Ghosts of Bologna

By day, Bologna is beautiful; by night, it's haunting. In the moonlight, the archways, cobblestone, and warm hues lend the city an air of mystery. Sure, I may be overselling Bologna as the perfect setting for a 19th-century murder mystery novel, but I like my cities with a little dose of intrigue, so I kept an eye out for furtive-looking men in long black pea coats and top hats ... just in case. I also tried to capture my impressions of ghostly Bologna in photographs:

Visiting Coimbra Hogwarts

Students at the nearly 800-year-old University of Coimbra wear black capes to class. When I learned about the traditional uniform, I decided that the University of Coimbra was Hogwarts. Students study Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. They learn to cast spells and play Quidditch. Seriously. You can quote me on this.

Since we were in town over the holiday break, we sadly missed out on meeting any Hogwarts students in their medieval garb. To compensate, we pretended to be them.

Sir Gnome Has Fun Storming the Castle

For years, Sir Gnome had been looking to exact revenge on a six-fingered man who had terribly wronged him. He knew where he would find this man -- at Castelo de São Jorge, Lisbon's stunning medieval fortress. Once he spotted the monument from afar, he made his move. It was time to storm the castle.