Travel
A Tuscan hideaway in Civitella Marittima
My sprinter son qualified for the U23 Italian track & field championships. This year’s edition was held in Grosetto, Tuscany. Because we booked late, everything in this Tuscan town was fully booked. Having been to Grosetto’s fabulous track for earlier races, I decided to seek out something new. I started looking for hotels further inland…
Read MoreGhost town? No, ghost castle – in Tuscany…
You’ve probably heard of ghost towns. Towns where residents moved away, and which are now quaint relics from the past. But on a recent trip to Tuscany, I visited a “ghost castle”. Truthfully, it’s not a real ghost castle, since there were a couple of elderly residents who resided there. We spoke to them, and…
Read MoreThe State Capitol in Austin, Texas
I’d been to Texas a couple of times, but had never visited its capital of Austin until a few years ago. My son was at a running camp in Texas, and we traveled through the state, including its capitol building. It was a hot, summer day, and we were happy to take an (airconditioned) break…
Read MoreThe “Little Apple” of Manhattan, Kansas and the Konza Prairie
Last summer, my younger son and I took a(n almost) cross-country trip from New York and Washington, DC to Kansas. While staying in Topeka, one of the spots we visited was the not-the-city-that-never-sleeps version of Manhattan: the one in Kansas. Otherwise known as “The Little Apple”. We got a kick out of this moniker. It…
Read MoreEnjoying a performance at Paris’ Opéra Bastille
I’ve already written about Paris’ stunning Opéra Garnier. But when I was in Paris earlier this year, I did attend an opera, but at Paris’ much larger, and more modern, opera house at the Bastille. Opéra Bastille is – not surprisingly – located on Place de la Bastille. It was commissioned in 1981 by then…
Read MoreSpring hiking in Abruzzo
I’ve written many times about how much I love Abruzzo. Abruzzo is the Italian region neighboring Lazio, where Rome is. This makes it the perfect weekend escape to nature from Italy’s capital. I’m a frequent visitor here, and my husband and I decided to enjoy a long weekend here over the 1 May holiday weekend.…
Read MoreL’Aquila’s reconstructed Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio
The Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio is L’Aquila’s most important church. It was built in 1289 by the Celestines and is the final resting place of Pope Celestine V. With all of the Papal talk in these days, with the recent death of Pope Francis and the Conclave that elected Pope Leo, this is…
Read MoreThe glamour of Paris’ Opera Garnier
I was in Paris a few months ago, and I decided to stop off to visit the Opera Garnier – a place I hadn’t visited in years (decades?). Musical afficionados will know the Palais Garnier as the inspitration for The Phantom of The Opera. And the self-guided audiotour does speak about the tales of the…
Read MoreSanta Maria Maggiore – The Papal Basilica where Pope Francis is buried
With the recent death of Pope Francis and his decision to be buried not in the Vatican, but at Santa Maria Maggiore, it seemed like a good time to spotlight this impressive basilica. Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome’s four papal basilicas. The others are Saint Peter’s, Saint John Lateran and Saint Paul Without…
Read MoreAdmiring Exeter’s Cathedral between bouts of rain
This past autumn, I was in Devon, England for the Historical Novel Society Conference. While there, I joined one of the organized trips for us to visit Exeter’s Norman-Gothic cathedral, and to enjoy a wander around the pretty town. The Exeter Cathedral was founded in 1050, but was expanded between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.…
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