Domodossola

Here are some pictures of the place I used to visit during the summer as a boy, the place where my mother was raised, where my grandmother lives, and where I hope to retire one day.

It's in the Italian Alps, about an hour north of Milan, so there are lots of mountains around. Coming from New York, all that cool, clean air threatened serious damage to my pollution-habituated lungs.







These bad boys date from the 12th and 14th Centuries. Ain't nothin' like that here. Indeed, at that point in history, the Lenni Lenape and other Indian tribes were still running Manhattan. 'Til those damn illegal immigrants -- the Pilgrims -- arrived and screwed things up for good.






This is Piazza Mercato (Market Square), the center of the city. During the summer, they stage open air concerts and on Saturday mornings, they have the Italian equivalent of a flea market, where they sell clothes, shoes, toys, and food. Most of the surrounding buildings and towers date back to the medieval period, though, as you can see, some have been refurbished.




Just one of the beautiful side streets in Domo. I love the sound of a car's tires running over cobblestones.



The city church. Quite beautiful, inside and out.



I love European train stations. History, scenic beauty, romance, all rolled into one. They bring back a lot of memories of my poor boy, backpack days, way back in 1990. Feels like a lifetime ago.




Saw this gate when I was walking back toward my aunt's house and thought I'd take a picture of it. Behind it, there used to be open fields and a running brook, where my cousin and I used to play. You can't even access it now, because it's private property.



This woman has lived through a lot of change in her life. She's walking through what used to be an enormous field where, way back in 1979, my dad taught my cousins and a bunch of their friends how to play wiffle ball. They were all "soccer"? And we were all, "No, baseball. You use your hands." Good times. Now the field is a paved road with houses. Isn't development grand?



I have a bunch more on Flickr and will post a link soon. Next up, Krakow.