The frugal travels of a vagabond

The Trepponti Bridge is Comacchio's most famous landmark; it's a bridge complex where 5 canals come together and was built in 1638; I was surprised at how many people were riding bikes since all of the bridges are made with brick steps

The 17th century Wheat Loggia was built to house the public granary on the first floor and meeting rooms for conducting business on the second floor; sitting on the main square, the loggia still attracts men who sit and drink coffee while socializing

The town, with 21000 residents (seemed like much less), could easily be seen in an hour; it lacks the monumental buildings of Venice and the charm of Burano and suffers from being in a relatively isolated location

This fish processing facility is now a museum focused on the town's former dominant industry, eel-processing; for centuries the way Comaccho workers processed, preserved and marinated eel was unaltered

The Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aula Regia was constructed in the 17th century; since the town is surrounded by water, most of the churches are dedicated to the Virgin Mary since it was thought that she would protect them from any dangers from the water

The Chiesa del Carmine is the oldest church in town, built at the beginning of the 17th century; most of the current bridges date from the 18th century; it's tough to tell in the photo but the bell tower is leaning due to subsidence

Inside the Church of the Rosary was this statue from the 1600s of the Madonna of the Rosary; there were no Baroque churches in Comacchio with most predating that period and/or stripped of any original embellishments

This clock tower is an 1825 construction to replace the original 14th century clock tower than fell in 1814; there are many popular beaches just east of Comacchio so most visitors are day-trippers who travel by car

This impressive building was actually the Hospital for the Sick, completed in 1784; the logistics of getting to Comacchio seemed unnecessarily complicated; people at the train office said to take a bus while bus drivers said to take a train and then make one change and take a bus the rest of the way

Comacchio was founded 2000 years ago and is called 'Little Venice' because it is also built on islets connected by bridges and has retained most of its architecture over time; I was not as impressed since there were just not any impressive sights

The Cathedral of San Cassiano dates from 1740 and anchors the town's main square, Piazza XX Settiembre; the town, 30 miles east of Ferrara, is built on 13 islets connected by brick bridges

Palazzo Bellini, built in the mid 1800s, is one of the few palazzos in town and is now the public library; I can see Comacchio being among the towns where you can buy a house for $1 if you commit to repairs since there were plenty of empty properties

This seemed like a very lazy way to fish since you go out to your shack, throw the net in the water and bring it back in; the water was quite murky but I did see some crabs in it but no eels; the beaches on the Adriatic are only 4 miles east

The Porticato dei Capuccini was built in 1647 and contains 143 arches; it links the town to the Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aula Regia; Comacchio is part of the Ferrara UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Stadtturm, built before 1444, is a landmark former watchtower on the city's main square; Innsbruck has a population of 135,000 and is the fifth most-populous city in Austria

Colorful houses lining the Inn River; the Inn begins on Piz Bernina, near St. Moritz, and travels 322 miles before joining the Danube; like St. Moritz, Innsbruck has hosted the Winter Olympics twice (1964 and 1976)

The Bergisel ski jump was designed by Zaha Hadid in 2002; watching the jumpers practice was very impressive and I wondered how anyone ever begins in this sport since I've never seen a jumper's equivalent to a bunny slope

The most iconic landmark in Innsbruck is the Golden Roof; built in 1500 to commemorate Emperor Maximilian I’s marriage (his third), this late-Gothic balcony is covered by 2756 fire-gilded copper tiles

St. Jakob Cathedral, completed in 1724, dominates the old town skyline; the University of Innsbruck has roughly 30,000 students and in combination with the many skiers, hikers, and bikers the city definitely has a younger age than most European cities

The Alpenzoo is one of the highest elevation zoos in Europe and focuses on protecting native species; this Alpine ibex was the most impressive animal I saw since most were inside avoiding the 90+ degree heat

You can take a combination of funiculars, gondolas and cable cars from old town Innsbruck to the Hafelekar summit at 7444 feet above sea level; the view was nice but there isn't much to do at the top in the summer except take photos

Ambras Castle, built in the 16th century, is considered one of the oldest museums in the world; the wealthy in Renaissance Europe collected unique items from around the world and displayed these in Cabinets of Curiosities with the one here outstanding

The Hofburg Palace was once the winter home of the ruling Habsburgs; the palace had an inexplicable policy of not allowing photographs; it seemed much of the city was torn up as their timeframe for construction and repairs is limited by the weather

This Triumphal Arch, built in 1765, marks the wedding of Archduke Leopold to a Spanish princess; his father who was Holy Roman Emperor died just days after the wedding so he's memorialized on one side while the wedded couple is honored on the other

The Stubai Valley Tram has been running since 1900 and goes from the Innsbruck train station up into the scenic hills on an hour-long journey; the city had a few nice sights but the prettiest views were of the neighboring idyllic villages

The Otto Castle was built in 1494 to fortify the city in case of invasion; like many historic buildings, the castle has been repurposed and is now a restaurant

In addition to designing the Bergisel ski jump, Zaha Hadid also designed the different funicular and gondola stations on Nordkette Mountain and the architecture was more fascinating to me then the actual journey itself

The Liberation Monument is dedicated to those Austrians who fought against the Nazis from 1938 to 1945; I flew from Charlotte into Munich which is just two hours by train from Innsbruck

Helbling House was originally constructed in the 15th century with the current building dating from 1732; the Rococo landmark on the main square now houses private apartments with retail shops on the ground level

I gained an entirely different appreciation of what ski jumpers experience when viewing them from atop the platform; I never saw a jumper bobble or crash but having a large cemetery just beyond the landing zone might be a bit unnerving

Porta VIttoria (1562) was one of only two entry points to the city and was controlled by drawbridge; this entrance faced Lombardy which at the time was controlled by the Spanish; Sabbioneta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with nearby Mantova

Sabbioneta was built by Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna between 1554 and 1591 as a fortress city modeled after the great classical cities; when Gonzaga died the small city lost importance so most of it has been preserved intact

This monument of Minerva is the symbol of the town and was placed atop the column in 1584; the white marble statue itself dates from the second century AD; Sabbioneta only has about 4000 residents and that seemed to be an optimistic estimate to me

The Ducal Palace was the first major building (1559) commissioned by Vespasiano Gonzaga in his attempt at creating the ideal city; admission to most sights was included with the purchase of the Mantova/Sabbioneta card which also covered transportation

When completed, Sabbioneta presented one of the most sophisticated models of military fortification in Europe, the result of extensive field experimentation by Vespasiano Gonzaga as an army engineer in the service of Spain

Palazzo del Cavalleggero; the toughest part of visiting was getting there; the town has no train or bus station since it's tiny; there was bus service (it stops at the main square) twice a day from Mantova and I was the only person on the bus each way

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta was the prettiest in town; completed in 1592, documents show that it had 2000 members and still had 1500+ members as recently as 1810 with the diocese being dissolved in 1975

Gonzaga created Sabbioneta as, not only his ideal city, but his dynastic legacy; he had the entire town built during his lifetime according to the canons of the Italian Renaissance; the town is in the middle of the Po Valley between Parma and Mantova

The Church of the Crowned Blessed Virgin, completed in 1588, contains the mausoleum of Vespasiano Gonzaga; this area is largely cornfields now but was of strategic importance in the 1500s between the Duchys of Milan (west),Mantova (east) and Parma (south)

The Imperial Gate faced the Duchy of Mantova and, like the Vittoria Gate, was controlled by drawbridges; the interiors of both gates consist of barrel and cross vaults

An excellent example of Italian Mannerism, the Teatro all'Antica was built in 1590 and represents the prototype for the modern theater; the theater was designed as a venue for the duke and his court to entertain visitors to Sabbioneta

In the Ducal Palace's Hall of Emperors is a recreation of the dress worn by Eleanora da Toledo in the famous painting by Agnolo Bronzino; the dress is one of the most complex designs fron the Italian Renaissance with this design taking 6+ years to make

Impressive dome of Church of the Crowned Blessed Virgin; as Americans, it's hard to follow the lineage and hierarchy of European royalty since it's not something encountered in American history

The third longest gallery in Italy (after the Vatican and the Uffizi), the Galleria degli Antichi was commissioned by Duke Vespasiano Gonzaga in 1586 to showcase his wealth of collected art and was attached to Palazzo del Giardino, his private residence

The interior of the Teatro all'Antica was very impressive with this the view from the stage looking at the audience; from its size you can see that this is not a theater for the masses but for the select few from the duke's circle

Still Life, Samuel John Peploe, 1913

Reverend Robert Walker, Skating on Duddington Loch, Sir Henry Raeburn, 1795

Orchard with Apricot Trees in Blossom, Arles, Vincent van Gogh, 1888

Self-Portrait, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1655

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Johannes Vermeer, 1654

Selling Fruit, Walter Geikie, 1824

Queen Margaret's Defiance of the Scottish Parliament, John Faed, 1859

Contentment (It Contento), Adam Elsheimer, 1606

The Virgin and Child in a Landscape with St. John the Baptist and Another Male Saint, Titian, 1518

The Bridgewater Madonna, Raphael, 1507

Alexander III of Scotland Rescued from the Fury of a Stag, by the Intrepidity of Colin Fitzgerald, Benjamin West, 1786

Waverley Bridge, Edinburgh, Telemaco Signorini, 1881

The Ladies Waldegrave, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1780

Dedham Vale, John Constable, 1828

Spring, William McTaggart, 1864

Stobo Kirk, James McIntosh Patrick, 1939

The King's Quair Screen, William Bell Scott, 1867

Elleray, Alexander Nasmyth, 1807

Camogli was my favorite town along the Ligurian Coast (Vernazza and Portovenere are more villages); the town of 5000, with its famous colorful waterfront, swells to many times that size in the summer

I traveled by train up and down the Ligurian Coast most of my 10 day stay and I can't imagine a more beautiful stretch of coastline; the route from Genoa to La Spezia goes through many tunnels but each time you emerge with a gorgeous view of the sea

There are just so many photogenic towns with pastel-painted buildings in the area south of Genoa that most American tourists have never heard of; I'm sure Italians have definite opinions of each but it was hard to distinguish one from another for me

I hiked from Camogli to Portofino over the Portofino Peninsula and this is the view of Camogli from partway up the mountain; Camogli is supposedly famous for its anchovies and is one of the few remaining Italian towns with a professional fishing operation

Camogli is a 45 minute train ride south of Genoa, 6 minutes by train (via tunnel) to Santa Margherita Ligure but an hour from Monterosso al Mare and the Cinque Terre; I stayed in Genoa for 10 nights for what it would have cost for a couple of nights here

This uniquely colored cat was taking his owner for a walk but didn't respond well to commands; I was fortunate to have nice weather most of my time in and around Genoa with temps 10 degrees cooler than it had been earlier in my journey

In the 19th century Camogli was known as the 'city of 1000 white, sailing ships'; as a point of comparison, in 1856 Camogli had a fleet of 700 ships while Hamburg, one of the largest naval powers in Europe, had just 560