The travelogue inside my head

Here are some of the places my research and imagination have visited recently:

The world of medieval Pater Noster cords. How do they differ from rosaries? Both are used to count prayers, but rosaries form a loop, while Pater Noster cords hang loose at each end. 

(detail from Adoration of the Magi, by Stefan Lochner)

Crystal reliquaries

(14th century reliquary from Florence, Italy)

And St Edburg (also known as St Edburga or St Eadburh)

(stained glass rendering of St Edburg)

The travelogue inside my head

I can't afford to travel to all the places I'd like to visit to research my books--besides, the price of a time travel machine is absolutely prohibitive!--but thanks to the internet, I can virtually visit the places I research. Here are a few places I visited today.

Medieval Sicily:

Did you know there was a huge earthquake there in 1169? It was over there on the east coast. It triggered a tsunami and at least 15,000 people died. Hugo Falcandus chronicled the event. You can read a bit of his account in this excerpt from A History of the Tyrants of Sicily By 'Hugo Falcandus' 1153-69 at this GoogleBooks link: http://bit.ly/21Bp3Gy. (Or you can order a copy of the book, but the going rate for the paperback version on Amazon is $159.95! http://amzn.to/1UsRHdK) The GoogleBooks excerpt cuts the account off before the end, but what's there is still fascinating reading.

I also visited....

Medieval Venice:

Medieval Florence:

Where will I go next?