Commemorating WWI soldiers in Abruzzo

On my recent ski escape, I was in Ovindoli, in Italy’s Apennine mountains of the Abruzzo region. Like most little mountain towns, Ovindoli has a memorial to the soldiers who died both in WWI and WWII. For those who know the region well, most of these towns have much longer lists for the First World…

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Novels in the mountains

I always love reading, but there’s something special about books I take with me to read when I’m out in the mountains. I spend a lot of time out in the mountains, both in the spring and summer for hiking and in the winter for skiing. On a recent skiing escape in Abruzzo, I read…

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Another year, another Goodreads Reading Challenge

The champagne bubbles are flat. Work replaces holiday days. Your regular exercise regime kicks back in, replacing those holiday excesses. But the one bright light in the return-to-business- as-usual (and the only New Years’ Resolution you actually enjoy keeping) is the new Goodreads Reading Challenge! Why not take part this year? I’ve been doing this…

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Colonial splendor in Guayaquil’s Las Peñas neighborhood, Ecuador

I always fall for colonial architecture, so when I was in Guayaquil, Ecuador this past autumn, it’s not surprising I was immediately drawn to the gorgeous Las Peñas neighborhood. Las Peñas was the first neighborhood built in Guayaquil – now Ecuador’s largest city. It was constructed 400 years ago in typical colonial Spanish style. Unfortunately,…

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Happy New Year!

I don’t know about you, but I no longer know how the years fly by so quickly. But race by they do, and here we are in 2019. Here’s hoping your first days of the new year are starting off right, and to all you readers and writers out here – wishing you a spectacular…

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Luckily no more bulls on Madrid’s Plaza Mayor

On a recent trip to Madrid, we enjoyed clear winter days – perfect walking weather to explore Spain’s capital … and explore the city by foot, we did! Our walks, of course, often led us back to Madrid’s Plaza Mayor. The pedestrianized square is stunning – even more so with a lively Christmas market set…

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Greetings from the slopes

With any luck, when this post goes out I’ll be here. Looking forward to a little time relaxing on the slopes. I so love being out in the mountains, enjoying fresh, mountain air, feeling that nagging pain on my muscles after the end of a long day of skiing, and enjoying a good book in…

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Baby, it’s cold outside…

It’s not just that today’s the shortest day of the year, and that it feels as cold and dark as it’s going to get. It’s not only that in Rome – after a balmy autumn – we’re now experiencing chilly temperatures. The real reason I constantly finding myself humming what has become a Christmas classic…

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