How to Get Youthful or Just Impatient Adventurers through Art Museums without Tripping Alarms The first few days of any trip to Italy might be just fine for a visitor, what with the jetlag and the joy of being in…
Could You Get Any Closer than the Scalinata di Spagna? With less than 24 hours to spend in Rome, the Brawny Sherpa and I would need to be strategic in selecting a hotel so that we could see those last…
A View on a Budget in Florence Our quick stay at the Soggiorno Battistero in Florence is just long enough to appreciate anew the place across from the Duomo referred to as the Baptistry. So thrilled with our view right…
Have you been in a Holiday Inn lately? I had not, but find myself staying in Holiday Inn Express Rome–San Giovanni (not far outside the walls of the old city) as part of a package that mostly involves incredibly low…
In case a traveler needs to see just a little bit more art on any given trip to Italy: enjoy the fizzy pink lady in Rome. You can find her on Via Assisi not far up from Via Tuscolana before…
Understanding the Viennese Paradox Anticipating a visit to Vienna, I am trying to understand the place, its past, its present. Mention Vienna and pastries come to mind along with classical music. Austria as a nation is a bit more confusing,…
A Mid-Life Road Trip Everyone Wants to Take Looking for escape on a chilly mid-winter day, one might reach for a copy of The Trip to Italy (2014), starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves on a high-end road…
Although my idea of “roughing it” involves having to walk from my cabin to a clubhouse for dinner, I still enjoy books about more rugged adventures involving far more outdoorsiness than I am ever likely to pursue. I sometimes imagine…
If I live on a lake, do I really need to vacation at a different one?, I wonder as the Brawny Sherpa, the Bonus Adventurers, and I jump into the car and head north toward Lake George, N.Y. I laughed…