Just a snippet of important info if you are renting a car anywhere in Europe. Learn stick shift. The price differentials are staggering. On a recent trip to Crete, the price per day of a regular rental car was 30 Euros. For a stick shift. For automatic. $200. Bottom line. If you don’t know how, […]
Maybe I am in the minority. The beach thing. I love what Italians call the stabilimenti. The organized beach structures that are scattered along the Italian coastline. Complete with chairs, changing cabins, showers and umbrellas. Originating in Tuscany in the early 19th century, they were conceived as a health retreat that protected privacy and became […]
“Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball…” The Who I love Brighton. I went to university there. I used to go on day trips when I was young, and even walked to Brighton with a few of my mates when I guess we had nothing better to do. 50 miles. […]
I have been coming to Rome for nearly half a century. Following the same route into town. Turn left onto the Aventine, drive along the perimeter of the Palatine, Circus Maximus below, right past the Bocca de Verita, past the Teatro Marcello on the left, slow down by the stairs of the Cordonata and the […]
It’s the light. The summer sun hanging above the incredible array of places and monuments that are iconic. Paris is a masterpiece. Standing at the Carousel and looking down through the arches to la Defense, you capture the beauty of this place. The Tuileries in their dusty measured landscape detail, the surprises at the Luxembourg gardens […]
It has to be strange to have the most beautiful city in the world accolade. Unquestionably Paris. And yet the most dreadful welcome hubs. Charles de Gaulle airport and Gare du Nord. Planes and trains. Why do they do it to us. Not a city in the European stratosphere has such bad opening acts. […]
After Covid there has been a massive resurgence in travel. Some figures give 2022 fourth quarter as higher than 2019 fourth quarter. Some issues have developed. Demand is outstripping supply everywhere. Hotels, airlines, staff restaurants etc. etc. There is a shortage of everything and people who have been locked down are racing to get out. […]
I haven’t been back to Margate since I was a kid. Mum and dad would diligently save all their money so that we could have a 2-week holiday every year. Nothing fancy. A train journey of about 4 hours to the Thanet Coast and a small room in Margate at a guesthouse. We had to […]
I listened to a fabulous segment on the radio the other day. It was on a favorite show of mine called A Celtic Sojourn. It’s hosted by Brian O’Donovan every Saturday, on station WGBH in Boston. Brian is a Celtic music aficionado, among many things. The other day, long after the show had finished, I […]
The uniqueness of London Theater is renowned worldwide. The quality of the performances, the affordability of the seats, the sheer madness of quantity of theater within inner London. Modern auditoriums like the Bridge Theatre, the National and the Barbican in addition to the intensity of theatres on St. Martins Lane and Shaftesbury Avenue makes London the […]
I guess, for me it all started with a visit to the Carnival in Venice. February 2020. I remember the spectacle. I had never really seen anything like it. A piazza that looked more like a show, colors and masks and people parading around, posing and becoming photo opportunities for the tourists and the casual travelers. Centuries condensed into […]
Over the past few months, I have been back and forth across the country, across the Atlantic and crossed a few borders during the Covid restrictive era. Now, we are seeing the windows opening, the snow melting, and the restrictions being rolled back. Covid rates are dropping, vaccine (percentages are at an all-time high), and what didn’t seem […]
There is a very cool hotel in the delightful neighborhood of the 6th arrondissement. It’s called La Belle Juliette. I have stayed there several times and always recommend it to friends. It’s reasonable and one of those places that immediately immerse you into the feel and touch of a Parisian neighborhood. It’s on the Rue […]
Sometimes a city just has it. Paris is one of those places. Our office is in a small and quaint space nestled inside a residential building along the Rue de Babylon. It’s a stone‘s throw from the swish Conran’s store and the Belle Époque style Bon Marche, Paris’ super chic department store. It’s also the […]
Arrived very early at St. Pancras station. It was organized but you need more time than I recalled. More time for vaccine card. Proof of a negative Covid test. And everything takes three times longer. But, at some point you get through. They give you a tiny card at French customs on the UK side […]