I go to Rome for a few days. Everything is open, green, with parks and flowers, speeding vespas, cars, people crowding the streets, tourists sticking out a little, but not taking over the whole place as in Venice. There's lots to do. Loads of operas and dance performances, films, museums, naturally....

Often not found in guidebooks, Florence has a fragrant little treasure tucked away through a non-assuming door way near the main train station.  Take a minute out of your day and stop by one of the oldest pharmacies in the world.

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If you come to Merano, one of the highlights, especially in spring (best time is April or May) is are the botanic gardens of Castle Trauttmansdorff.
Already the Austrian empress Sissi knew to appreciate this lovely area and chose Castel Trauttmansdorff as her favourite winter residence. So there is a...

The Ferdinandea, currently known as "Banco Graham," is a vast rocky platform located about 6 meters from the surface between Sciacca and the island of Pantelleria.

It is the mouth of a volcano that submerged, in 1831, lifted by forming the island, which grew to an area of approximately 4 km2 and 65 m...

Music-Venice. The words used to be almost synonymous: There was a time when music poured from churches and hospitalsÑyes, hospitals. Hospitals were part musical academies, as well as places where the poor and destitute could go to live or die while listening to heavenly chants and choruses. Music...

Went to meet a friend for breakfast on Saturday morning: she and her husband were in Venice for a few days, about to embark on a cruise along the Adriatic. She emailed me they were staying at the Gritti Palace. The Gritti Palace! Can I come to your hotel, I asked.

If you've seen the Woody Allen movie,...

Adapting a bit more to the traveling lifestyle every day...

We’ve been traveling on this around-the-world adventure now for more than eleven months – never more clear this past week as I tried to interpret the look of horror on my friend’s face as she stared at me in the bathroom. “What on earth...

Here in Venice, so much happens in such a short time and space. Life is pressing all around, and the past mingles with the the present. Waking at dawn, I go out for a quick walk. A couple of people are already up and about, moving swiftly and silently. The bakery door is open, light on, smells of bread...

Sunday, May 4, 2008

It started as a perfect day, with more sun than shade and a light breeze ruffling the water.

It was the day of the Festa della Sensa, when the Doge of the Republic of Venice used to sail out in his Bucintoro and cast a ring into the sea. The Bucintoro, the magnificent two deck...

Yesterday my friend G. set off on a long-planned for journey. He and his colleagues are rowing and sailing down the River Po. The Po, Italy’s longest river, flows through many kinds of habitats, and has historically hosted large varieties of fish. But the Po is in danger. The progressive degradation...

April 25, 2008

Today is a festa, the day of San Marco, patron saint of Venice, and the day of the Italian Liberation at the close of WWII.  It's a glorious day, sunny and warm, and the wisteria are blooming everywhere. There are street fairs selling all manner of things, a lot of great bargains...

You will have to forgive me for not remembering the name of the place, despite hours of searching the Internet and still not coming up with it but after you eat there it will be easy for you to do.   You may have heard of Cinque Terre Italy. Travel writer

Let's face it, you want to see Pompeii but quite frankly Naples is not a city you want to visit.  Almost every traveler I have met on the road has told me just how unsafe they feel in downtown Naples:  The cities lack of landfills has lead to complete stand stills of trash removal and when...

You can approach the planning of a trip in a number of ways.  For me I narrow it down to where I roughly want to go and then figure out how much it will cost.  From here I can add or subtract locations or side trips.  As I'm currently beginning to plan a trip to Europe...

Tuscany is one of the best tourist destinations to visit Italy by Bike. Most tourists think there as museums and the arts, but it's not all ...

The most famous area of Tuscany is called "the wine route". In this area, there are 2 of the biggest attractions of Tuscany: Florence and Pisa,...

I was waiting for a train in Campo di Marte that was 75 minutes late, when I was sitting there in the sultering heat, I noticed how alone I was.  Ok, how independent I was.  I had been living with a family for over 5 months now, and I was taking care of their children, I was a nanny.  I...

I think of Italy every day, fact is, I've decorated my home Italian style, with my photos of Venice everywhere, my collectors plates, wine pitchers,  everything I was able to bring back including a huge curio cabinet that catches everyones eye the second they enter. My friends tell me I should work...

The province of Trentino, situated in the north of Italy, lies in the glacial valley of the Adige Valley. Trentino is best known for its beautiful mountains, in other words the Dolomites with its majestic mountain peaks.

There are several different massifs, as the Adamello-Presanella, the Ortles-Cevedale,...

Charles was taking the Intercity train from Florence to Bologne to visit friends, and when he sat down diagonally across from me just before the ride started I thought he was Italian.  His skin was very dark and he had the stubble of a beard several days old.  His peacock coat...