We lived in Milan in 1974 We explored the city and at weekends we visited parts of northern and central Italy, the South of France and Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Milan We lived in apartment 'E' on the 13th floor of the Due Torri Residence, with a view down to our greengrocer's shop in the street below. For posh shopping, we went to the Gallery Victor Emmanuel on Duomo Square in the city centre. The Duomo. The Pirelli building near central station, very futuristic in 1974. One day for some reason there was a London bus parked outside the Teatro a La Scala. San Marino and Florence One weekend in January we drove to San Marino and on to Florence. We had a brief stop in Rimini on the way. A policeman guarded the entrance to San Marino town. The Town Hall in the centre of the town/country. City walls and towers crown the hills around the town. This is the first tower .... .... and this is the second tower. We drove across the mountains to Florence, to see the Ponte Vechio .... .... and a corner of the Duomo. Cervinia and the Matterhorn In February we drove to Cervinia in the Aosta valley .... .... to see the Matterhorn. Pisa, Siena and St Margherita Another weekend in February we went by train to Pisa and Siena. We got lost trying to find the leaning tower and approached it through some back streets rather than the normal touristic approach. Somehow this made it even more impressive. In those days you were allowed to climb up to the top of the leaning tower, with no such things as safety railings. The Duomo and Baptistry from the top of the leaning tower. The Duomo and the leaning tower through an archway. Piazza del Campo, the main square in Siena. The city of Siena at dusk. On the way back we stopped off at Santa Margherita near Genoa, intending to visit Portofino just along the coast, but the only road access was blocked by a rockfall. Como, Liechtenstein and St Moritz Another weekend in February we drove through the mountains to Como, across Switzerland to Liechtenstein and back via St Moritz. We sat by the lake in Como. We continued across Switzerland to Liechtenstein and stayed in Vaduz. We walked up the hill for a view of the castle. We saw Balzers castle, another picturesque spot in Liechtenstein. We returned to Switzerland through the wooden bridge that marks the border. We stopped briefly in St Moritz .... .... and drove around the Swiss National Park near Zernez. Monaco and Cannes One weekend in March we drove to the south of France and stood with one foot in Monaco, the other in France. Even in those pre-EU days there were no border controls in sight. We saw the palace from Rue des Ramparts .... .... and the harbour from the casino gardens. We visited the casino but didn't lose all our money (or win a fortune). On the way back we stopped in Antibes and Cannes for some more Mediterranean ambience. Rome and Vatican City In March we got the train to Rome for a long weekend. We threw a coin into the Trevi fountain. We visited the Spanish steps. We walked around the Forum. We saw St Peter's Square from the dome of the Basilica. Then went onto the roof of St Peter's for a saints-eye view of the city. Pope Paul VI is at a window up there somewhere. Pavia, Bergamo and Monza In March we went for days out to Pavia, Bergamo and Monza. In Pavia there was a nice bridge over the river Po. We went on a day trip by bus to Bergamo and went up to Bergamo Alto, the old city on the hill, seen here from Via Zelasco. The city rooftops of Bergamo Alto from the Park of Remembrance. Piazza Vecchia, the 'old square', in Bergamo Alto. The Duomo in Bergamo Alto. In Monza we went to the market .... .... and the medieval square. Elba island Another weekend in late March we went by ferry to the island of Elba. We stayed near the harbour in Portoferraio. We went to Forte Falcone and looked down on the old town of Portoferraio. We went by bus to Napoleon's residence, Villa del Mulini, near Portoferraio. And waited for the bus to go back. We went by bus to Cavo by the sea at the eastern end of the island, and another bus to Porto Azzuro by the sea on the southern coast. We got a bus through the mountains past the hilltop town of Poggio .... .... to Marciana Marina by the sea on the northern coast. Portofino near Genoa It took us two attempts to get to Portofino because the first time the only way to the town, along a winding road under the cliffs, was blocked by a huge boulder. In March, on our last weekend in Italy, we finally got to the tremendously picturesque harbour. We had breakfast on the quayside by the harbour. We had a view of the town from the path up to the lighthouse. On the way back we stopped in the picturesque gardens in Santa Margherita, 5km back up the coast road. Sheila was very proud of her Italian umbrella. Postscript In May I came back briefly to work in Milan again and visited Desenzano on Lake Garda .... .... and photographed four work colleagues outside the office at Pregnana - Dave Player, Bob Trigg, John Hennessy and Peter Bailey. If you would like to see more of our travels just click the map.