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Scotland
Highland cattle (known locally as ‘coos’) have a double coat of long hair making them well suited to the rain, cold and winds in the Highlands of Scotland. They are also hilariously photogenic.Throughout the trip we sought as many opportunities as possible to see Highland cattle and made sure to get photos. By the end […]
Basque Country, Spain
Basque Country isn’t like the rest of Spain. Proudly perched on the northern Atlantic coast, near the border of France, the region, locally known as Euskadi, has its own distinct language, strong cultural traditions, celebrated cuisine and amazing wines.I recently returned from a week in the region attending IWINETC, an International Wine Tourism Conference. It […]
Lisbon, Portugal
Bursting with history and faded charm, Lisbon was the perfect host for my recent visit.Every corner I turned revealed something special…a colourful tram, beautiful tile work, laundry brightening a drab building, a view to the river, a castle…even in the rain and fog, it was charming.I was a guest of Visit Portugal and TAP Air […]
The Danube River
Our first look at the Danube River in Budapest. It was a grey, cold day but the twists and turns of the river through the city were still impressive. Unfortunately, the boat we were spending the week on was docked in Slovakia, instead of Budapest, due to record low water levels on the river.
Copenhagen
Five days to attempt to understand Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga), the Danish term for all things cozy and comfy. While we were in Copenhagen, I opened the online NYTimes mini crossword and found hygge was the answer to 7 across… It seems as if everyone is talking about hygge!
The Azores
The nine islands of the Azores Archipelago are volcanic in origin and are located in the North Atlantic, 890 miles from Portugal. They are also wild and largely unknown to most people. When I mentioned where we were going, I typically received a blank stare and a mumble about where they might be…so to save people the embarrassment I would say “we are going to the Azores, islands in the North Atlantic that are part of Portugal. It’s a non-stop flight from Boston.” Oh. Non-stop? Hmmm. And the conversation usually ended there.
Italy - The Lakes
The scenery was spectacular, the weather was perfect and the food was amazing for the six days we hiked around Lake Orta, Maggiore and Como the last week of September. We arrived in Milan a day early so we could adjust to the time change and see some of the city, including the Duomo.
Paris (the 100 mile journey, part 3)
The subtitle of the last three blog posts, the 100 mile journey, should be a clue that the 37 miles we walked in Paris brought our total for nine days to 100 miles!
London (the 100 mile journey, part 2)
We arrived in London the day before the Scottish independence vote, which might explain the bagpipe player on Westminster Bridge. In case you missed the news, the final vote was 55% no, 45% yes and an amazing 85% voter turnout. So Scotland will remain part of the UK, but with a need for greater involvement over their affairs.
Oxford (the 100 mile journey, part 1)
While visiting Oxford, London and Paris a few weeks ago, I wore my pedometer and managed to cover 100 miles on foot! Walking is my favorite mode of transportation, particularly in cities, so it wasn’t that difficult to do. You see things on foot that you don’t get to see from a car window or even a bicycle, which seemed to be the preferred method of transportation in Oxford.
Cinque Terre
Vernazza gets most of the press, and the view as you approach the town from the path is amazing. But that’s not the whole story! The five towns that comprise the Cinque Terre are all breathtaking.Tucked into a rugged section of coastline in the northwest corner of Italy, the Cinque Terre or Five Lands are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Rome
Our first sensation was of chaos since we had just spent an idyllic week in Positano, cooking, eating, drinking and hiking. The heat and noise of Rome felt overwhelming. After we arrived at our hotel and paid the extra money for the air conditioning, we regrouped and planned the rest of our evening. We found a cafe, ordered some wine and settled in. We strolled after dinner, the ever popular passeggiata, and began to enjoy the sights and sounds of Rome in the evening.
Positano Cooking Vacation
This was the view from our balcony each morning during our week in Positano with Cooking Vacations! I had read about this trip in an issue of National Geographic Traveler and had tucked the idea in the back of my head til the time was right.
London
When we finally found a week that would work for all four of us to visit London, we had no idea that we would overlap with the Queen's Jubilee! My mother was excited when she realized we could watch the 1000 boat flotilla on the Thames. We ended up having the same view of the flotilla as my mother did in Canada --- from the television in the apartment we rented since the thousands of people that lined the banks of the river made it impossible to see anything, plus it was raining, no surprise!