Posts Tagged ‘Europe’
On the menu in Brussels
I’ve already posted a fair bit about a four-day get-away my younger son and I made to Brussels, Belgium. He chose the city for our get-away (his first time there) and we saw a lot, but he continues to rave about Brussels and say he’d like to go back. Although we had a lot of…
Read MorePicturesque Pau – tucked away in France’s Pyrénées
On a very long drive last summer from Rome to France’s Pays basque, along the Atlantic coast, we decided to make some tourist stops. One of those stops was in Pau, a charming town nestled in the Pyrénées. Pau is the capital of the region of Béarn and offers a lot to see for visitors.…
Read MoreOutdoor cinema at Piazza Vittorio, Rome – 2018
I am a big fan of outdoor cinema, and every summer I’m happy to see the screens set up outside at Piazza Vittorio, a neighborhood near me in Rome. There are two screens in the park, and each evening there are two movies shown at what is officially called Notti di cinema a Piazza Vittorio.…
Read MoreSperlonga’s Truglia Tower
Italy’s coastline is dotted by picturesque watchtowers. These have a long history – and were generally constructed to thwart off Ottoman or Saracen invasions. Luckily, today they are merely photogenic spots. One such tower is in the town of Sperlonga – a pretty, medieval beach town south of Rome, on Lazio’s southern coast. I’ve already…
Read MoreManneken Pis: Symbol of Brussels
I’ve already expressed my doubts about the symbols of Brussels. I enjoy Belgium’s capital. I love its elegant art deco galleries, and its stunning, gold-plaited Grand’ Place, so it does seem odd to me that the symbols of the city are a giant model of an atom and a fountain dedicated to a urinating boy. That…
Read MoreVisiting Brussels’ Atomium
Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Rome the Colosseum. In London it’s Big Ben, and outside of Beijing it’s the Great Wall. Brussels has – er, well – either (take your pick) a tiny statue of a urinating boy or a large model of an atom built 165 billion times its natural size. While I have…
Read MoreReason #5389 to love Rome: Golden Gala 2018
I’ve been going each year to this annual international track meet, a part of the Diamond League competitions, ever since my track-obsessed younger son began running at seven years old. This has become a tradition for us each May or June when this international meet arrives in the Eternal City – at the Olympic stadium…
Read MoreMarket day in Forcalquier, France
We loved visiting the medieval town of Forcalquier in France’s Provence region on its bustling market day. Forcalquier is in eastern Provence, to the north of the larger town of Manosque. We visited on market day, which is a busy and bustling time for what must otherwise be a sleepy town. Forcalquier’s heyday was back in…
Read MoreBooks and more in Banon, France
We loved discovering this pretty, medieval town in the French region of Alpes de Haute Provence, in eastern Provence. We had already discovered western Provence’s Luberon Valley on an earlier trip, but on our visit last summer we based ourselves in the eastern town of Reillane and explored the nearby region. There are still plenty…
Read MoreA birds’ eye view of Gent, Belgium
I’ve already written about the visit with my youngest son to visit the charming, medieval town of Ghent, in Belgium. It was my first time in that picture-perfect town, which was rendered even more beautiful by the warm spring sunshine. My son and I did what we always do when we visit a new town…
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