There must be hundreds, possibly thousands, of travel blogs so why another one? Maybe I’m egotistical enough to think I have something to share but mostly I would like to become a forum, possibly, to hear from others with similar experiences. Plus my own blog gives me more freedom to express my opinion. Over […]
Read MoreFirenze 2023, Christmas Lights
My sister (Susan), daughter (Laura), niece (Rachelle) and her friend, Callie, and I arrived in Firenze from Rome early afternoon, December 7, 2023; our goal being to see the lighting of the Christmas tree as well as other holiday lights. We succeeded at that but for the others, it became pretty much a shopping extravaganza. […]
Read MoreFirenze 2023 and Italianme
I visited Firenze twice in November and December 2023. My first week in Firenze, I was on my own, attending a new (for me) language school, Italianme. I’ve written a brief section about the school, followed by my activities when not attending classes. At the end of the post are short sections on restaurants, and […]
Read MoreWhere not to Stay, Italy
I’m starting this post with hotels that didn’t turn out so well, then continuing to apartments. The scenes in the gallery above show both the reasons I chose these particular hotels; i.e. my weakness for terraces, and that even when the hotels turn out to be poor, there are always beautiful things to see […]
Read MoreFive days in Rome, off season
I considered putting a question mark after ‘off season’ because, unlike 2021 (see Firenze off season, parte uno and Firenze off season, parte due ) both Rome and Firenze were crazy crowded. It’s difficult to know if the crowds were due to pent up travel demand or simply more people wanting to see the holiday […]
Read MoreWhere to eat, Roma e Firenze, 2023
New Places Firenze Trattoria la Casalinga Via dei Michelozzi 9 (https://trattorialacasalinga.it/en/home-eng/) I ate here my last night in Firenze, after a lonely and fairly miserable week attending language school where I was forced to take private lessons. To add to the misery, my Air BnB apartment was horrible, gloomy and dark and poorly […]
Read MoreWhere to stay in Croatia and Slovenia
In 2019, my sister and I took a tour of Croatia and Slovenia through Gate One Travel, (see Thoughts on choosing a tour group, airline or place to staypost). While there were aspects of the tour I didn’t like, over all we saw some beautiful places and the Gate One Hotels were good. Grand Hotel Adriatic, […]
Read MoreWhere to stay in France
Hotel Mistral, Paris https://www.hotel-mistral-paris.com/en/ Hotel Mistral is definitely off the beaten path in Montparnasse, just a few blocks from the cimetiere. The rooms are modern but quite small. The staff made up for these negatives, though, first by showing my niece an app for the metro which allowed us to put in our destination and […]
Read MoreMore museums, monuments and interesting places
Italy Pompeii http://pompeiisites.org/en/ In 2021 I visited Pompeii for the first time and I’m still in awe. I was staying in Sorrento and took the Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Pompeii. From what I could see of the schedule for the Circumvesuviana train, not every train stops in Pompeii so make sure you’re getting on […]
Read MoreFirenze off season, parte due
My original plan for fall 2021 was to attend a language school in Sicily or Salerno after visiting Naples and Sorrento, staying there until my last week in Italy, then returning to Firenze for the Christmas lights. Unfortunately, the schools in Sicily and Salerno said they couldn’t guarantee enough students to have any activities. So […]
Read MoreFirenze off season, parte uno
In November 2021 I returned to Firenze after three nights in Sorrento and four nights in Naples. (see Three Days in Naples and Three Days in Sorrento, Positano and Pompeii posts) My goal was to stay until December 10th to see the lighting of the Christmas trees as well as the Christmas decorations and the annual […]
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