Tag: on my knees at the scala santa

On My Knees at the Scala Santa

September 24, 2013

A print created between 1748 and 1751 of San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome. The Scala Santa, or Holy Staircase, is in a separate building. From the New York Public Library.

Will the Bashful Adventurer, who is not exactly a church-goer, nevertheless be transformed by a visit to the Scala Santa, or Holy Stairs, in Rome?

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Who Is the Bashful Adventurer?

A telemarketer changed my path. My life was humming along. I was a freelance writer and editor, a single mom, a frequent volunteer, and content. Then I decided to give a random telephone surveyor a break. I agreed to answer a few questions on travel destinations and tourist preferences. When I answered never to “how many times have you been to London?,” the telemarketer’s tone shifted quickly. She was talking to an unworldly woman.

She was right. I’d been to Italy, the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and plenty of states. I hadn’t trekked through Europe, though, or gone to Asia or visited the Middle East. I was alone, I was a single mom, I was a freelancer. I stopped letting these be excuses and started getting on planes. I became the Bashful Adventurer.

—Lori Tripoli

Bashful Adventurer Book Club

The Book to Bring to Positano, Italy

February 19, 2024

Looking for a book full of charms, a story with a bit of romance and a dose of magical realism, a novel with a setting most desirable—Positano, Italy—and characters in a healthful range of ages? Then pick up One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle.

Looking for Books Set in Key West? Try Island Life Sentence by Carrie Jo Howe

January 15, 2024

Looking for a book set in Key West, the Bashful Adventurer stumbles upon Island Life Sentence by Carrie Jo Howe. But will the book be as a good as a getaway to the Florida Keys?

A Book about Adventures in Travel at an Uncertain Time

November 4, 2020

The Bashful Adventurer picks up a romance novel written in the late 1930s hoping to see if and how the author addressed the coming war—and ends up getting a lesson on careers in the travel and tourism industry at a time when adventures in travel were far from mainstream

Books about Newport, RI: Murder at the Breakers

October 5, 2020

Disinclined to venture too far from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bashful Adventurer picks up a copy of Murder at the Breakers. But will this Gilded Newport Mystery make her want to visit Newport, RI?

Channeling Peggy Guggenheim and Costalegre, Jalisco, Mexico

September 28, 2020

The Bashful Adventurer, engaged in some rugged armchair travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, picks up a copy of Courtney Maum’s novel, Costalegre. Will the Bashful Adventurer be transported?

Lubaantun, Beliz

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Bashful Foodies

Russian Tea Room Review

January 28, 2020

The Bashful Adventurer descends on the iconic Russian Team Room restaurant in New York City. But will it live up to her dreams and its past glory?

Peppino’s Katonah: Great Italian Food in a Former Train Station

October 30, 2019

The Bashful Adventurer, a regular at Peppino’s restaurant in Katonah, NY, shares one of her favorite places for Italian food in Northern Westchester.

Where to Eat at Point Pleasant Beach NJ

July 31, 2019

The Bashful Adventurer heads to the Jersey Shore and becomes a foodie on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk.

Out at Pound Ridge

May 31, 2015

Given all of the positive publicity Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Inn at Pound Ridge has received, there’s probably little to no way the place could ever live up to its larger-than-life expectations. For those who remember the tiredness of earlier iterations of…

Margaritas, Straight, Salt: Southeast

March 25, 2015

If you seek the perfect margarita in the North Suburban vicinity, look no further than Las Mananitas restaurant in Brewster, in the town of Southeast. The food is pretty good, too; the fire in winter is warming, the patio in…