Three years ago, I took my Mom on a two week vacation to Italy. It’s always been a dream of hers to visit the motherland, so I was happy to be in a position to finally see that her dream was fulfilled.
Despite a few tense moments to be expected when a mother and her 32 year old son team up to travel, it was a great trip. We traveled to Rome, toured the Colosseum, visited the Vatican, took a train to Sicily, walked the beaches, drove the countryside, and ate gelato until our hearts were content.
Whether you’ve personally been to Italy or have only seen the beautiful country through photos, I think you’ll find a mother-son take to be a fresh perspective. I previously posted 25 must see photos of Italy back in March. This time I’m upping the ante. Without further ado, may I present 40 must see photos of Italy like you’ve never seen before.
1. My Mom taking a picture of an Italy tour guide book
2. My Mom taking a picture of a map of Italy
3. My Mom taking a picture of me reading a brochure
4. My Mom taking a picture of a pine tree
5. My Mom taking a picture of a barren tree
6. My Mom taking a picture of a TV
7. My Mom taking a picture of a monk
8. My Mom taking a picture of a nun
9. My Mom taking a picture of Jesus
10. My Mom taking a picture of a severed head
11. Me taking a picture of a severed head
12. My Mom taking a picture of a fruit salad
13. My Mom taking a picture of a Coke can
14. My Mom taking a picture of a McDonald’s dessert menu
15. My Mom taking a picture of red chili peppers
16. My Mom taking a picture of oranges
17. Me taking a picture of bread
18. My Mom taking a picture of me eating pizza crust
19. My Mom taking a picture of me eating liver and onions
20. My Mom taking a picture of me dipping bread in olive oil
21. My Mom taking a picture of me ordering cheese
22. My Mom taking a picture of me eating cheese
23. Me taking a picture of my Mom ordering cheese
24. My Mom taking a picture of me sitting in a chair
25. My Mom taking another picture of me sitting in a chair
26. My Mom taking a picture of me looking at an iron gate
27. My Mom taking a picture of me looking at a napkin holder
28. My Mom taking a picture of me contemplating suicide
29. My Mom taking a picture of a lady with a bag over her head
30. My Mom taking a picture of a police car
31. My Mom taking another picture of a TV
32. My Mom taking a picture of snails
33. My Mom taking a picture of a dog
34. My Mom taking a picture of a cow
35. My Mom taking a picture of a horse
36. Me taking a picture of a seagull
37. A close-up picture of a seagull
38. My Mom taking 86 pictures of a sunset
39. A picture of me and my Mom at the Trevi Fountain in Rome
40. My Mom taking one last picture of a TV
The Dimwit Diary 
Okay, so I might have gotten a little carried away with the sunset pictures, but admit it — I captured some moments that nobody else would have ever thought to capture! I laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face as I looked through these pictures. I didn’t realize how close you were to losing it until I looked at the expressions on your face in these pictures. You deserve a gold medal — and I thank you for not jumping off of the cliff!
Love,
mother
PS I wish I had some of that delicious cheese right now along with some pistachio gelato! YUM!!! That was a darned great trip — every minute of it (except the train ride, and I’ll NEVER say that was good)!
Don’t feel so bad. I think I took about 100 sunset photos. Siracusa is gorgeous!
Yes, well we had our testy moments for sure. Me more so than you, but I’d do the trip over again in a heartbeat. I’m itching to travel again. Can’t wait to be back to work and save some $$$ for the next one.
And you and that train ride. You’ll never live that one down, but it’s those moments that we look back on and have a good laugh. I’d do the train ride over again, personally. Of course I didn’t have to sit by the stinky gentlemen.
Love,
Chris
That is so awesome! Clara and Dimmy, taking over the world!
You know it! Shoulda seen us take over Italy. The Italians loved us, and we loved them. Except all the Italians I had to flip off when I was driving through Sicily.
Clara,
I probably have about 200 sunrise pictures on my phone right now, because I drive east to work every morning. It’s the most enjoyment I get out of my drive!! :)
You can use it to ride one. There is no grunting noise, just pure sicelne of the users of e-bikes, which themselves produce no emissions. +2Was this answer helpful?
Looks like you both had a trip to remember. Thanks for sharing.
It sure was a trip to remember! Thanks for viewing.
I think your mom brought the pedestrian element that we all experience when traveling to your Italy trip. It’s the gritty truth behind the otherwise glossy pictures. I’m surprised no pigeons…
Ha! Well, I do have several pigeon photos that both my Mom and I took. I didn’t post them because I don’t want the NSA to have them. Those pigeon photos are too priceless. They can keep the Italian Chihuahau photo.
OooOoooOhh…. They have them…. they definitely have them…
Oh… and that’s not just any dog. That’s an Italian Chihuahua. I think in Italian they are called Chihuahua’s.
very fun! those were definitely must see photos. italy through the eyes of others is always a must see. thanks for sharing! :) p.s. – im also glad you didn’t jump. there’s still plenty of fabulous cheese and delicious gelato to be had.
Yes, well being a son and traveling with your mother to Italy can be a headache. She took about 100 photos of me and that’s no exaggeration. But I’d do it all over again. It was a trip of a lifetime. I’m glad I didn’t jump, too. So much more life to live, I hope. Cheers!
Give a mom a camera and she’ll grab a memory before you know it! Doesn’t have to make a bit of sense to another soul. We see beauty and simplicity in items others may not notice/nor find intriguing. Taking countless photos of our children is our utmost joy of joys. We can never have enough of them. There is nothing we cherish more. Absolutely nothing.
P.S. Your mama is as beautiful as that boy she kept photographing. ;).
Well, okay. Since you put it that way, I’ll cut my Mom some slack. We had a nice time together. She’s a good traveling companion. However, I think the next trip to Italy I’ll be flying solo :)
I like the picture of the snails. Quick, get them! They’re getting away!
Ha! I just got a great vision of the runaway snails. I’d run away too if I was put in a bin and sold for food. RUNNNN!
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figerud I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Great blog by the way!
We could’ve done with that insight early on.
Okay, here goes. I was all set to comment on your great site in general and your photos of Italy and mentions of Mom, but then, I saw your “topless pic & wow…I kind of lost my train of thought! Granted I’m older than you, so I won’t go on to gross you out, but suffice to say, that my daughter agreed…nice! Anyway, thanks for “liking” my post: “Summertime And the Livin is Easy…Says Who” Love your site!
Yeah, the topless photo gets ’em every time :) So does the Photoshop. I’m really not that handsome in real life, dangit. Just when I’m having a good hair day. Thanks for the laugh and for the comment!
PS. Is your daughter single and does she like Jewish looking Italian guys? Just checking.
say I really like the heat in both your humor and warmth of your family.
I have an Italian psychosis of all photos. but it was worth it.
Raoul
Thanks Raoul! The crazy Hintons are the best. Our family has a lot of fun together. Must be the Italian in us.
:-))) yepp! warm humor intense, like my fam. But u are maby
mixed jew-Italian ? your humor are like 2 of them
Greatings from a warm Sweden (FORGET WARM, ICE HERE)
R
Cheese, liver and onion, snails… a wonder what the breath of an Italian is like…
YES I’M BACK!!! Seems like half a century since I paid a visit to your blog. Haven’t been doing as much on my own lately either. I leave the country in 5 weeks. Can’t really think about much else at the moment.
Your mom is a unique lady!
DEBZ!!!!
Whoops, sorry. I got so excited that I accidentally hit reply. So good to hear from you!!! I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. You might think I’m a liar, but it’s true. Sorry, the past month was kinda weird for me. It takes a lot out of me to write about my Dad’s stuff. It sends me deep down the rabbit hole, so I was disconnected with all the kind folks on WordPress, including yourself. Anyway, it really is good to hear from you. Maybe you could send me an email sometime soon to let me know how you’re doing. I would like that. Take care Debz!!!
This also makes me wonder if there’s “40 must see photos of Western PA.”
Funny you should wonder. I may have something in store along those lines. Plenty of incriminating photos of my family to go around. Bwahahaha!
Great blog. Thanks for the follow!
Thank you!
WELL…..I was all comfy in bed reading this blog and after seeing the pic of you eating cheese I will not be able to rest until I attack the gouda in my fridge. I love how your mom reads all your blogs and comments. I’m a mom so I can totally relate. Except my kids censure anything embarrassing I may say. Which according to them is frequent.
You showed me a side of Italy I hadn’t considered. Who knew?
The TV photos and brochures are very Andy Warhol- ish. Tomorrow I’m going to start saving for Italy.
Yes, start saving! Italy is a must see country. Gorgeous, although these photos don’t really do it justice :)
Hope you got your gouda fix last night! It’s all about the gouda. And too funny about your kids censuring your comments. My mother is persistent as all get out, and there’s no block feature on WordPress that I’m aware of, so I just run with it. Nah, it’s good to have her around. I wouldn’t block her even if there is a feature.
I have vacationed with my family all over the world. We have pictures in every locale of my dad looking at the menu. It became a tradition…. The order you put these in was genius. I laughed harder after each one! After I thought I saw the last TV, another one popped up–is there a story attached to these (or any of the other, um, unusual photos?) Loved the pic of you with liver and onions, although my neck hurts from the pretzel move….and one can never have too many sunsets…
Too funny about the photos of your dad looking at the menu! The only story behind these are that me and my mom swapped all of our Italy photos, and when I started going through hers, this is what I found! I can understand all the photos of the sunset, but I have no godly idea why she took so many photos of TVs?!! But she took some great ones, too. I just didn’t include them for this bit. Cheers.
Pffft! Liver and onions? Where’s the pasta pictures?!
Don you son of a bitch! Those are private. Pasta pics are precious and I can’t just go sharing them with the world. I’ll share them in person when we meet up one of these days. Good to hear from you.
MMMMMM Cheese! This was a cute post – looks like you had fun and now I know that TV’s look the same in Italy! Winning
Ha! Yes, it’s all about the TV selection when going to Italy. And the cheese!
Your mom really has an eye for photography! I mean that facetiously but also seriously- sometimes the best pictures are not the ones you’d frame but the ones that remind you of certain moments or memories on the trip that might have otherwise been forgotten after three years. Makes me want to go on a trip with my family!
Oh, my Mom captured certain moments all right. She took almost 2,000 photos! It was so cool to see, because she talked about Italy so much growing up. Being a mother of 11, it seemed like she would never get to go. But leave it to the Dimwit! We had a blast (Well, mostly. There were a few *uh-hm* testy moments.)
That is so great that you got to take her. I think it is normal for any family to have their moments while traveling, it can be stressful!
I have a friend visiting Italy right now, and have been able to enjoy his pics on FB. He is lacking numerous sunset pictures though. ;)
Emphasis on the numerous! My Mom actually took over 100 photos of this particular sunset, but I paired it down to just the top 86. I took quite a few myself, so I got you covered if you ever need an Italy sunset fix!
And if you ever need a Kansas sunrise, I can hook you up! ;)
I have been planning a visit to Italy for as long as I can remember and that’s one cause why I was extra excited while clicking the link to this post. And then while I had braced myself from pretty Italian sites, I was more than pleased by the funny pictures, hilarious captions and yes, the many sunset pictures. :P
Haha, well yeah. This post is certainly a different take on Italy. Sunsets galore! I’ll have to post the scenic photos sometime, because Italy is absolutely breathtaking. I hope you get to go!
Someday I hope to visit this country of my origin.
Carl, it’s a must! I absolutely love Italy, even though I sorta gave it the rub in this post. The people are as beautiful as the sights. The food, the history, the architecture. The everything! I hope you get to go sometime. Ciao my friend.
Is there a word for a group of Nuns? If there is none, I vote we use dearth. A dearth of Nuns.
Dearth of nuns! Nice. I’ll buy that. Wait, I guess one wouldn’t buy a dearth of nuns. I would imagine that sorta thing getting quite the headline on the news channels. Cheers!