Because travel is better with two - By writer/editor/photographer Melanie Wynne
The Hall of Geographical Maps at the Vatican
Before last May, I’d never been to Rome.
Please don’t look at me like that — I know. I’m a travel writer who had never been to Rome. There should be some sort of law.
The important thing here is that I’ve now visited Italy’s capital city for a whole three days, filling my eyes (and my belly) with the glory of a great empire. Oh, and walking in and out of a lot of amazing stuff that’s free of charge.
[Read more...]
The dawn of a new year usually gets me thinking about all the places I have yet to go. This year, though, all I can think about is the most magical place I’ve yet been:
Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes National Park.
A sprawling meander alongside travertine lakes and glorious waterfalls, through lacy woods tufted with flowering plants, this European deep breath of a tourist attraction is so vivid, lush and crystal-clean, it can be a challenge to remember that the landscape is 100% real.
But hey, if you want to keep an eye out for the blue Na’vi of Avatar, by all means…knock yourselves out.
The ancient fortress town of Gourdon, in the mountains of France’s Cote d’Azur
It was late spring on my first journey to the French Riviera, and adventure beckoned.
Fortunately, adventure also brought along a mini-van.
Climbing aboard and taking a private, small-group spin around the romantic mountain towns and glittering coastline of France’s Côte d’Azur with Kensington Tours proved to be just the experience I’d hoped for:
Simply magnifique. [Read more...]
Piazza de Ferrari in Genoa, Italy
“What news of Genoa?” — a line from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice – is the most famous theatrical reference to Genoa, a large port city on Italy’s Ligurian Coast.
To my ears, the question begs the following answer:
“Pesto, gorgeous churches, narrow, cobbled streets and harbor views — a surprisingly wonderful city to explore.” [Read more...]
Back view of the Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik from our hotel room
In the late spring, I finally saw Croatia for the first time; I’d been wanting to visit the country for most of a decade.
The first stop was seaside Dubrovnik, the most visited city in Croatia, and my and Adam’s home base for three nights was the streamlined Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik Hotel.
Much like Old Town Dubrovnik itself, the Lacroma is a glamorous fortress by the Mediterranean. Only one, though, has a swimming pool…as well as kittens in the parking lot.
