Travel
Surviving the Atlantis, Bahamas
It’s that time of year again – February – when the days are cold and dark and I start to daydream about warm destinations visited in the past. This year is no different, and I find myself thinking back to the warm, crystal clear waters and soft white beaches of the Bahamas, someplace I traveled…
Read MoreStrolling through the splendors of the Reggia di Caserta gardens
It’s been years that I’ve been ‘meaning to get to’ this royal palace an hour and a half’s drive south of Rome, but I only managed during this past Christmas holiday. Coincidentally, our visit was the day after a big special on this UNESCO World Heritage Site aired on Italian television. Incidentally, for those of you…
Read MoreSpectacular views over medieval Orvieto, Umbria
Whenever I visit towns or cities, I seek out the highest point to enjoy birds’ eye views over it. Strangely, I’d never been to the Umbrian town of Orvieto’s highest point. So when I found myself exploring this picturesque medieval town earlier this month with my two sons, I set out to remedy this. My…
Read MoreBad propaganda and Trabis at Berlin’s DDR Museum
I was in Berlin last month with my family. My son had prepared his Middle School exam on Berlin after World War II: the end of the war, the four Allied zones,the rise of the Soviet zone, the Berlin airdrops, the building of the Wall, the DDR, the fall of the Wall and reunification, and…
Read MoreMore than steel in Piombino, Tuscany
When my husband and I went to the Tuscan island of Elba a couple of years ago for a wedding (see my earlier post about Napoleon’s former Empire), we took the ferry over from the town of Piombino, a small town on the Tyrrhenian Sea of the Mediterranean. This area has been inhabited ever since…
Read MoreSprinting around the aqueducts of Rome’s Tor Fiscale Park
It’s great raising your kids in another culture and enjoying the differences in their upbringing. I reflect on this a lot as I take my younger son, a track and field and cross-country athlete, to his competitions. For his weekly workouts, he trains, arguably (for others, clearly not for me), at the most beautiful stadium…
Read MoreViews from the top of Berlin’s Television Tower
I love to travel, and whenever I go to a city it’s only a matter of time until I find its highest point. I generally try to make this visit early on so I can see the layout of a city clearly. It helps me when I’m exploring by foot later on. So on a…
Read MoreGetting into the holiday spirit in Berlin
Those who know me or who follow my blog know what a hopeless Italophile I am, with a ridiculous soft spot for my ‘hometown’: Rome. BUT, there’s one time of year when Rome disappoints me, and that’s the Christmas season. It’s not that there aren’t beautiful Nativity scenes in the churches – the traditional Christmas…
Read MoreEnjoying the season at the Weihnachtstmarkt in Berlin
Earlier this month I was in Berlin for a weekend with my family. Berlin has become somewhat a city of family lore because some years ago, we missed a flight to Berlin for a similar weekend, albeit in springtime. When I booked those tickets, the airline was scheduled to fly from one Roman airport, and…
Read MoreNew York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
I once spoke to someone who visited New York in the cold of January. She complained on and on about how freezing and miserable the city was. I couldn’t help but ask her why she didn’t go to one of the ridiculous number of museums New York boasts to warm up and soak up some…
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