Jul 10, 2010 | Ravenna

Daria and Darla led the way to Ravenna to check out the city's jaw-dropping Byzantine mosaics, reputed to be among the finest in Europe. While Daria immersed herself in a week-long workshop to make good on her teaching grant from the Lilly Foundation, Darla and I checked off every site in the guidebook. Most of Ravenna's charms are located indoors, but the three of us also came to appreciate the pace of life, the slower churn of summer tourism, and the reliance on bicycles in the town's old quarter.