Venice is an expensive city for refueling your museum-ravaged body. After all, you must consider the transport of raw materials, high rents, and great demand for food in one of the world's most interesting cities.

You can mitigate the expense by eating in a Bacaro or two, where you'll get your Venetian cuisine in small bites.

That's what we did last night with Monica Cesarato, who gives tours, language lessons and cooking classes in Venice and the Veneto. She spills her secrets on  how to plan a proper Bacaro crawl in: Bacaro Tour of Venice.

In a prime position on every "top ten how to save money when visiting Europe" list is advice to purchase pizza by the slice and make it a complete meal, thus saving 14 euros on your 5,000 euro vacation. Well, here in Venice there has been an explosion in pizza arrotolata, a sort of compromise between a wrap and a pizza, a wrap made out of a pizza.

You have to admit, it makes eating pizza on the run a bit easier.

More on Venice: Venice Pictures| Venice Hotels | Venice Secrets

We had a great day in Bologna yesterday. The sun was shining, the skies a deep blue. We had some fanastic gelato and granite at a place called  Cremeria Funivia. The ice cream in the cones had such vivid colors I had to restrain myself from sticking my camera in people's faces as they left the shop with their treasures. The grapefruit granite was just what the doctor ordered for a hot day, brilliant in its clean flavors.

Bologna's famed porticoes donated a fine, diffused light to many pictures, as in the picture of a fruit and vegetable market above.

But this morning the temperature plummeted and a light rain has begun to fall. Porticoes to the rescue!

More on Bologna: Bologna Travel Guide | Bologna Pictures

May in the village of Narni, the geographical center of Italy, is a pretty important time; the time of the race for the ring and the race for the Palio (flag).

La Corsa dell'Anello ("Race to the Ring") is no so different from Oristano's Sartiglia. It's a demonstration of jousting skills and horsemanship, and a great many feasts and celebrations surround the event. You can read a fascinating description of the Narni events at Anne's Italy: Narni in May: Medieval Passione Takes Over.