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 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.

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026

Snowy Lithuania

Last year I was in Lithuania and I had a great time. The people are really fantastic, the train service is very good and the food is very nice. There’s not much more you could ask for. But the winters here are a little bit harsh so get your layers together and get ready for a snowy and cold winter in Snowy Lithuania.

Kaunas

This is one of the large cities you have to stop in. It’s a very walkable city so you have no problem getting around.

Mexican food Snowy Lithuania — At guacamole Mexican grill

Good Mexican food Snowy Lithuania — This Mexicanfood was actually pretty good considering it’s made in Europe. they even had Mexican chili sauce which I have not found in many European Mexican restaurants

Snowy streets Snowy Lithuania — You can see the streets are very snowy but people drive very slow slowly so it’s a very safe place to walk around in the winter time

Rocking horse statue Snowy Lithuania — it was interesting to see a rocking horse statue

Shiny jacket Snowy Lithuania — I had to do a double take. This looked like somebody put a garbage bag here but I see it was somebody in a shiny jacket.

jewish section of the great war museum

Jewish museum Bill Smale — In the Jewish quarter there is a memorial museum

Interesting art Bill Smale — Some interesting art

Japanese style art Bill Smale — This reminds me of HOKUSAI style art. I suspect they knew about his artwork

Moon shining — It’s a modern city but if you look closely the reason I took the photo was not only the buildings but above you can see the moon shining

Local trade fair — People were gathered around for the local trade fair

Interesting lighting — I just thought this was an interesting way of lighting up a building. It definitely is easy to find

Walking the streets — Even at 10 PM people are walking the streets after Christmas

This was the New Year’s celebration and people gathered together to chime in the new year

Tower — The tower at the museum and Palace area

Campari spritz Bill Smale — Just before bringing in the new year I had a Campari spritz

June 14, 2026June 14, 2026

Parisian dog sitting

every time I go to Paris I stay with a friend I used to work with in the scuba diving business in Thailand. This time he needed to be away for a while so I did some dog sitting with King and Dolly, my two dear doggie friends. but I have some other fun photos for you to look at.

King is quiet Parisian dog sitting — She’s beginning to look older. King is the miniature pinscher

Going for dinner Parisian dog sitting — of course we have to go out and have some nice food like meat and vegetables with cheese sauce on top

National archives Parisian dog sitting — Looking at the national archives building

Building a French history Bill Smale — French history is in here

Pistachio Magnum Bill Smale — This is a new flavor. I tried it and it’s pretty good

Pont neuf Bill Smale — Pont neuf In 1985 when I visited. It was covered in canvas by Cristo

Bringing sunshine Bill Smale — I wanted to bring sunshine so of course I bought gelato

Sweet apple crumble — A very fine dessert of a apple crumble with some cream sauce. It was just a little bit too sweet so I offered some too Bjorn

Jealous dogs — Dolly is jealous of King and King is jealous of Dolly. So it’s important to either switch Between them or to have one on each side. But they need their blankets also so always something to do

Cute photo — Here they are wondering what somebody is doing trying to take their photo

Military clothing shop — OK. So you can buy historical civil and military clothing

Flatbread — A nice tasting flatbread but not exactly my type. It had some jam which was pretty sweet

Pont neuf — Again the covering of PONT NEUF

Nice Chinese food — There’s a Chinese restaurant near the north station which is pretty good so I go there sometimes This time it was dark and fried rice. Here and in Italy they seem to call it “Cantonese rice”

Poké bowl — They changed my motto, “all my Buddha”!

De gaulle declaration — There’s a museum inside and this was the declaration by Donald Epstein gaulle Of free France

Large chapel — The large chapel inside the building

Pacific war commemoration — I think you can understand most of this. It’s too commemorate those who fought against the Japanese in the Pacific and especially in the French colonies,Indochina

Complex reconstruction — The center of the complex is under some reconstruction

This is Napoleon’s tomb. I want one like this just so people will ask, “what is this?”

Onion soup — And of course it’s important to have some onion soup

No smoking, smoking shop — Somebody tell me what’s going on here.

Good Caesar salad salad — This was a very nice and somewhat expensive Caesar salad. The chicken was excellently done

Gelato break — And of course we need a break for gelato I think this one was dark chocolate on top of lemon sherbet

I went here to see the Matisse exhibition

Inside the grand Palace — The inside is extremely beautiful iron and glass work

Look at the staircases and the archers over the door doorways

June 14, 2026June 14, 2026

Cute Bra

This town is very close to Alba. I say it’s cute because it has some interesting things to see and it’s fun to walk around for the day that’s why I called it “Cute Bra”.

Marines outfits Cute Bra — These are interesting outfits for the marines

Slow food movement — This is a movement started in Bra To try to bring healthy, organic and good quality food to everybody. If you’re interested you should look it up by clicking on this phrase, slow food.

Santa Maria Bill Smale — Chiesa Santa Maria. Look at the upper port where you see the windows…

Painted windows Bill Smale — These are not real windows. These are painted

Sundial Bill Smale — If you look closely you will see this sundial is telling you the time in certain places of the world

Community center Bill Smale — Community building

This is a old and decommissioned clock, sundial style

Defensive pulpit — If you look at the slats in the building it looks like these additions were made for defensive purposes around the corners. You could see just enough to aim your bow and arrow

June 13, 2026June 13, 2026

In my Borsalino

if you know about hats and fashion then you know Borsellino. mine is from their shop in the fashion mall in Milano. I never know where they started or much about the history. Yesterday I just decided to go from Asti to Alessandria on a short train ride to see what was there. I find every small town in Italy to have something interesting to experience or just look at. Walking down the street I saw a police station at the park by the train station that said “Borsalino“. There goes my curiosity. So I did a Google map search and I found there is a museum in this town so I went there. For €10 (senior discount) I could go see the history and all the different types of hats made by this company. The company name is taken from the fellow who started the making business in the 1800s. As you walk around the museum you see all the different styles you have seen in most kinds of cultural photos of different places of the world and also from the movies. It takes a minimum of six weeks to make one of their hats and it takes months to make one of their fine straw hats, Panama hat, sourced from Montecristi in Ecuador. I visited the museum in my Borsalino.

Originally in this town In my Borsalino — The original factory was here in this town but it has moved to a larger facility just outside.

Popehat Bill Smale — And of course because they are a prominent business in Italy they must find some way to serve the Vatican

Humphrey Bogart hat Bill Smale — The Humphrey Bogart standard hat from 1930

Wide brim Panama Bill Smale — This is the much wider brim Panama hat made in Ecuador

Fine weave Panama Bill Smale — This is the same style I have but the weave is finer

Iconic hat — You’ve probably seen this hat in a movie

Top hat — These are top hats but one of the very famous raw materials from their best sellers in the 1850s was the beaver hat, most likely sourced from raw materials from the US

Bowler hats — These iconic bowler hats were popular not only in England but also in the US

I didn’t check to see why these hats got their name

Fancy hat — you have definitely seen one or more of these styles in the movies

Fedora hat history — The interesting history of this style, the fedora started in a movie with Sarah Bernhardt from a character she played named Fedora. She wore this style hat and since it has become in the US a name for this general style hat including the Bogart and other similar styles.

Cowboy hat — The description in the museum indicates there were many styles worn in the west in the US but the styles above were used in early movies and therefore created the general “cowboy hat“ legend and style. in the ranching business it is called the “western hat”. City people call it the “cowboy hat”.

Bikers cap — I think these were designed for movies as sailor’s caps or what Borsalino says was also fashioned after the Greek fisherman‘s hat. but these also became known as the “bikers hat” in the US and typified by the Marlon Brando style in a streetcar named desire.

Motorcycle helmet — This is the iconic motorcycle helmet you see in many older Italian movies

Montessori — And now, if you are familiar with education styles, you know the rest of the story.

There is a beautiful park just outside the station area where you can get a cup of coffee or just sit and enjoy

June 11, 2026June 11, 2026

Drinking in Barolo

Growing up in the wine country in California up through my teenage years I learned about wine, drinking it since I was 10 (before 14 it was only on special occasions and half the glass was water). so whenever I go to another country I often pay attention to the wine. And people who know about Italy generally learned something about the wine before they arrive. Barolo is considered one of the best general wines made in Italy. So visiting this general area and seeing that name on the map, of course I had to visit. It is definitely worth a day trip and you will be able to go to various places to taste wine. I tried the one at the castle at the top which has automated wine tasting which is explained below.

Everything about wine Drinking in Barolo — The whole city is about wine

Closed restaurant Drinking in Barolo — I guess not peak tourist season so this place was closed

Grape vines everywhere Bill Smale — Everywhere you look in this area you will see grape vines

Bread and butter Bill Smale — The lunch was very elegant with homemade bread containing some fruit and a few nuts with very delicious breadsticks and a butter with something else mixed together.

SalmonPrimi Bill Smale — The primi Was salmon on some rice and tiny beans mixed with some potato sauce

Brown rice Bill Smale — secondi was A brown rice and a rich sauce

Nice restaurant Bill Smale — A very nice restaurant

Wine tasting castle — You can visit the castle to do some wine tasting

Winetasting — Of course the focus of the winetasting is Barolo

Favorite Barolo — This was the first one I tried and the one I liked the best

Wine dispensers — This is the automated wine tasting. They have four bottles in the case that you can taste. You get a card at the front desk which you pay for later after you taste the wine. You put the card in the little slot below the map and just above the wines. Below the slot and above the bottles you can see these small rectangular screens. Each screen has a series of three amounts you can choose from. On the screen you press and hold one of the three amounts you want to taste. Each amount has a price next to it. Make sure your glass is underneath the pipe below the rectangular screen since that’s where the wine comes out into your glass. It will stop dispensing wine when your amount has been reached. The amount you chose well then be added in the euro amount on the card you put in the slot. So you just go around to the different dispensers and taste whatever wine you want and in the end you pay for what you had dispensed into your glass. It’s a pretty interesting system

Second one — This was the second one I tried

Soil and rock from the area — The different areas have different levels of soil and rock. These differences are displayed for each area. This one here is for the area where Barolo Wine grapes are harvested.

Map of the grapes — The map above each type of wine shows where a certain kind of grape comes from

Looking down on the town — Looking down on the little town. The best part of the town actually is a little more compact and old

Dolcetto wine — I tried this wine in the restaurant for lunch. It was a very light fresh red wine with a sour taste which was kind of nice

Wines I tasted — The wines below are all the ones I tasted

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