A very good friend of mine, a Madrileno, always insisted that the siesta was a way for Spaniards to live their life twice over. I Would often find myself out with him over lunch,which invariably would start around 3 pm, and at the end of this heavy dining affair, he would excuse himself and we […]
Life seems to be about sports at the moment. I am fascinated by the Language of Sports. In soccer, the English Premier League just completed its season with incredible coverage from NBC. Americans could wake up any Saturday or Sunday and watch the full gamut of games live with incredible coverage and smart informed announcers. […]
Our wine and truffle day was something that could have stretched into two days. After lunch washed down by Barolo, the last thing I was thinking was more food but I had it on my agenda to visit a truffle producing factory. So, off we went in the hunt for the elusive truffles. Urging my […]
So, what do you do when you need a break from Turin? The good news is that Piedmont is Italy’s new culinary region for cutting edge restaurants, Slow Food, and new age and old age vineyards. None of these hotspots are too far away. It can all be accomplished in a day and you can […]
Why Turin? It is interesting, often overlooked, and is probably one of the more dramatic cities in the world because of its proximity to the Alps. It is literally enveloped by mountains. Located in Piedmont, it is close to the towns of Barolo (famous for wine), Alba (famous for truffles), and Bra (the center and […]
Today’s highlight was the antique wooden train that rides on a narrow gauge track and has been rolling along since 1912 across the 27 kilometers from Palma to Soller. This old timber-paneled bone shaker winds along Palma’s streets before heading through gorgeous countryside that reveals rows of olive trees with tiny ochre colored villages in […]
We had been stuck in a car for the best part of four hours as the snow came down around the Simplon Pass. Our escape by car-train was a longer process than we had imagined as all of the cars that were headed over the Simplon Pass were diverted to the car-train. Eventually, and all […]
I had many misgivings about visiting Mallorca mostly because it brought up images of holiday charters from the UK and Germany, full of pasty skinned tribes of beer drinkers and football shirts! It is the largest of the Balearic Islands, sitting just off the coast of Spain, equidistant between Valencia and Barcelona, and has been […]
I will always remember the time I went to Montecatini, a spa town outside of Florence. I pulled up to this beautiful gate and saw an elegant driveway that led to one of Italy’s famous spas. Fully expecting hot water thermal springs I was quickly initiated into the non-hot water type of spa. Here it […]
I feel like I have spent an awful lot of time around the Vatican recently. There was Easter and there was the beatification two weeks after when half of the world came down to witness the first time in the history of man that four Popes would be in the square at the same time […]
I get to eat in restaurants all over the world. Sometimes I go to fancy restaurants but most of the time I prefer a brasserie-style experience. Living in Boston and traveling across the Atlantic frequently, I get to eat in some really cool places. But, when someone asked me the other day what my favorite […]
On the Subject of Seating… have you ever wondered why you feel like a million dollars when you get an upgrade to business or first class? Is it because you have escaped the back of the plane? Well, partly of course. Who really wants to sit cramped up for 8 hours playing elbow war with […]
When you get on a plane, do you ever think about how bizarre it really all is? We queue up and are herded into our designated sections of coach, premium coach, emergency exit priority seats, business, or first. The plane essentially is a long narrow tube with varying degrees of comfort depending upon what you […]
I never like to check bags unless I am skiing. I have had the experience of losing too many bags for weeks at a time. This simply becomes a huge inconvenience and it is costly. Airlines provide you with barely enough compensation to buy a pair of underpants and socks. So that is my rule. […]
Gare de Lyon My confession is that I had never been to Lyon. Well, at least never inside the city proper. I had passed it in my rental car when I was a young kid on my way down to the south of France. I had overlooked this place, and much to my shame, I […]