Europe

The Sixth Village of the Cinque Terra

The ferry boat glided out of the harbor of La Spezia beginning my journey to the famous 5 villages of the Cinque Terra. The weather was perfect and water an indigo blue as we cruised along the Ligurian coast. The famous villages with their small...

Le Crete Senesi –
The Italian Road Trip

In his classic road movie La Strada, Anthony Quinn finds adventure driving Italian roads. On the Crete Senesi I found this adventure too. Driving Le Crete The starting point for the trip begins in Siena, my home base for jet lag recovery and stocking up on road trip...

Eating Ireland

Food in Ireland Fish and Chips in Ireland I am an unapologetic travel addict. So it’s no surprise I jumped at a recent, last minute invitation to stay with friends just outside of Limerick, Ireland. I was eager to see the land of verdant hills, castles, Celtic...

Sparkling Caves and Baby Dragons in Slovenia

Postojna Caves and Baby Dragons in Slovenia My underground journey began with an open-air train ride. I felt like I was in an Indian Jones movie as I flew through narrow subterranean passages, and past wide open spaces with stalactites hanging like crooked teeth. The...

Walking Montepulciano

"Hear, all ye drinkers! Give ear, and give faith, to our edict divine - Montepulciano's the King of all Wine!" - Francisco Redi, 1685 The Wine Vino di Nobile has been celebrated since Etruscan times, but it was only 50 years ago that the wine was officially classified...

Dog-sledding in Svalbard, Norway

After a late night wandering the streets of Longyearbyen, under the midnight sun, I was up early. Waiting in the crisp Arctic morning air, my breath visible despite it being June, I could see the tour van driving towards the guesthouse that I was staying in. This was...

A Hidden Concert
in a Berlin Warehouse

It is a chilly Sunday evening in Berlin. Late October and the trees have shaken off their leaves. I shuffle my feet through piles of golden yellow and approach two steel doors with graffiti scrawled on them. Two smokers huddle in the cold, shifting from one foot to...

Quiet Corners in the West of Wales

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Even if you tour Europe, you’re probably not going to go here.” These were the words, spoken by my mother, that enticed me to take a break from my busy Los Angeles life to join my parents on a trip to Pembrokeshire and its coastal...

Snowshoeing & Snowblind at Switzerland’s Aletsch Arena

But I Digress… This is the third and final installment in the series about my January journey to the Matterhorn Region, in the Swiss canton of Valais (or Wallis), which has 45 summits at Switzerland’s highest areas for skiing. After boarding the Glacier Express at St....

Driving the White Villages of Andalucia

Andalucia and its White Villages Driving Southern Spain Driving in a foreign country can intimidate the best of us. My first time driving in Southern Spain, I worried about mysterious traffic rules and weird signage – all of which would be in español! How would I get...

The Omphalos of Tuscany in Castelmuzio

Everyone tells me that they simply love touring Italy. I do too. The food, the wine, the undulating roads lined with emblematic cypress trees. Beginning with the Etruscans millennia ago up to today’s Republic, it's rich history and beauty have earned a place in my top...

Marooned Near the Matterhorn: Escape from Snowed-In Zermatt

Murdered on the Glacier Express to Zermatt In January I planned to take an eight hour ride via first class coach with panoramic windows from Switzerland’s most luxurious center in its southeast to its poshest outpost in the southwest. But my train trip from St. Moritz...