Category Archives: Uncategorized

The valley heat in Novi Ligure was a signal to us that it was time to move on up to higher altitude. The last week had been miserably hot and, outside of Denise’s trip to Milan, we’d pretty much spent the middle of each day inside with the blinds closed. Even though the Europeans areContinue reading “Movin’ on Up”

Happy 4th of July to all those in the States. Here, it’s just a Tuesday but only ten days until Bastille Day! I took a solo trip to Genoa — another city name that we have anglicized — hopping a train and getting off downtown in less than an hour. Denise wasn’t interested in goingContinue reading “Secondo: Italy Wrap-Up”

We’re coming to the end of our stay in Novi Ligure and, as dowdy as the town is, we’ve enjoyed being here. The people are friendly, the shopkeepers remember us, and Coco is a minor local celebrity. We saw two standard poodles in Venice but that’s been it for the breed so far. We’ve metContinue reading “Italian Odds and Ends, Primi Piatti”

When Denise and I find ourselves in an Italian moment that is so perfectly typical of what Americans think of Italy, we joke that this can’t be real, that we must be in Italyland at a Disney park.  That’s not to denigrate Italy, as we both love the Disney experience (and Italy), but just toContinue reading “Italyland”

Novi Ligure, our landing place for most of June, will never win a “Tidy Town” contest like they have in Ireland. Outside of the relatively well-kept old town, it’s a mostly neglected city with lots of overgrown parks, brownfields, and aging apartment buildings showing signs of deferred maintenance. It’s a city ringed by light industryContinue reading “Italian Bargains”

Somedays — such as our trip to Bonifacio — Denise and I plan our trip down to (almost) the last detail, and others, like this Sunday drive, we just point the car in the general direction and hope for the best. It was a beautiful day, the shops were closed and, after our mountain-centric roadContinue reading “Massimu Semper Vivu”

At the end of our last entry I promised a tale of three cities but, once I started writing, I realized that just covering our one day in Bonifacio was going to be a long post and decided, for the sake of you readers, to break this into two or three pieces. This way, you’llContinue reading “Mediterranean Parking Lot Blues”

There’s a fellow here in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica and the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, who dresses up like the former emperor and will pose for a picture with you for a few coins. An epaulet-less, tattered uniform and the trademark bicorne hat are his only costume and he looks like he needs aContinue reading “Waterloo”

We have since moved on from this lovely location to Corsica but these are my memories from our time in Provence. Enjoy! – Denise Our hilltop village in western Provence, Chateaneuf-de-Gadagne, is located in arguably one of the most beautiful winemaking regions in the world (meaning that everyone will argue that theirs is the mostContinue reading “Terroir”

Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we? Denise and I were flitting around the Provençal countryside, soaking up all the natural beauty, culture, and food that we could squeeze into our brief month here. In Part One, we visited Avignon, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Arles, Les Baux de Provence, and Roussillon, as well as several lessContinue reading “Side Trips, Part Deux”