Asturias occupies a small sliver of land on Spain’s northwest coast but in an area smaller than Connecticut it packs some of the most picturesque forests, majestic mountains and raw beaches. It’s a great escape from the crowds that flock to the rest of Spain.
Italian vs. U.S. healthcare. I love the Italian healthcare system. Here’s why: I had my annual full-body check up Wednesday. They gave me a battery of tests and consultations. It cost all of 450 euros. In the U.S. it would be five times that. However, an American doctor and Italian doctor here both punched holes in the Italian healthcare.
The 2008 film “Mamma Mia!” made Skopelos famous and made a tiny church atop a 300-foot cliff one of the world’s ideal places to get married. Now couples from all over come to this little Greek island for their ceremony. They say it’s more romantic than you can imagine and less hassle than you’ll believe.
Skopelos became famous in 2008 when Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan sang and danced their way across the island in “Mamma Mia!” But the scenes you see in the movie are just a snippet of the real beauty of this island of 5,000 people. Great beaches. Deep forests. Excellent food. It’s our new favorite Greek island.
In Rome’s Gladiator School, I learned to fight three men at once with a 7-pound sword — and how to lay dead without pulling my tunic over my underwear. My two months in La Scuola dei Gladiatori was a rollicking ride of humility combined with insight into one of the bloodiest period’s in man’s history.
After a two-year renovation project, the Colosseum Undergound reopened in June. I was able to go into the bowels of the stadium last week.
Tortoreto is a little-known corner of the little-know region of Abruzzo where tourists are sparse but culture rich. Tortoreto stretches from the beaches of the Adriatic to hill towns staring out at the Gran Sasso mountain range. It’s hard to reach but worth every step.
Every day when I walk through Rome, I remind myself that I’m living in the most beautiful city in the world. But the other night I saw how even more beautiful this city once was. More than 2,000 years ago, Rome was a city of towering marble temples, expansive forums, countless statues, beautiful cobblestone streets […]
Starting Aug. 6, you’re going to need proof of vaccination to do pretty much anything inside Italy. Good. Cases in Italy are climbing and so is Delta. The only thing preventing the end of this nightmare is vaccinations.
Sunny Beach is Bulgaria’s No. 1 tourist destination and has been battered for over tourism. It has gone from 322 accommodations to 640 in seven years. Tales of drunken debauchery and drugs give it an image similar to Cancun and Ibiza. But I found a corner of the five-mile beach that was peaceful and beautiful and perfect. The Royal Palace Helena Sands was the ideal place for pampering after 16 months never leaving Italy.
Champion
Euro champion Italy hadn’t won the European Championship since 1968 and England had never won it. Something had to give at London’s Wembley Stadium and England certainly did with a pitiful performance in the shootout. Italians in Rome hadn’t celebrated like this since winning the World Cup in 2006.
Drinking in Bulgaria is a huge part of the Bulgarian culture and I got a first-hand look at it during a week crossing the country. It included a Friday night pub crawl in the capital of Sofia. Bring a thirst, folks.
