Too bad I left my good spray paint at home

Graffiti is everywhere in Italy. If the object is stationary, someone has painted something on it: walls, trains, train platforms, vendors' carts, street signs, postal boxes, doorways, etc. And sadly, even some historic sites.

Rome is by far the worst, and Time documented a cleanup effort there in 2010. It doesn't look like it's taken hold.

More than 75 percent of the graffiti - especially in Rome - is simply words. And because those words are often Italian, I can't understand it whether they are condemning the government or celebrating love. But we captured a few clever or more complex examples of graffiti. My philosophy is that if you're going to deface property, you should feel obligated to make it amusing, rather than just "I was here."

Ryan and I thought this supported soccer, but weren't sure who the killer whale and panda symbolized. From Venice. 

This was Ryan's choice, of course, who laughed at the graffiti artist who decided to edit the name of this street. Most of the graffiti is as simple as this type of stuff. From Venice. 

A simple one from Florence. It would have been more appropriate in Venice. 

I see this as an upcoming Doctor Who special - Alien Pope. From Venice. 

This wasn't technically graffiti, but two sides of this building was covered in fake U.S. dollar bills. You can see a close up of the bills below. From Florence. 

These three no-entry signs from a single intersection had all been doctored in amusing ways. From Florence. 

Italians play hooky when their team plays soccer

As Italy prepares for its pivotal World Cup match Tuesday against Uruguay, we expect to have an easier time finding a bar with a TV in Venice than we did in Florence, surprisingly.

We cheated actually. This evening, Elizabeth and I scouted out potential spots to experience the match tomorrow. That wasn't the main objective of our first walking expedition of the historic city.

But after our experience in Florence this weekend, we were keeping watch for a place to watch. On Friday, we must have passed a dozen bars in search of a place to drink a birra (sorry, it's one of the 23 Italian words I now know) while taking in the atmosphere of a soccer-hungry nation cheering on its team in the World Cup against Costa Rica.

Saved by the pizza bar. This pizzeria near the Ponte Vecchio had an outdoor patio with two TVs showing the game. That was two more TVs than we found at every other bar we walked by that day.

What we found was many of the nearby shop workers and flower hawkers had the same idea we did -- and were just as eager to find a TV showing the match.

It's a nail-biter for this vendor as Italy lost 1-0 to Costa Rica.

Elizabeth captured this great shot of an employee of a nearby shoe store, Camper, sneaking a peak at one of the bar's outdoor TVs. He spent most of the first half next to us. But he had to help close the store during the second half and could only manage these quick glances for updates. 

Under pressure: This waiter takes a time out from serving only to see Italy waste a scoring opportunity.

Newt and David

I'm used to seeing political figures in Florence.

Kentucky, that is. Not Italy.

But there we were on a bright sunny afternoon standing on the worn cobblestone streets of Florence, Italy, outside the Galleria dell Accademia when my sister Kate elbowed me and said, "Hey, that guy kinda looks like Newt Gingrich."

He did kinda. Because it was Newt Gingrich.

The most famous tourist in Florence on Saturday talks to one of his fans -- or at least someone who recognized him. 

Gingrich and his wife Callista, like the rest of the line, were on their way to see Michelangelo's "David." And the former presidential candidate attracted a bit of attention from some tourists, who were either Americans or devoted CNN International viewers with a penchant for "Crossfire."

Striking a pose: A bonus photo op for this tourist before seeing Michelangelo's masterpiece.

Inside the Accademia awaited the most impressive work of art we had seen ... at least since taking in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel on Thursday.

A look that killed: David prepares for a different kind of crossfire. 

We got our picture taken with David instead of Gingrich. (Hey, I'm on vacation -- no politics, at least from this century). 

- By Ryan Alessi