I'm going through guidebooks and starting to come up with potential itineraries for my upcoming Italy tour. Last time I concentrated on the north, this time it's the south. For the past few months I've been really looking forward to the last month of the trip, when I'll return to northern Italy to hit some cities I regretted missing last time. The more research I do, however, the more I'm looking forward to heading south.

This past tour I spent a lot of time in cities I'd never heard of, places like Modena and Ferrara, where I can now close my eyes and give directions from the cathedral to the train station. This upcoming trip is no different. The two places I have heard of, Naples and Palermo, are getting brief or no visits as I concentrate on places like Lecce, Taranto, Bari, Reggio di Calabria, Syracuse, and other cities I don't know. Yet. But the more I research them, read about them, and check them out in google's satellite photographs the more thrilled I am to get to see them. There's even a slim chance I might even make it to Sardinia!