Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 4

Ah. Solo travel. I’m back bay-bee! Not that I didn’t enjoy the company of my fellow travelers while exploring Egypt & Jordan, but I do get a certain thrill of independence when going it alone. Besides, I enjoy all those crazy idiosyncrasies from traveling that burble up to the surface. Like. Trying to decipher a train schedule in a different language. Washing my smalls in a sink. Getting ripped off by a taxi driver. Getting caught up in a photo deluge of Asian tourists. Having a communication breakdown with the Carrefour cashier. Ordering something off a menu without knowing what it is. That familiarity of confusion when I’m by myself somehow feels so strangely comforting. So. Italy. What an absolute gem. Interestingly enough, my plan to wait until I officially retired before visiting Europe…one of my ... read more

Well, we woke up to a beautiful morning here in Chamonix. Our plans this morning were to have breakfast, check in with the para gliding school, and for Sandy to do laundry. So, after a wonderful breakfast, we took off to find the laundromat. The first one we found only allowed you to drop off your clothes and come back later in the day, as they would do the laundry. Took off from there, and finally found another one. Although most of the machines were broken, Sandy managed to find one that worked and got started while I took off to call the school.. Hooray, they advised that the flight was on,and I left for the gondola to meet my pilot. The lines to get on the gondola were incredibly long, but we managed to sneak ... read more

Today we woke up to overcast skies, but still a beautiful view of the lake. I started my morning off with a bit of a glitch. our hair dryer decided to die about a quarter of the way in, so I ended up going down for breakfast with wet hair…attractive. The breakfast here unbelievably was even better than it was in France. There were assorted pastries , eggs, yogurt , fruit, you name it. The coffee was also delicious. After stuffing ourselves, (going to need to diet when we get back), we headed out to our next destination, Bormio, Italy. Once again we encountered tunnel after tunnel. Our views on this leg was mostly concrete. We ventured off the highway for a stop in Como in hopes of spending time viewing the lake. Once again there ... read more

After an appx 2 hour train ride from Florence, we arrive in Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink weh Tay reh). The name refers to 5 Villages that hug the rugged coast line as part of the Italian Riviera. Up until about 1990, the area was a relatively obscure tourist destination with a few visitors mainly from France, Germany and other European countries. When Rick Steves, the American travel writer, discovered it, the area became the 4th most popular travel destinations in Italy, behind Rome, Florence and Venice. In the early days prior to the “tourism takeover”, the main attraction in Cinque Terre was the Via Delle Amore, or ”walk of love”. The trail connected two of the villages, Manarola and Riomaggiore and when opened, it dramatically improved relationships between these once isolated communities. Young people, who rarely ... read more

Our friends arrived around the same time at Villa Ivana on Saturday to begin our 7 day stay in the Cortona area. The 9 bedroom Villa is an historical property that is nestled on a hillside within minutes of the old town. It is very spacious and reasonably comfortable with outdoor pool and a large pergola covered patio. It was fortunate that the large facility allowed some space for isolation, although 3 out of the 5 couples ended up positive with Covid, some showing mild to no symptoms. For the first few days, our plans were somewhat restricted but eventually we were able to get out and enjoy some of the attractions in the area. Cortona is on the south east portion on Tuscany, close to the Umbria border. The old town’s origins can be traced ... read more