Travel should be about helping you connect with the people of the countries you are visiting, to understand their culture, their economy and their history. What I like about cruising is that we get that opportunity, not only in port, but also with the people we meet on board. There are typically over 60 nationalities…
Let me take you back to the summer of 2019. The air is warm, people are out and about and you are sitting out, possibly enjoying a refreshing beverage, listening to the sounds around you. You hear the birds of course, maybe a light breeze rustling through the trees and general murmurs and clatter people…
I have written before about cruising and until our recent trip to Mexico, preferred vacations on ships rather than resorts. I would say that for a vacation in the Caribbean, a cruise is still my preference. This year, we took 3 Caribbean cruises, visiting islands of the lesser and south Antilles (St-Thomas, St-Marten, Barbados, St-Lucia,…
We all know that travelling gives us an opportunity to expand our knowledge and gain a better understanding of other cultures, and countries. Beyond this, the benefits of travel are quite tangible, physically and psychologically. I walk more when I travel, and my stress level goes way down. The fresh air stimulates endorphins, putting me…
Alors voici deux video vous donnant un aperçu du village de Iano, dans la commune de Montaione en banlieue de Florence, en Toscane, ainsi qu’un visionnement de notre logement pendant notre séjour de 2 mois. J’inclus d’abord les coordonnées de google maps afin de vous situer quelque peu. Nous étions a 1 heure de Florence,…
Thirty years ago, I came to San Francisco as part of my honeymoon. It was my first visit to the west coast, and to California. The city completely charmed us, as we visited the sights, and took part in local festivities. On our way from LA to Napa Valley, we thought we would stop in…
My head has been spinning for a week, which is partly the reason why I have not posted anything on this blog since arriving in San Francisco. I also had a few “memoirs” to finalise about the tail end of our trip along Central America, and our arrival in LA/San Francisco before I could focus…
Juan Ponce de León and Christopher Columbus both sailed from Spain and discovered the Americas. It was Ponce de Leon who actually got the credit for discovering La Florida in 1516, and he named it so, because it was a great “place of flowers”. Fast forward 500+ years later, and we embarque on the same…
We left Tuscany on a beautify sunny morning in late October. We decided to take the scenic route back to Rome, before we left Italy the next day. After two month of visiting all of the hills and valleys of the Golden Triangle that is Pisa, Sienna and Florence we thought we had become quite…
Eliza was a greeter we hired when we arrived from Rome to Florence. She arranged for our luggage to be collected from the train, and for someone to hail a taxi for us. While we waited she shared with us a lot of personal information. We told her we just needed a taxi to get…
We were dropping off our friends at the Certaldo train station, when on our way home we noticed at the end of the street, a rail track going directly up the hill in front of us. Suddenly, it jogged my memory about something I had read, I believe in Rick Steves guide to Italy. Of…
When we decided to be world bohemians for 4 months, it was clear that we nevertheless would need (want?) some comforts of home. Mindful of the bags we would be dragging our intention was to be ruthless and pack only what was absolutely necessary. In Italy especially, elevators are few, and the cobble stones streets…
Firenze – you conquer my heart every time. The last time I saw you it was March of ’78. I was a mere girl of 15, and you won me over with your fresh strawberries at every gelateria and your magnifique paintings from Boticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo. Now, I am a mature woman of 55…
Italy is a relatively young country, as young as Canada actually, with the unification of all of its regions and cities finalized in 1870. I will spare you the complex historical evolution of how it came to be a nation-state, but suffice to know that prior to the unification, Italy was a collection of city-state…
