🇮🇹 From Home to Rome: Cemeteries, Crypts & Catacombs--oh, my!
Italy Adventures, New Friends & Next Year's Tour!
Ciao from Italy, friends! I’m writing this with my suitcase half-zipped, espresso in hand, and a 4AM alarm set — so please forgive any typos or extra enthusiasm. This month has been a whirlwind in the best possible way.
I just finished serving as Cemetery Symbolism Guide for Gryphon Art Holidays, and our Italy tour was so much FUN! Our little group explored monumental cemeteries, ossuaries, catacombs, Etruscan tombs, and so many jaw-dropping Italian masterpieces carved in stone.
🌟 NEWS FLASH: We’re doing it again — and YOU can come.
The most exciting update: I’ve already been invited back for another Italy Cemetery Symbolism Tour! This time we’re heading north to experience some of the most spectacular cemeteries on earth:
📍 Milan • Genoa • Bologna • Pisa • Florence
🗓 May 19–29, 2026
These monumental cemeteries are truly open-air sculpture museums. If you’re an art and/or history buff, you’ll love it. These burial grounds are filled with symbolism, mosaics, artwork, architecture, and stories waiting to be decoded.
I’ll once again be teaming up with Lisa Statkus of Gryphon Art Holidays, and I’ll be your symbolism guide for our third 10-day adventure together.
More details will appear soon at:
🔗 LisaStatkus.com
If this sounds like your dream trip, you can either:
Keep an eye on LisaStatkus.com, and/or
Email me directly: tui@tuisnider.com
(Heads up: I will be at sea with zero Wi-Fi until after Nov 21. After that, I’ll have more internet access, but it will still be a bit spotty, so thank you in advance for patience with replies!)
📰 Press Feature: ATW80 in the North Texas Daily
Before I left for Italy, I gave an Around the World in 80 Graves talk at the Emily Fowler Library for Denton’s 31 Days of Halloween, and a sweet reporter from the North Texas Daily interviewed me afterwards. You can read it here:
‘Cemeteries are for the living:’ Texas author Tui Snider shares her offbeat travel memoir
Huge thanks to writer Rebecca Hsu for such a thoughtful piece!
📚 Rome Bookshop Talk: A Night to Remember
Last night in Rome I gave a talk at the Almost Corner Bookshop in Trastevere — and it went swimmingly! The room was full, the crowd was delightful, and I even sold books!
And here’s a fun twist: while visiting Rome’s Protestant Cemetery during the Italy Cemeterytour, I bought a book about the cemetery… and the author, Nicholas, happened to be right there. I invited him to my bookstore talk — and he actually came! We had an absolute blast chatting afterwards.
I love how cemeteries keep introducing me to wonderful people — and in this case, bringing old friends back into my life. My friend Jeffrey (who was the editor when we worked on a Time Out travel guide to Naples) is the one who arranged my talk at the Almost Corner Bookshop.
Thanks to Jeffrey, the room was full of book-lovers, travelers, and history buffs, and the whole evening had that magical “right place, right time” feeling. On top of that, I reconnected with an old colleague I worked with in Belgium many years ago (he and his wife now live in Rome!), and I met a bunch of new wonderful folks at the event itself.
It turned into an unexpected reunion of past, present, and future friends: all thanks to cemeteries!
Coming Soon on the Blog & Patreon
Once I get settled on our cruise ship (we’re taking the looooong way home to Texas!), I’ll be sharing:
🌀 Etruscan tombs
💀 Capuchin Crypt
🦴 Skull-filled ossuary church
🌹 Angels, symbolism, and breathtaking sculpture
❓ And the reveal of what readers thought the mystery symbol was from the last newsletter
I took SO many photos and notes. I can’t wait to share them with you!
For Now…
Larry and I visit the Roman Catacombs today, then catch a train at 4AM tomorrow, hop aboard a ship, and begin taking the very scenic way back to Texas.
Wi-Fi will be minimal, but I’ll be back online after Nov 21.
Thank you for cheering me on, reading my work, sending me cemetery tips, and making this strange, beautiful passion of mine feel so welcomed in the world.
More soon! ~Tui
Your friendly neighborhood cemetery enthusiast 🪦
Quick links:
🔗 Italy 2026 Tour Info: LisaStatkus.com
📘 Around the World in 80 Graves — paperback + ebook now available
📸 Facebook: This is still the quickest & easiest place to share pics as I travel!