Hiking and relaxation at Taiwan’s Silk Place Taroko Hotel

I  already wrote about the great vacation I had last year in Taiwan. My earlier posts talked about highlights in Taipei, Taipei’s Palace Museum,  and visiting Taiwan’s highest skyscraper, Taipei 101. But we also loved our time on Taiwan’s eastern coast, hiking in the beautful Taroko Gorge. And part of the fun of our time…

Read More

Gallipoli : The “beautiful city”

Gallipoli is a lovely town in the region of  Puglia  – the heel of the Italian boot – and is just along the Ionian Sea. This part of Puglia is known as the Salento, an absolute must-see region and one of my favorite southern Italian destinations. Salento is best known for its beautiful, unspoiled beaches and…

Read More

Paradise in the Indian Ocean: The Seychelles

Okay, full disclosure: this is not a recent trip. I was in these tropical islands seven long years ago for a February get-away. But since it’s February once again and it’s awfully cold and dark when I get up and out in the mornings, I decided to relive distant memories by posting about a long-ago…

Read More

Reason #5362 to love Rome: Piazza Navona’s Christmas Market

Felice Anno Nuovo! A very Happy New Year! Rome’s Piazza Navona has to be one of the most beautiful squares in the world.  Each December, continuing on to January 6th, Piazza Navona plays host to a Christmas market. Although it can’t compete with the elegant Christmas markets of Vienna and Nürnberg, the piazza itself offers…

Read More

Go west, young woman!

Okay – so a bit of artistic license in the title. Although, you will be sure to note, I have not altered the word ‘young’. Sometimes one just has to be a purist (particularly when it’s more flattering…). I’m often back with my family in New York and, while in the US, my husband and…

Read More

The Outer Banks, North Carolina

On a summer trip back to New York last year, my family and I wanted to get away for a relaxing beach holiday. We decided to go someplace we hadn’t been before and chose the Outer Banks, in northern North Carolina, someplace I’d always ‘meant to’ explore and hadn’t yet gotten around to doing. We…

Read More