Adventure is our state of mind
The buttery soft leather slipped on so easily that it felt like a second skin on my hand, each finger the perfect length and without creases or pulls. As I flexed my fingers inside this cherry-red casing, all I could think was “This fits like a … [Read more...]
Somewhere between Brunelleschi’s dome and the Ghirlandaio frescoes, my best-laid plans for a day devoted to the great treasures of Florentine art went awry. So awry that long before I reached Santa Maria Novella I considered detouring to my hotel … [Read more...]
The taste of salt was strong on the wind as we sailed past cliffs that dropped to a wave-dashed tumble of stones below. Beyond this cluster of cliff-bound islands known as St. Kilda, open Atlantic stretched to the gray line of the horizon. The … [Read more...]
As we approached the ship, an opening skirl sounded from a piper on the upper deck, and he piped us aboard to the rousing strains of Scotland the Brave. So began our immersion into Scotland’s Western Isles, where more often than the highland … [Read more...]
I could barely see the tiny dots of brightly colored glass as the artist arranged them inside a miniature gold frame. I watched, fascinated as a flower no larger than my little fingernail bloomed amid foliage in shimmering shades of green. This tiny … [Read more...]
The Grand Canal’s two-and-a-half-mile S-curve through the heart of Venice takes it from the city’s two most common approaches – Piazzale Roma and Santa Lucia rail station -- to Piazza San Marco, the historic and touristic heart. Along its … [Read more...]
Traffic heading into Siena from the autostrada was unusually heavy, I thought. Better fill my gas tank in case I’m stuck in a jam. “A lot of traffic today” observed a well-dressed young man standing beside his car at the next pump. I agreed, … [Read more...]
Suspended in a cloud of red, orange and yellow foliage, a covered bridge -- the most cherished of New England icons – becomes a metaphor for everything autumn. A covered bridge tour ranks right up there with apple picking and pumpkin carving as a … [Read more...]
Each fall, two powerful urges draw me to drive along the broad fertile valley where the Connecticut River separates my native New Hampshire from neighboring Vermont. The first is to satisfy my soul with valley views brilliantly painted in fall … [Read more...]
The big Victorian rail station is a stand-out in the center of North Conway, in northern New Hampshire, and the starting point for the Conway Scenic Railroad. Scenic it certainly is: The route travels through the heart of the White Mountains, … [Read more...]
