As an experienced rail traveler in Europe, I thought I had the system down. But Spain is an exception to every other experience I’ve had. First a friend told us there are two train stations in Madrid and that we needed to go to Estacio Madrid d’Atocha to travel to other major cities. Saved us from going to the wrong place to start. Next, they have a great deal. It’s called the…
While in Madrid, we changed our itinerary at breakfast on our second day. Rather than spending most of the day at the Prado Museum, which most of our party had visited previously, we chose to take a day trip down to Toledo. It is only a 38 minute train ride (cost about 20) from the lower level of the Madrid Atocha station. (The upper level is the major cities, but apparently Toledo…
A trip to northern Italy for a wedding brought unexpected opportunity. The wedding was to be in Portofino, but we decided to go in a few days early and stay a few days after. A flight into Malpensa – Milan would bring us to areas of Northern Italy such as Piemonte and the Lake District that we had not explored. The area south east of Torino instantly came to mind as a…
A wedding took us to the Italian Riviera. Our hotel, the Santa Margherita Palace, describes itself as “a design hotel, combining the new luxury trend with Riviera traditional style, in the city center of Santa Margherita Ligure, just a few steps from the beach and harbor, 5 km from Portofino.” This is a tacit admission that Portofino is where everyone wants to be, but can’t because it is so small. And that…
What can I say about Bellagio? It rests on the promontory that juts out where the two legs of Lago Como meet. What was surprising is that it is in the foothills to the Alps. Mountains rise on all banks, severely limiting the amount of housing and shops. While not a large community, shops and hotels dot not only the shoreline, but climb up the hillside so you can look out over…