While on a trip to Lake Como, we decided to take a tour up the lake from our base in the city of Como. We talked with a guide we had used for a quick city tour. She recommended a fast boat up to Villa de Balbianello, a state preserve of Italy which has been a location for various films, and a short visit to Bellagio. She got our attention by telling…
On a recent trip to Lucca, Italy, we decided to visit local wineries one day for a tasting and lunch. We debated how far we would want to drive, and in an Internet search, discovered a number of wineries in the area. After reading the reviews we finally settled on two that were fairly close to each other, La Badiola and Colle Verde. The reviews indicated that either could serve a lunch,…
I do not know her name or even where she lives, although I was there. On my birthday. What makes her special is that she is not… really. That is not fair. She is special, although not the only person in her circumstance. The simple fact that she speaks English, rather well, while neither of her parents do, at all, makes her special. She left elementary school six years ago, and has…
Karen and I had never heard of Meknes. No reason we would have unless we were students of Morrocco and its history. You likely have never heard of Moulay Isma’il, either. Neither had we until our guide in Meknes started talking to us about him as if he were Franklin Roosevelt or someone famous like that. However, if you lived in Morocco in the late 17th century, which was a century before…
Several years ago, while living and working in Germany, friends invited me to visit Paris with them over a weekend. They had been; I had not. On the drive over from Wiesbaden we talked about many things. Somehow the best pecan pie came up in conversation. For me it was on a Delta airlines flight out of Atlanta. The secret was bourbon. Anyway, Gwen suggested I needed a new challenge. Bill, who…