May 14, 2012 | Bellagio, Europe, Italy, Lake Como, Travel, Varenna
Bellagio, Italy – I call it heaven on earth. It’s not that easy to get to, and in fact requires a harrowing 90 minute drive around tiny, twisty roads along Lake Como to arrive here from the Malpensa airport outside of Milan. We arrived at lunch time on a freezing cold day, with mother nature throwing us a spring snow-rain storm. My reaction? Who cares, I’m at home in Italy again! Continue Reading »
May 4, 2012 | Czech Republic, Europe, Prague, Travel
If you read my post about my time in Salzburg, I promised to tell you what happened on my drive from Austria to Prague. We rented a car at the Salzburg airport (tip, it’s often easier to take a cab to an airport – in this case a really short ride – than to rent the car in an old city and try to find your way to the highway). Our plan was to drive to Prague, since it was actually shorter than the train and would give us time to stop in the UNESCO world heritage town of Cesky Krumlov for lunch and a Budweis beer. That all worked out great, but back on the road and making our way into Prague a van, that I thought was an ambulance, pulled in front of me with flashing lights that said “STOP, PULL OVER NOW!”. Continue Reading »
April 27, 2012 | Austria, Salzburg, Travel
After four days of sunshine and warm weather in Vienna, we set out by train across Austria for Salzburg, admiring the countryside which was lovely despite the weather rapidly turning gray and dreary. Vienna has a population of about 1.7 million people, so after 3 days touring and battling our way through the Easter week vacation crowds, I was really looking forward to much smaller Salzburg, about a tenth the size of Vienna, even if it was only for a couple of days. Continue Reading »
April 23, 2012 | Austria, Europe, Travel, Vienna
Vienna has long been on my list of “want to visit” places. My parents vacationed there for the millennium, attending a Viennese ball where they waltzed with 2000 other guests, and they always talked about how pretty it was. As luck would have it, my college best friend and roommate was running a medical conference in Salzburg, giving us just the reason to head to Vienna before meeting up with her and her husband in Salzburg. Are you wondering why I opened this blog post with a photo of a restaurant sign?
April 4, 2012 | Manhattan, Travel Journal
I went to New York a few weeks ago to see my son and it was one of those whirlwind trips – a long flight, only there 45 hours in total, then a long flight home. But we managed to not only get done what we set out to do – take a trip to Ikea in Brooklyn and build him a desk set for working from his tiny apartment – but we also managed to fit in 4 great meals, three at places new for us to try. Continue Reading »
