By this time, it was old hat for him to travel to international airports. He was just shy of 18 years old.
I'd booked a modest hotel room just around the corner from the Coliseum subway stop. The walls had cracks, the sink was chipped, but we had a little balcony from which we could watch a protest march (largely comprised of members of the Italian Communist party) go down the boulevard, chanting and pushing and shoving.
On this trip we spent extensive time in the Vatican museums, where he insisted on reading all of the info plaques on all of the art and artifact there. It was a very long time that we spent in the Vatican museums.
We did see all the major sights in Rome and then took the train to Naples with hopes of visiting the town buried by lava flows during the erruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Naples was quite an adventure as, when we got off the train from Rome, the hotel advocates (shills) literally pushed and pulled us to book at their hotels until I stamped my feet, waved my hands and shouted "Go Away! Go Away!" After visiting the mosaics from Pompeii and the Archaeological Musuem in Naples, we tried to go there -- but much of Pompeii was closed for renovation/reconstruction. We diverted to Herculaneum/Ercolano and had a great tour.
Naples won't be forgotten for two other highlights of local culture: 1) motorcyclists who diverted to the sidewalks when traffic got bad, and 2) pizza with sunny-side up egg on it.
It may be that in the pile of old photo albums, I will find some photos to enliven this story, but for now...editing this in summer 2025 .... just fond memories.
I don't remember much about Milan. For the most partk, business travel was like that.... in, out, no lurking about.
