Trinity, the Bona Vista Peninsula and Twillingate
In Trinity, our room was perched on a hilltop and we looked down at the harbor. We had a zodiac tour booked to go whale watching and, along with about ten others, bundled up in these heavy one piece waterproof suits to go out and look for whales. We did find some, although none of […]
Dildo
We saw the sign for a small harbor community named Dildo while driving to Trinity. Not to be overly juvenile, but how could we not leave the main highway to make a brief stop there? Once we arrived, it seemed like a typical small waterfront town with boats docked in the curve of the inlet. […]
St. John’s
A lively exuberant city that stretches around a busy port, visible from my hotel window. Great restaurants, nice hotels. French Bistro one night for dinner, a short walk from our hotel, mercifully along the waterfront; the city climbs up from the docks and the hills are steep. St John’s is an old city; its beginnings […]
On the Road to Newfoundland
And a long road it is. The trick is to pick and choose the spots the itinerary suggests on the way from one place to other with a little fast research. That way you don’t find yourself thinking “Tell me again why I didn’t fly?” Bar Harbor is where we caught The CAT, a ferry […]
Siena
Our last stop. No question about the medieval origins of Sienna. The historic section is divided into 17 or 18 neighborhoods each with its own animal symbol (panther, rhinoceros), colors, civic leader who baptizes babies born in the neighborhood (not a religious baptism) and church. The neighborhoods have rivalries and clear identities and twice every […]
Tuscany Wineries
I would be remiss if I did not mention two visits to two different wineries in Tuscany. The first, very small, only 20,000 bottles/year felt like a movie set. A brief tour, a beautiful lunch overlooking the hills accompanied by 3 or 4 different wines, and unfortunately a too-hard sell at the end by the […]
Florence
How does Florence retain its appeal when it resembles, in many ways a high end shopping mall?A small city, very walkable, the street level is a shopper’s paradise — high end designer stores, cafes, ristorantes, gelaterias, osterias —you get the picture. And crowds, even now when Easter is still a week or more away, we […]
Amalfi Coast
Truly “Mama Mia” driving – a narrow road twisting and turning on the mountains, the sea below, barely room for two lanes of cars. Although the beginning of April is barely even shoulder season, the crowds were starting.The towns looked just like the movies – gleaming white or colored buildings carved into niches in the […]
Herculaneum and Pompeii
We stayed in Sorrento only to be close to the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, about a 45 minute drive from the hotel. I won’t go into all of the details of the sites and the photos — I doubt that I even could. But one huge takaway for me was the visibility and vibrancy […]
Siracusa
I think the biggest surprise was how much Sicily and particularly this area was part of ancient Greece. Archimedes lived here, the temples are dedicated to Greek Gods, and the theaters and amphitheaters date back to 400 or 500 BC. It rained and rained in Siracusa and then it poured. But undaunted, we went to […]