Hello from Singapore! We booked a stopover in the city when DD thought he had a conference there … But it got cancelled. Damn! So he’s flying home today and I’m hanging around until Friday. I wish he could stay, but it’s his son’s 18th birthday and he wants to be there to give him […]
Today’s post is an educational one. It’s about ways to avoid being bankrupted by a stay in Switzerland. I discovered most of the tips retrospectively. Bummer. Switzerland is a very beautiful country, but also a VERY expensive one. Very, very, very expensive. You know how your local pub has a $10 schnitty special on Tuesdays? […]
Our Italian adventure ended spectacularly yesterday with a UNESCO listed train journey through the Swiss Alps aboard the Bernina Express. Before we headed to the border train station in Tirano we squeezed in a quick ride on the funicular that transports residents and tourists between Como and Brunate. It takes 7 minutes on a track […]
Our delight in yesterday crept up and caught us by surprise. We weren’t expecting much from the day: a long freeway trek from Villa Campestri to Brunate, a hilltop town overlooking Lake Como. But it became one of our favourite experiences of the trip. First we stopped for cappuccinos in the UNESCO listed town square […]
Now, don’t get me wrong, Florence is absolutely gorgeous. But I didn’t fall in love with the city. Sacrilege! I think I’ve become a smaller town girl. Perhaps my expectations were too high. So many people told me how amazing it was. Maybe it’s like seeing too many previews of a movie and the real […]
We had the most unexpectedly lovely afternoon in Lucca yesterday. The town was once the hub of silk production in Italy and is filled with churches and rich merchants’ towers. The merchants built the towers with single rooms on each floor: bottom commercial, second living, third bedroom, etc and kitchen at the top with a […]
There are waaaaaay worse places to be lost than Tuscany, so I’m not complaining (too much) about how many times we misplaced our route yesterday. But let me start at the beginning. Our gorgeous country retreat does everything so so well. Breakfast even includes a huge honeycomb dispensing the local sticky stuff. Classy! After brekkie […]
I only gave you half the holiday story. I’ve been holding out on you … DD flew to Rome to meet me on Sunday night. Lucky me! The rain was absolutely bucketing down when he arrived, so he was drenched when he finally puddled into the hotel from the station. But we only had one […]
My ex was waiting for us when we pulled into Rome Termini Station yesterday morning. It was time for me to say goodbye to the kids for three weeks. We hugged and kissed and I wished them a good holiday. Then they were gone, without a backward glance. You know you’ve created a secure environment […]
Our Naples hotel, Il Convento, is in a great part of the city. It’s a block into the Spanish Quarter, right near the bustling Via Toledo. Via Toledo is full of boutiques and buskers and market stalls and thousands of boisterous, strolling locals. Our backstreet is crammed with little shops selling fresh fruit, seafood, deli […]
