How strange that we were strolling to Jaffa for an evening out and we caught a wedding!? Jaffa is the oldest part of Tel Aviv and is the original settlement. It has a good flea market, an impressive clock tower, and lots of small, winding streets that lead to the hilltop for good views. There […]
The funny thing about Masada is that the introduction video is really bad. It is part 60’s Hollywood and part dreadful narration with such a bad accent that you feel like someone from Disney should come by and help them out. But having said that, the place is breathtaking. The story is a compelling part […]
Israel is a strange place unlike any other place I have visited. Locked in between hostile desert nations and four seas, it creates its own karma. Everyone has a story here. The modern history of Israel is tragic and brave and unresolvable at press time! The people are in siege mentality and you feel it. […]
Next day was a free day; a Sunday. We got a limo and a guide and a bunch of us headed to Jerusalem. That morning there were several news stories about some problems in the Old City and so we had some trepidation. Yet in the interest of massive curiosity and fear of the CNN […]
The hotel staff at the Intercontinental David were nice but not overly friendly – like they didn’t quite trust us. The service was decent, but not brilliant, as if they had other things on their mind. And obviously they do! Everything was spotless and clean but there was an edge and you always had this […]
When we got off the plane, the guy with the sign was right there. Perfect. Welcome to Tel Aviv, ACIS and Pietro Place! The interrogation that I had feared was nonexistent and we were through and walking to the van in next to no time. It is a short drive into the center and our […]
The great thing about flying on Turkish Airlines from Boston is that they have a very late flight at 11:40 pm. In addition, if you are heading onwards to Tel Aviv, as I was, connections are pretty good. Package that with a business class fare that is not one of those jaw dropping dreadful price […]
What Cuba Needs My Israel and Jordan post is coming soon (check Facebook for live updates!) but right now Cuba is everywhere. 2015 is set to be a record breaker in terms of visitors welcomed to the island. There will be 2,000,000 arrivals between January and July alone; this is a 16% increase year-on-year. 3,000,000 […]
The End of Delays? How about this for a nail biter? To cut down on the inevitable airline delays, air traffic controllers are starting to use time instead of distance to space out airplanes. While this doesn’t mean that the really silly game where they tell you that the flight takes an hour longer than […]
The Revolution You know that moment when some unbelievably smart person figured out that a suitcase with wheels actually could be turned so that the wheels went on the widest part not the narrowest part? It was one of the great game changers in travel. Then the bag moved to a 4-wheel option and you […]
It’s the season. They are officially out there…leaf addicts. They jump on buses in search of the perfect foliage red. Armed with their cameras and sketchbooks, they come from near and far to witness this once a year event that happens only in certain parts of the world – the moment when the leaves on […]
While I’m en route to Israel and Jordan, I have a few flight flashbacks and overseas observations that I’ve been excited to share with you…. First: Europe’s Tourism Revival! Good news for Europeans. The majority of European destinations saw a significant increase in visitors for the last part of 2015. Top of the pops was Iceland, a […]
Pietro Place is on the Move! Stay tuned for explorations of Israel and Jordan…
My daughter recently got married and among the many things that we had to eat, we elected to have a serrano ham on the bone as part of the entertainment. Why the Feast of the Jamón? Jamón serrano is a true cornerstone of Spanish gastronomy. It is a type of cured ham that is generally cut […]
I confess – I love Rome. Not so much the Colosseum and St. Peter’s (and I ADORE those places) but rather just walking around through the piazzas and the tiny streets that connect them all together like an ancient necklace. This is my take on the many ways to enjoy Roman Ways. There is that famous adage: […]