Electric bikes have become a huge craze in the world, especially in the U.S. where cities are striving to become more environmentally friendly. Boulder, Colo.-based cycling enthusiast James Carter writes a guest blog listing all the great places in the U.S. to explore on an e-bike.
My Travelers’ Century Club held its latest meeting in the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. It’s not my favorite place in Italy. I visited in 2002 and hated it. But I went in August, the height of the heat and tourist season. This time I went two weeks ago and besides the colder weather, I didn’t like it much better. Still, it has more than just news about immigrants’ gateway to Europe.
One of the best ways to peek inside a culture is through sports. You can attend a local sports event, such as a pro soccer or rugby match, or you can cycle your way around an area instead of taking local transport. Guest blogger Eliza Medley explains why combing sports with travel adds to the travel experience.
One hundred years ago, a woman from Turin and her husband took a toaster from their years in Detroit and made a sandwich out of spongy bread and a variety of fillings. It was called a tramezzino and the square, little sandwich has been a constant presence in Italian bars and aperitivos ever since. Two weeks ago I visited the cafe in Turin where it was invented and got the whole history. I also tried a couple, and they were even better than the ones I regularly eat at my corner bar in Rome.
We came to Italy’s “Most Underrated City” to celebrate our 11-year anniversary. It’s a city in which we’re both familiar but it never disappoints. It has some of Italy’s most beautiful piazzas, long portico-covered walkways, beautiful parks and the best chocolate and wine in the country. We also hit it during its annual May Day parade which held up Turin’s history-long tradition of resistance.
On my way back from assignment in Fiuggi Sunday, my two friends and I stopped at a restaurant in the town of Artena. Il Federale is a “restaurant-museum” honoring Benito Mussolini. Hundreds of photos of him adorn the wall. So do fascist signs. A mannequin wears an old Italy fascist flag and Mussolini’s beret. I wasn’t going to write about it until I looked him up. Today is the anniversary of his death. He died April 28, 1945.
I’ve visited Beirut twice and have fallen in love with the city. Imagine my sadness as I’ve watched Israel bomb it for six weeks. Imagine the Beirutis trying to survive in a conflict they say “isn’t our war.” I called my contacts in Beirut and they’re safe but tired. This is the Israel-Hezbollah War from their viewpoint.
In this day and age of modern technology and growing travel, cybersecurity is a major concern. Many things can destroy your travels for both private and business. Guest blogger Helga Milestone outlines seven risks and what you can do to prevent them.
In lieu of my cancelled birthday trip to Maldive Islands, we spent four days at a spa in Tuscany. It was a terrific save. The town of Arezzo is a little-known city overshadowed by Florence and Siena in Tuscany. Arezzo is a growing arts center with a terrific restaurant scene and a unique sloping main piazza which adds to the quirkiness of the place. Of course, soaking in a Jacuzzi in a luxury spa didn’t hurt, either.
Everyone who goes wine tasting in Tuscany wants Chianti and Sangiovese. However, there are hundreds of fantastic Tuscan wines you’ve never heard of. While on my 70th birthday celebration in the charming Tuscan town of Arezzo last week, Marina and I went winery hopping for two days. We found some wines that fly under the radar that shouldn’t.
I watched Italy’s pratfall in Bosnia from a pub in Tuscany and am seeing the vile aftermath of it missing its unprecedented third straight World Cup. The manager, delegation head and federation chief are all out. The next steps are what to do next and it goes all the way down to the youth level. I take a quick look at the latest Italian soccer crisis.
I fully intended to be sitting on a sandy beach in the Maldives while you’re reading this. Turns out, I’ll likely be sipping a glass of wine at a Tuscan winery. I turned 70 Sunday. The Iran War poleaxed my birthday plans as flying to the Maldives through Doha became impossible. But I think I’ll survive with three nights in a spa in Tuscany. This goes down as one of my many landmark birthdays that turned into disappointment. But since moving to Rome in 2014, my birthdays have remarkably improved.
