More Detailed Itinerary

I've started booking tickets to various places, and my plans have changed somewhat since the last post.  At this point things are pretty well set, though.  So here's the plan:

• Arrive in Istanbul on June 20th, stay for 4 days
• Ravenna for 3 days
• Rome for 4 days
• Bari for 2 days
• Brindisi for 3 days
• Otranto for 1 day
• Taranto for 1 day
• Catanzaro for 2 days
• Reggio Calabria for 3 days
• Palermo for 3 days
• Back to Baltimore on July 20th!

If you click on the name of each city I've listed, you'll be taken to the wikipedia page about.  Each of these places has either a castle, cathedral, palace, or something of the sort that's built during the 11th century or earlier, which is the primary time frame I'm dealing with.

So as you can see from my last post, I've cut out a few places and am staying longer in a few others instead.  I think this will make the whole experience less hectic for me, plus I think it's more likely to wish I had more time somewhere than to be bored and wish it was time to leave.

Have any of you been to any of these cities?  Any can't-miss sites?  Leave a comment!

Where I'm going and for How Long

Although I still haven't bought any tickets yet, I've started to narrow down where I'll be going this summer, as well as when.  I'll update again when things are more set in stone, but at the moment I'm planning on leaving around the last week of June, and returning in the first week of August.  The tentative plan is to:

• Spend about 4 days in Istanbul, Turkey.  This is primarily to acquaint myself with Byzantine art and architecture, so that I'll be able to notice its influence more readily.  Plus, it's Istanbul: how could I not go there?  After that, I'll be going to Italy for the remainder of the trip.
• About 3 days in Ravenna
• About 4 days in Rome
• For the remainder of the trip I'll be in Southern Italy.  I'm planning to go to cities such as Naples, Salerno, Amalfi, Benevento, Bari, Brindisi, Otranto, Taranto, Catanzaro, Reggio Calabria, and Palermo.

 For the most part I'll be in these cities for no more than 2 days, and in most cases only 1.  At least that's what I'm thinking at the moment; I may change my mind and go to far fewer places, but spend more time in each one, maybe taking some side trips to nearby villages.  Like I said, when I have more things nailed down (and when I've spoken with my adviser about my plans in greater detail), I'll update with an actual itinerary.