Joe Benning Photography

Travel & Photo Blog

  •   Reston, VA

St. Paul de Vence, France

Our ship anchored today in the Mediterranean and we came ashore at Villefranche, France.  We took a drive through Nice and neighboring towns, on our way to the village of Saint Paul de Vence. On our drive we passed the Hotel Negresco, where we stayed for vacation about 40 years ago. Today is the 80th […]

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Pisa

Our ship stopped in Livorno, Italy and many passengers opted to head into Florence or other areas of Tuscany—we decided to take a walking tour of Pisa.    Pisa is another medieval walled town, which today houses approximately 90,000 residents, and an additional 50,000 students at the three universities in Pisa.  The town has huge […]

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A Visit to Castel Gandolfo  – the Apostolic Palace 

Today was very special—we went to see the summer palace for Popes—Castelo Gandolfo.  Opened to visitors in 2016, it has served as the summer palace for Popes since the Seventeenth Century.  Castelo Gandolfo is about 28 kilometers outside of Rome.  Pope Francis never spent a single night there, which is probably why it was opened […]

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Tarquinia and Rome 

Rome is a bit busy these days, so when our ship docked at the port, we decided to go to a nearby medieval town, Tarquinia. The town dates back to the ninth century BC, and sits on top of a very steep hill overlooking the Tyrrhenian sea.  The town is enclosed by medieval walls and […]

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Last Days of Pompeii

When our ship docked in Naples, we had the opportunity to visit the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  Pompeii was instantly buried beneath 30 feet of volcanic ash and cinder when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.  People living in the city perished instantly when the volcanic ash poured down on the city. We had […]

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Kotor, Montenegro

Kotor is a small city in a small country. The population of the entire country is only about 625,000; the population of Kotor only amounts to about 13,000 people. Nonetheless Kotor has one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic. It is also a UNICEF World Heritage Sight, probably for that reason. The […]

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From Trieste Italy to Slovenia

On Monday we docked in Trieste. As it turns out we were in for a pleasant surprise. Although we docked in Trieste, Italy as advertised, the tour we signed up for was right next door in Slovenia. It never occurred to us that the tour we booked would be in Slovenia. But it was. And […]

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Croatia

We spent Friday (the 25th) and Saturday (the 26th) in Croatia. On Friday it was Dubrovnik; on  Thursday, Trogir.  We went on a walking tour of Dubrovnik. It is just a stunningly beautiful city. And a walking tour is just the right way to see the city. Except that when we went, it rained. Actually […]

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Port Katakolon, Greece

Today we stopped at Katakolon in Greece.  We had the opportunity to visit a vineyard and an olive grove (and the processing plants for their products) near Olympia, Greece.   It was a beautiful day to be outdoors and meet the owners of these family businesses – and to taste some very good olive oils […]

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