Hi All,
We spent our first night in Puglia at our new Palazzo in the picturesque, sleepy village of Minervino di Lecce, in the heel of the Italian boot.
The village consists of several homes, a church,
Hi All,
We spent our first night in Puglia at our new Palazzo in the picturesque, sleepy village of Minervino di Lecce, in the heel of the Italian boot.
The village consists of several homes, a church,
Hi All,
We left Bernalda and Basilicata behind and drove east toward the Puglia region located in the heel of Italy’s boot.
As we approached the Adriatic Sea, our first stop was at the second UNESCO
World Heritage Sites that we would visit, Alberobello, a “must see” if you like little Hobbit houses.
These small, cylindrical whitewashed homes with cone-shapped roofs are called Trulli (pronounced like “truly”) and they are very cute. I mean like kitten or puppy cute.
Hi All
We have been in Italy for almost 48 hours, and I thought it was probably time to reset my watch to Italian time (8 or 9 hours later or earlier-I wasn’t entirely sure),
so on the morning of our second day we visited the most accurate timepiece in the area:
Continue reading Basilicata Italy: Stepping out in the Instep (Part 2)
Hi All,
After a fantastic dinner at the Palazzo Margherita (Francis’ place), the next morning, though jet lagged and exhausted, we decided to visit the environs of Bernalda. Our first excursion was to a UNESCO World Heritage Site called Matera, a cave city that has existed for 10,000 years, give or take,
Continue reading Basilicata, Italy: Stepping out in the Instep
Hi All,
After a short 90 minute flight from Bergen, Norway,
we arrived back in The Netherlands. Over half the land in Holland has been reclaimed and used to be under the sea. It was easier to visualize from the air.
One third of the Netherlands, including the airport, is below sea level
Continue reading Back in Amsterdam: The Nordic Travelers Return
Hi All,
We were in Bergen for less than 24 hours, and we spent nearly 20% of our time eating (and drinking) dinner.
It turns out that there was a restaurant in Bergen that was written up in the NY Times called Lysverket
which serves “Neo-Fjordic” cuisine.
Hi All,
We left Balestrand for our final stop in Norway, Bergen which is the second most populated city in Norway.
It was our longest and last chance to be captivated by the glorious scenery of the fjords.
Hi All,
Before I describe the next days agenda I want to pause for a moment and, as promised, say a word about the stave architectural style
Hi All,
Our destination was the quaint village of Balestrand
As we got off the ferry from Flam, both Jill and I felt the almost imperceptible alteration in the space-time continuum. The population of Balestrand surged from 1,294 to 1,296 (an increase of almost 0.15%), bumping it up to the 373rd most populous municipality in Norway.
Hi All,
Before we go on to the stories of the fjords (like Ali Baba and the Fjordy Thieves or North Dallas Fjorty or The Fjorty Year Old Virgin), I want to briefly take you back to our first morning in Oslo.
It was very early on June 22, after our harrowing arrival the day before. We were sound asleep in our hotel room and suddenly awakened by the smell of smoke. Thinking that the hotel was on fire (and, at the same time, wondering if that meant we would get a room upgrade or at least a refund for one night), we looked outside for fire engines and saw that the smoke was coming from something burning in the harbor. I wondered out loud if it was the rather large ship named “The Vanity” that we saw the night before.