I’ve been fortunate to see Il Carro Matto twice, in 2017 and 2019. I initially found information about it at visitflorence.com before attending Istituto Michelangelo in 2017, realizing it was scheduled for my second Saturday in Firenze. When I signed up to attend Istituto Michelangelo in 2019, it occurred to me that I would again […]
Read MoreLucca and the Garfagnana
I’ve visited Lucca and the Garfagnana three times, in 2015, 2016 and 2019, (each time with my sister). Lucca is one of my favorite towns in Tuscany and I love the beautiful mountains and little villages of the Garfagnana. But getting to the Garfagnana and into Lucca has had its challenges. So after the sections […]
Read MorePisa
My sister and I first visited Pisa in 2015 while staying at Villa Cheli near Lucca. The hotel had a good map and the concierge gave us fairly detailed directions. So getting to Pisa, itself, was no problem. But once we got close to the centro things fell apart. As we followed the street just […]
Read MoreTears for Venice
When I wrote a post about Venice after my first visit in October 2017, (see Venice post) I said I wasn’t drawn to return because it wasn’t the warm culture that I had experienced in Tuscany and southern Italy. A friend of mine posted a comment saying that while he agreed with the Disneyland for […]
Read MoreCroatia and Slovenia
Croatia Since visiting Dubrovnik in October 2017, I wanted to see more of Croatia and researched various options. I’ve written a post (Thoughts on choosing a tour) that includes information on how my sister and I chose Gate 1 for our 2019 Croatia Slovenia trip as well as the good, the bad and the ugly of the tour. Getting […]
Read MoreThoughts on choosing a tour group, airline or place to stay
Multi-day Tours Europeds As I wrote in my Flying solo post, the best tour I ever took was my first ever bike trip in Provence through Europeds. I stumbled on this company in the ads of my National Geographic Traveler Magazine. By sheer luck it was not only a great group of people but our guide […]
Read MoreMore European Driving Adventures
By now anyone who’s read my ‘Finding Italy’ post must be wondering why I’ve continued to try to drive in Europe. My ‘adventures’ remind me of National Lampoon’s European Vacation. In 2015 my sister asked if we could go to Provence and see some of the towns I visited on my first bike trip. As […]
Read MoreFinding Italy
Getting There, Parte Uno Driving and renting in Italy I started writing this post with the intent of helping others not make the same mistakes as I’ve made. By the time I’d finished writing about my first experience driving and renting in 2010, I realized I’d made so many mistakes driving that I would have […]
Read MoreA Prayer for Notre Dame
Two days ago, on Monday April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror as the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris went up in flames. Every newscaster referred to the cathedral as ‘iconic’ and it is. As of this date more of the cathedral survived than originally feared but much was destroyed. Here’s a link […]
Read MoreFirenze, old and new
In 2018 my sister and I spent 10 days in Firenze. The previous year (2017) I spent two weeks in Firenze at a language school (see Istituto Michelangelo, parte uno and Istituto Michelangelo, parte due) and I was excited to show my sister some new places plus go to our old favorites. However, some of […]
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