On our second day in Cinque Terre we visited the towns of Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza – a very full day. Monterosso is the largest town of the five lands and has an actual beach. It’s also reached by train. After spending the morning there we hopped back on the train to Vernazza, where we stayed until after sunset. Vernazza is still a true fishing village with a protected harbor and one of the most photographed towns of Cinque Terre. It is also the only town with a lookout tower, originally built to protect the town from pirates.   Tunnel into town from theRead More →

From Venice, we travelled to Verona, a town seeped in romantic history and setting for three of Shakespeare’s plays. We were there for only a couple days, and one of those days we spent at Lago Garda, so just had a few hours to explore the historic central district.   In the major tourist areas you’ll find local ‘actors’ who dress up as various historical characters. Shortly after arriving at Piazza Bra Grima was approached by this Roman Centurion. Skeptical of his intentions, he turned out to be a thoroughly delightful fellow and was as interested in getting his picture taken with her as weRead More →

Burano is the second isle that we visited and is famous for fine lace and multi-colored houses. The island became known for lacemaking by needle in the 16th century that today would be prohibitively expensive. But the tradition of lacemaking continues with more modern methods, providing an enormous variety of beautiful lace products. The story about the multi-colored houses recounts that it was to help fishermen recognize home when returning from sea. Today house colors are regulated by the local government.   Leaving Murano in route to Burano   Burano is much further out from Venice than Murano – so much longer at sea. ButRead More →

Who doesn’t go to Venice to see and float along the myriad canals of the city. And wander, and wander … It’s a giant maze and one of the pleasures is to get ‘lost’ and come across another unexpected sight. It’s truly an incredible city and our three days there were way too short.   Gondoliers queue up at the Piazza San Marco to pass under the Bridge of Sighs, historically the last view of Venice by convicts as they walked to prison cells.   A rare view sans Gondolas     Each gondola is personalized. Bring along a bunch of Euros…   Walking throughRead More →

Our first time in Italy. Our daughter, Michelle, ‘Mitch’ had a scheduled event in Rome towards the end of May, 2016, so Grima and I decided it was time we did Italy. We headed over there the last week of April to give us time to see some of the country before winding up in Rome. Our schedule: fly into Venice, rent a car, do Venice, then Verona, then Modena (to visit with a childhood friend of Grima’s from Chile), onto Cinque Terre, down to Tuscany, up to Florence and finally down to Rome. An ambitious plan for the 30 days there. So, our firstRead More →

We were lucky to be in Tampa during the Gasparilla Festival before departing for the Miami Everglades. We were also lucky to have a neighbor in the Tampa East RV park who also worked part time with the Tampa police force. He was able to get us parking close to the convention center so it was a short walk along West Platt Street for good views of the incoming invasion. What a sight – hundreds of watercraft in Seddon Channel escorting an amazing pirate ship filled to the top sails with pirates. It took a good amount of time from our first sight of theRead More →

On Long Key Gulf Blvd. near the Pinellas Byway sits the Loews Don CeSar Hotel, ‘The Pink Palace’. There’s a fascinating story about the hotel at http://archive.naplesnews.com/community/ghosts-in-the-pink-palace-ep-401425008-332399502.html – you ought to check it out. We happened upon the place while exploring the Long Key one evening. Was a beautiful end of day and marvelous “photographer’s” sunset.                 So, more to come. Love to hear what you have to say about our travels.Read More →

We continue our exploration of the Tampa area, crossing over to Davis Islands, dotted with canals and views of downtown Tampa and sailboat harbors, plus some very impressive homes. We then cross the Hillsborough River to the University of Tampa to take a close look at the H.B. Plant Hall building on campus. It can be seen clearly from across the riverfront downtown Tampa, and is striking for its Moorish architecture. The building was constructed in 1891 as a luxury hotel railroad magnate Henry B. Plant. Today part of the building, a U.S. historical landmark, is used for university classes and part is a museumRead More →

January is a nice time to be in Tampa, for the most part. It can get cold, but mostly the weather is pleasant if not raining. We chose a beautiful, sunny day to go to downtown Tampa and check it out. Were pleasantly surprised to see a modern, well designed river walk pretty much encircling downtown Tampa. We strolled from the Straz Performing Arts Center, past Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, past the Sail Pavilion, all the way to the Tampa Bay History Center. A model for any town with a river (hint, hint, Sacramento).     Went into the downtown area and passed Sacred HeartRead More →

From our RV park it was about an hour’s drive to the gulf coast going across the Tampa Bay on hwy 60 into Clearwater and across Clearwater Memorial Causeway to Clearwater Beach, a distinctively touristy place. Had a bite to eat and then headed down Gulf Blvd. to see what we could see. Not a lot of places where you could just pull over and walk around, so we made it all the way to Indian Rocks Beach before we got out and explored.   Definitely not the large, sandy beaches we had been accustomed to along the Atlantic and back in California. This beachRead More →