Posts Tagged ‘Europe’
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas … in Bordeaux
On my recent trip to Bordeaux, France I was there when they turned on the Christmas lights and opened the Christmas market to the public. I always enjoy traveling at this time of year to enjoy the festive holiday lights. Bordeaux is such an elegant city, so I had high hopes for its Christmas market.…
Read MoreThe glory of Rome’s Mercati di Traiano
If you’ve ever been to Rome, it’s doubtful you’ve missed the Roman Forum – stretching from the Colosseum to the Piazza Venezia. The Italian word for the Roman Forum is Fori imperiali, which is Imperial Fora – this is because their are multiple fora, each created by a different emperor. The Mercati di Traiano or…
Read MoreArt theft robs us all: The Louvre heist
In a normal world, it would go without saying that theft is bad. But today, with the insane “reimagine justice” movements, I realize we can’t take anything for granted. But museum thefts have always struck me as particularly pernicious. Well-known art works and priceless objects are, by their very nature, impossible to resell. They are…
Read MoreAdmiring Conegliano through the vines
Earlier this summer, I was up in Conegliano, Italy – in the Veneto region – with my younger son for a track and filed race he had there. It was my first time in Coneglaino, a pleasant little town. But its real claim to fame is all the vineyards surrounding the towns in the hills…
Read MoreThe beauty of Armenian khachkars
We had a wonderful vacation in the Caucasus last month – and I’ll be writing more about what we saw in beautiful Georgia and Armenia in the coming weeks. But one of the beautiful objects we saw throughout Armenia were the traditional khachkars, or carved, cross-stone stele. These khachkars are typical of medieval Armenian Christian…
Read MoreA 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 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 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 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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