Italy
Visiting Puglia: The High Heel of Italy’s Boot
An Enchanted Island on Lake Maggiore

Lake Maggiore may be less showbiz than neighboring Lake Com0, but it is no less spectacular. Spanning the Swiss-Italian border, Lake Maggiore offers superb scenery, relaxing boat excursions and pretty alpine towns. However, down at the Southern end of the lake, within Italy’s borders, are three exquisite little islands, known as the Borromean islands. All …
Visiting Pompeii: Italy’s Window into the Past

From Tragedy to Tourist Attraction One of the world’s most famous natural disasters created one of Italy’s most famous tourist attractions, when in August of 79 A.D. the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius buried the town of Pompeii under a deadly layer of cinders, pumice and ash. No one expected the mountain to erupt, so its …
Hiring a Gondola in Venice

Can there be a more iconic experience of Venice than a ride in a gondola? For centuries this flat-bottomed boat was the primary means of transportation and moving goods within the city Venice, but today they are primarily used for sightseeing by visitors, weddings and funerals, and the occasional regatta. So yes, riding on a …
Photo Friday: Alleyways of Pitigliano, Italy

If there’s one consistency of the medieval hill towns in Tuscany, it’s the winding, narrow, and charming alleyways that you follow along throughout the town. Once you get off the main street, though, they can all begin to look alike and it’s easy to lose your way. Don’t worry – the towns are small, and …