Program 805: Italy Side-Trip Towns; Overnight; Enjoying Mexico City

Who's afraid of the dark? Adventurer Dan Richards shines a gentle light on what goes on in our world after sunset. Then an Italy tour guide looks beyond the crowds of Florence, Venice, and Rome to share her favorite side trips that are worth the diversion. And a Mexico City guide clues us in on the multicultural neighborhoods and cosmopolitan vibe of his city, the largest metro area in North America and still growing.

• Tour guide Ann Long, based near Sorrento, Italy
• Dan Richards, author of "Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark" (Canongate)
• Tour guide and author David Lida, based in Mexico City

• Smaller Italian towns Ann and Rick discuss within easy reach of Naples include inland Caserta, Vico Equense, near Sorrento on the Bay of Naples; and the islands of Ischia and Procida. From Rome, Ann suggests visiting nearby Tivoli and Castel Gandolfo, plus the spa town of Viterbo, and Perugia. Near Florence, Ann recommends Arezzo for its monthly antique market, the Tuscan hill town of Volterra, Pistoia, Prato, and Montecatini Terme. From Venice, they suggest Padua, Ferrara and Vicenza.
• Ann Long can be contacted for private tours in Italy through her Facebook page.
• Some of Ann's prior appearances on Travel with Rick Steves include talking about "Marrying into Italy" on program 395b, describing the Amalfi Coast region where she lives on program 758 in 2024, and helping us understand "Chaos, Italian Style" on program 366b in 2023.
• Dan Richards is the author of "Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark."
• Dan's latest book was reviewed by The Guardian.
• Dan spoke with Rick on Travel with Rick Steves program #579 about visiting the remote forest outlook in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State where writer Jack Kerouac once stayed, and which he describes in his book "Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the Earth."
• David Lida wrote "First Stop in the New World" to describe how Mexico City is poised to be the Western Hemisphere's most important city in the 21st century. He also wrote "One Life," loosely based on his mitigation work on behalf of undocumented Mexicans, charged with capital offenses in the United States.
• The Museo Vivo del Muralismo opened in 2024 in Mexico City's Centro Histórico, and includes works by Diego Rivera.
• David spoke with Rick about living as an "Ex-Pat in Mexico City" on Travel with Rick Steves program #523a in September 2020.

pgm 805 Tropical Island haiku awards

In small market saw,
"Respect, man," said sincerely,
All wrong on t-shirts.

—Sue Tomlin, Mount Vernon, Illinois

Blue water, deep, clear
Life abundant thrives below
Eternity there.

—Paula Hudnall, Portland, Oregon

sugar in water
to tempt you sweet little bird
you capture our hearts

minnow scatter like
confetti as the houndfish
glistens on the scene

all strut and bustle
jaunty plumed tail, cockscomb crown
this lot. your kingdom

frigate bird flying
above, elegant. Below
soaring sting ray sails

I always seek you
broad-shouldered, bright-belted knight
of the starry sky.

—Christine Kouwenhoven, Baltimore, Maryland