo was born his father became the owner of this house

Nice view — I think you are looking down on Empoli Here

The house — The two houses which were joined to become one house

The path back — Finally getting back into Vinci

Beautiful clouds — Olive Trees. But I took this photo because I love the clouds

June 21, 2026June 21, 2026

Asti Part 2

So far I’ve been to more than 10 small towns in Italy and I have always found interesting things to see and to do, enjoy great food and drink and fun people. It’s good to visit the tourist sites and to see the famous attractions and places and museums. However, remember that it’s the small towns where you find people who are willing to spend time with you and to talk about this and that and the other. This is the second part of the visit to Asti Which is not a small village. It is a significant traditional seat of power in the northern part of Italy so it has some relief interesting things to see and a lot of history to learn. I highly recommend visiting. Enjoy Asti Part 2.

Santuario de san Giuseppe

Amazing artwork Asti Part 2 — The artwork in this church is really amazing

Alternating stone colors Asti Part 2 — What sticks out in this church are the arches used above the first floor and the alternating colors of stone

Bell Towers Asti Part 2 — these Bell towers are good for calling people together but also good for Lookout points

Asti Cathedral Bill Smale — Asti Cathedral

Painted pillars Bill Smale — Instead of doing a lot of intricate carving on the pillars that they painted them to look like they were carved

Limestone erosion Bill Smale — You can see how the limestone has eroded faster than the brick

Clock — This clock was operational but there was no sunshine on it

Campari spritz Bill Smale — It’s important to take a break and Campari Spritz hits the spot

Penguin in town — I see the penguin is in town

Food bizarre — This is the enclosed market. If I was staying in an apartment I would definitely be here buying food. It all looks so delicious

Horse meat sausage — Yes, you have guessed it, horse meat sausage

Wine tasting nook — This is a small little nook where wine tasting is available when someone is there

inside the covered market just North and across the street from the large parking lot, not too far from the station, is A small wine shop where you can taste all different kinds of wine hosted by a wine maker. At Enoteca AlzaCalici you get information about the different wines of the area and you can do some tasting and get more information about the wines and winemaking then you could ever hold in your head. It’s a very interesting experience and very worth the small investment to do the wine tasting there. He also served Antipasti Which had fresh mortadella made the day before. I highly recommend going here to do some wine tasting. And there is a muscot Wine which is very unusual. When you first get it in your mouth you feel a slight sweetness but then as it goes down it’s a slightly dry wine. You very seldom fine wines that change the taste from the mouth to when it starts to go down. It’s a very delicious wine and something you need to try there. And the wines are not expensive.

This is a very light red wine good for even light flavors like fish

Ruchè — A very interesting flavor, feels dry and strong wind you have it in your mouth but then it goes down without much dryness. It’s good to drink this wine when it’s young because it changes to a less pleasant flavor overtime

The assortment of the antipasti of the region

Torre Troyana — 186 steps to the top. In order to get in you go to the museum and buy a €10 ticket, eight euro for us old people, and except for the museum you use the QR code reader at each of these other sites to enter the gate. But with this one it took me a few Seconds to find the button to open the gate to get back out again.

You can see it’s quite a ways up but the steps are very good and easy to walk on

View from the top — The view from the top of the tower

Fruit stand — as you walk around you see some fruit and vegetable stands. I usually buy some fruit because it is so ripe and delicious

Smokestack — At the Cathedral I just found these smokestacks to be incredibly beautifully decorated

The Romans left some interesting architecture

Intricate designs in the pillars — Look at the intricate designs cart in the pillars

June 20, 2026June 20, 2026

Torre di Pisa

better known as the “leaning tower of Pisa“, when I was a kid we used to know The Torre di Pisa as “the leaning tower of pizza pie“. It is still leaning and it is leaning more than I ever imagined. It’s a very interesting place to visit and in my last 16 years coming to Italy many times I avoided it because I knew it would be a tourist nightmare. But this season it seems the amount of tourists is down quite a bit and I was urged by a friend to make the trip so, why not? One thing you should know is there are marble quarries nearby so it was easy to source marble for these structures. This is actually a whole complex with a cathedral, a supporting building and a graveyard for famous people which is the most extravagant graveyard I have ever seen. Here you will see just the photos related to the tower but you can see the other posts in succession or by doing a search by city name, pulling down the menu and selecting the search option.

The ticket Torre di Pisa — This is the ticket to see everything including going up to the top of the tower which is something you should do. I went in the afternoon but it is open very late until 10:30 PM. It was not crowded but the next day I noticed that the noon time reserved people were making quite a bit longer line

The complex Bill Smale — Proof I was there

Beautiful architecture Bill Smale — The architecture is really beautiful

Leaning pillar Bill Smale — I noticed this pillar was somewhat separated from its base in contrast with the other pillars. I don’t know if that’s because of the tower leaning away from this pillar

Marble stairs — The marble floors have been walked on by millions of people so they can be a little bit slippery. You need to be careful when walking up the stairs

Halfway up the tower — I’ll at the top you get some beautiful views

Cathedral renovations — You can see they are working on the cathedral

Brown administrative building — The Brown buildings are administrative offices and a place to keep your luggage which you need to do if you are coming up the tower. Anyway it’s better not even to have a backpack or bag with you because the steps can be a little bit challenging. You need both hands for safety.

Ticketoffice and museum — This is looking down on the museum and in the shady area you can see where the restaurants start. You will go down a gauntlet of people calling you into their restaurants which I find very irritating so I always walk around a city and look for a quiet restaurant out of the way where you see only Italian people eating. My experience with that has been very good

Restaurant road — Here you can see the restaurant road very clearly

You can tell it is leaning — I was trying to get as level as I could to show you that the tower is really leaning and interesting to walk around because you wind up going uphill and downhill into the left to the right

Narrow steps — I should add that the upper part of the staircase is extremely narrow so it’s best to go when it’s not crowded because it’s a little bit difficult to get the last third of the way up to the top

Keep it from falling down — I did my part to keep it from falling down

In one of the museums you can see how the base is definitely at an angle inside the circle

June 19, 2026June 19, 2026

Asti part 1

this is really an amazing city on many levels and worth visiting. You will encounter of course churches and Palazzo, Piazza and many good restaurants. Since this is a small town I think you will find the food is good everywhere and everybody is very friendly and welcoming. It is not one of the expensive tourist cities to enjoy. This is only Asti part 1 So after looking at this go onto part 2.

Appetizer Asti part 1 — This was the appetizer before the pizza

Le Due Scimmie Asti part 1 — Try this pizza restaurant. I think you will like it

Good rating Bill Smale — The restaurant has a very good rating

Interesting tower Bill Smale — This is a very interesting tower which you will see more of in part 2. but understand there are 186 steps to the top

Beautiful window Bill Smale — Beautiful window artwork

Alfieri Museum

Nice hat style — I really like the hat style here

Strange clothes — I’m not quite sure who would ever wear this

Very blue dress — This is definitely blue

Dragon tamer dress — This is for a dragon tamer

Gold suit — Do you know somebody who would wear this?

Funny clothes — This is for the person who loves fun

These miniature wood and natural material items were so detailed and intricate.

Interesting painting — I found this painting very interesting

June 17, 2026June 17, 2026

London and Hereford

If you don’t have much time and you have to choose between London and Hereford, Of course you’re probably going to choose London since it has so much more in it’s a big city atmosphere to experience. I rented a car to drive around and so I left it in Reading since driving in London would’ve been a nightmare especially with trying to find and pay for parking.

The canals London and Hereford — At Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Tower Bridge London and Hereford — Of course you need a photo of The tower Bridge

German armor Bill Smale — I picked this out as German armor maybe because every time I have seen black armor it was from Germany

Horse armor Bill Smale — Of course you need to protect your horse

My cousin Bill Smale — My cousin on the left and her friend on the right

Royal coat of arms Bill Smale — Of course you need to display the royal coat of arms

Tower of London entrance — The entrance to the tower of London

A photo of Babs — Here is Babs looking at me take a photo of her

Shiny shoes — The guards shoes were nice and shiny and the soles were not worn down

Some more photos for fun. Babs is taking a photo of me taking a photo of her

everybody has their preferred taste in food which I freely admit. My cousin and her friend wanted to try the Sunday roast Since it is a famous thing to eat in England and it was Sunday. About 1/3 of it was left to be returned to the kitchen. I was thinking of ordering something else since I don’t find any flavor in a Sunday roast But I thought I would go along with the program since it’s once in a lifetime we will all be there together. When I was a kid I freely admit that US food was really not that flavorful except that we lived in California so we had a lot of good choices including Mexican food. My cousin‘s mother was a very good cook and so she was able to have all different kinds of interesting flavors. But the Sunday roast is an experience in England food.

I wanted to go see this musical but I didn’t want to stay in the city

Hereford

I just stopped by Hereford since it was on the way to London where I went to meet up with my cousin who came on her worldwide jet set and cruise set itineraries to stop by and try the Sunday roast.

Large toe box — I bought a new pair of shoes, made in the US with a large “toolbox“ which would not smash my toes

Pink monkey — No that’s an interesting name for a shop

I love the old signs and the old shops. You see there is an ironmonger as well

Cathedral pipe Oregon — This cathedral has this really interesting and ancient pipe organ. You can see the mechanics below

These are the mechanics for the air pressure going into the pipes

Friendly face lawyers — It’s nice to know the lawyers have a friendly face

Green Dragon Hotel — The green dragon Hotel

Housing development — I just stopped by a housing development to see a model home and get some idea of how the houses are equipped. What I see here is not what I would ever want to use, a really tiny sink on the left for what?

Most modern houses and apartments now use induction stoves which I don’t really like because most of them tend to deliver the heat on and off and I find it a little bit difficult to cook with them

Conservatory — This extension with glass is called a “conservatory“ in England. This was an option you could have ordered but not through the builder since it was not part of the option list. It seems like a good idea for a country that has such little sunshine

June 17, 2026June 17, 2026

Carmagnola to Alba

Actually for the trip from Carmagnola to Alba I went from Asti To Alba and I had some extra time and wanted to stop and see Carmagnola So I just got off the train and walked around with my suitcase on wheels and actually had a very interesting stop over

Carmagnola

walking from the train station down through the busy area of this small town I passed by a fresh food market and then a dry goods open market and then wound up in a cute little park area where I sat down and checked places to eat. I found some comments on this new restaurant with good food and good attitude so I decided to stop by. It turns out this restaurant employees mentally disabled young people to help out and try to get them to learn how to get around in society by working. I stayed in a hotel once with the same kind of social model and it was extremely pleasant as this restaurant was. And the food was excellent. So if you have a chance to stop by this little town make sure you go to this restaurant. Everyone was so interested in trying to speak a little English which they really don’t but it was a good experience and a lot of fun.

Ripe melon Carmagnola to Alba — The melon was very ripe and sweet

Crushed tomatoes Carmagnola to Alba — If you were outside of the tourist areas you will find the food to be always extremely good and fresh. For example these tomatoes were crushed tomatoes not from some canned sauce.

Caprese Carmagnola to Alba — Caprese with totally fresh vegetables

Nice church Bill Smale — The church was not open but I like the front façade

Nice gelato Bill Smale — Very good gelato and not tourist prices, only three euro which is common in every non-tourist town

Food bag Bill Smale — In the green bag is everything I need to eat and have coffee in the morning. It’s almost as heavy as what’s in the suitcase which shows you my priorities. Actually, managing your own food saves a tremendous amount of money

Fresh food market — The fresh food market

Cheese — There were at least six cheese stalls

Beautiful vegetables — Look at these beautiful vegetables

Drygoods market — The dry goods open market which closed at about 2 PM

Alba

Wine sausage — The one thing about being in this area is wine. Even the salami has some wine in it, this one with the famous Barolo Wine

Ancient church — Below this grid you can see the ancient church from over 1400 years ago

Main plaza — This is the main plaza with very interesting artwork

Parking — You can see how people are parking here, a little bit on the sidewalk

Nice campari spritz — Not only do you get a nice Campari Spritz but also some little side dishes which is not often true in the big tourist cities

Political commentary — You see political commentary graffiti in many places

End of the war — The horrible things which happened towards the end of the war

Some of the old Roman Temple has been uncovered for public viewing

Alba truffles — Alba is very much a truffle area but they are seasonal so you have to be aware of the right time to eat them

Roy Rogers store — I didn’t know that Roy Rogers (different spelling)) had a clothing store

Bar sausage — Special Bar (nearby town) sausage and Azuki beans with vinegar and oil

More side dishes — Another day with different side dishes

Villages on the hills — On the train there are some interesting little towns on the hills. You can imagine they are in a very good position for defense which I’m sure is a major reason they are on the hill

June 16, 2026June 16, 2026

Bordeaux to Bayonne

Everybody knows about BOURDEAUX and wine so I don’t really need to say much about that. But the city of Bayonne is something very different. It is a little bit touristy but it is a small city and very interesting to walk around. You should spend at least a day there. it is in the Basque area so the people are very different from the French and the language seemingly has no relationship to any other language in the world. So when you visit see if you can tell the difference between the atmosphere around the Basque people and the French.

But getting back to BOURDEAUX they have a very nice and beautiful wine museum where you can also do the experience where you learn about wine tasting and flavors and so forth. Coming from the Bay Area as a kid we did this so many times it’s something you should think about doing if you have done this before. I didn’t want to do it but they’re also are some specific things about the area and the taste of the wines in that specific area you might want to consider.

Try the wine Bordeaux to Bayonne — of course you have to try the wine wherever you go in France

Wine center Bordeaux to Bayonne — This is the new wine museum and experience center

French parking Bordeaux to Bayonne — Actually I have found the French to be experts at parking

Cathedral Bill Smale — Paroisse St. Louis

Tapas Bill Smale — if I were you I would just wait to cross the border to Spain to have tapas

Saint Andre Cathedral Bill Smale — St. Andre Cathedral

The story Bill Smale — if you have seen the movie “lion in winter“ with Catherine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole you will understand the story

Bad pizza Bill Smale — I had the pizza with melted cheese on top but it tasted mostly like mush. This is one of the worst tasting pizzas I have ever had. I picked the wrong restaurant

Visit Jerome Bill Smale — This is a small wine tasting and sales shop with excellent service, a very interesting guy, Jerome, and the food was extremely nice. Of course he is a sommelier. you should talk to Jerome also when you’re there but stand to the side of him. He tends to spit quite a bit, French and Basque habit which is very stereotype. I’m sort of kidding but he is just an interesting fellow and he has a lot of information and he will go out of his way to give you good service.

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