Travel
Prohibition-era beer in Utica, New York
On a trip out to western New York last summer, we were staying near then small city of Utica, New York. I’d never been to Utica before, but I knew its Saranac beer (and soft drinks). We saw there was a tour of the Matt Beer Brewery Company and decided to join in on the…
Read MoreMy (kinda, sorta) Rocky moment … in Guayaquil
Well, this Rocky moment certainly didn’t occur in a bout of heavyweight boxing. But I did feel like a (rather distant) cousin of Rocky Balboa each morning in Guayaquil when I went jogging up the steps to the lighthouse to enjoy the views over Ecuador’s largest city. Do you remember the original movie’s opening scene…
Read MoreA mini “Bilbao Guggenheim” in New York’s Hudson Valley
This past summer, while I was in New York City with my family, my older son and I took a driving trip up to the beautiful Hudson Valley to look at colleges and enjoy the beauty of this upstate New York region. While there, we were impressed to see The Fisher Center for the Performing…
Read MoreHangin’ out with the iguanas … in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Last week, I was in the coastal city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was my first time there, and though work didn’t allow me as much time as I would have liked to explore, I did get a nice introduction to Ecuador’s largest city. I also had the chance to make “friends” with some of the…
Read MoreSheep, cows and horses, oh my! The perils of mountain biking in Abruzzo
My older son plays Varsity tennis each fall and is often traveling around Italy for matches on weekends. My younger son and I often use this as an excuse for a solo escape to the little town in the mountains of Abruzzo for some fall foliage and mountain biking. This year was no exception. Earlier…
Read MoreFar above Cayuga’s waters … revisiting Cornell University
Many, many years ago, I spent a very happy four years at this beautiful university campus in Ithaca, (upstate) New York, studying political science and history. Even if I adored my time at Cornell, its location in western New York’s Finger Lakes region makes it a little off the beaten track for my infrequent trips…
Read MoreHiking the Celano Canyon in Abruzzo, Italy
Earlier this summer, during a particularly steamy Roman week, I found myself daydreaming constantly about a weekend escape to Abruzzo. I often get out for weekend to the town of Ovindoli, about 1 1/2 hour drive from Rome. Since the town at 1400 meters from sea level it is much, much cooler than Rome ……
Read MoreA Provence base in Reillanne, France
On the way back from a holiday trip in Pays basque, France, my family and I decided to break up the long drive back to Rome with a short stay in Provence. We made the little town of Reillanne our base to explore the region for a few days and stayed in a pretty gite,…
Read MoreArt deco overload in Arcachon, France
I’ve already written about our visit to the Dune du Pyla – at 105 meters high, officially Europe’s highest sand dune. Very close to this impressive natural wonder in France’s Gironde region is the pretty seaside town of Arcachon. This sleepy Atlantic coastal town became a destination of the international jet-set in the mid 19th…
Read MoreBerlin’s spectacular Pergamon Museum
There are a lot of great museums in Germany’s capital of Berlin, but the Pergamon Museum is not to be missed on your next visit. Located centrally, in the city’s Museum Island, the museum building was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffman and constructed between 1910-1930, and it attracts over a million visitors every…
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