When I was planning my trip through Italy, I wanted to include Tuscany. But as there never seems to enough time to see everything I want, I figured that I would just do Tuscany as a day trip from Florence. I kept hearing “You can’t do Tuscany in a day,” but I didn’t understand why. […]
Deciding whether or not to do a day trip out of the city when you're only in Rome for a limited amount of time can be tough. But a good friend who also happens to be a superb traveler recommended that we see Ostia Antica, a well-preserved ancient Roman port town that's not too far […]
Turkey is hardly the camel capital of its region, but I was secretly hoping to see at least one during my trip. There's camel wrestling in Selcuk and Mulga, but I wasn't going to either place. And I didn't need to see the animals fighting each other. I just wanted to see a camel doing, […]
(Waianapanapa State Park in Maui; all photos by Maggie Overfelt Valentine) When I visited Maui on my honeymoon, we didn’t make it through the entire Road to Hana, a drive that has become a popular rite of passage for visitors to the island. Maui’s Highway 360 (aka Hana Highway or Road to Hana), features more […]
When you’re driving through Big Sur, you’ll see a lot of ocean. But you won’t see that much beach. That’s because Big Sur’s coastline is mostly rocky, and those cliffs are a big part of its charm. If you get the urge to take a walk on the beach (as we did after a nice […]
I have written about the great meals we had in Florence. But I have not yet written about the fabulous gelato we had there. In Florence (as well as in Venice and Rome), it seems as if they sell gelato about every five feet. If you get an urge for something cold and sweet, you're […]
When I went to Cappodocia, the central region of Turkey whose landscape resembles the American Southwest, I stayed in the town of Goreme, which is famous for the “painted churches” at the Goreme Open-Air Museum. From behind my hotel, Sultan Cave Suites, I could easily see Uchisar Castle (pictured above), which is in the next […]
If you want to see the Roman ruins and really get a feel of how the city must have looked when the buildings were fully intact during ancient times, then don’t go after dark. Because they definitely were not lit up at night like this. At least not according to the history books.
If you’re planning a trip to Venice, you’re probably thinking that you want to take a ride in gondola. Then you get there and you find out that it’s going to cost you a minimum of €80. You start second-guessing your plan, thinking that perhaps it’s not absolutely essential that you participate in this time-honored […]
We decided to splurge on our hotel in Rome, choosing the beautiful historic Hotel Eden, which we got at a pretty good rate from Hotels.com. We really enjoyed staying there but, like many fancy hotels, Internet access wasn’t free. Nope, it was €25 a day plus tax. We’re somewhat addicted to the Internet — and […]
