What a wonderful city - perfect for a long weekend city break! This morning we enjoyed a guided tour with our local guide Manuel (he was excellent). This extraordinary place is the very heart of Spain and Andalusia, combining Catholic, Islamic, and Jewish architecture with traditional Spain. It is the beating heart of Flamenco, Toros, …
Barcelona
Hearing this, some people think about football, others about the sagrada Familia. For some weird reason I got stuck with Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé. Clearly I am defective. We had a bit of a tough journey to Barcelona yesterday. Things that should’ve turned up didn’t and things that should’ve been on time weren’t. But …
Wow! The Best Day! (And Opera)
Long read but stick with me. We started early taking the train to the lovely walled town of Lucca (I love this place). For those that wanted we had arranged cycle hire on the pretty path on top of the city walls. This resulted in a lot of fun and giggles. Lucca is mostly car …
Bailey
I thought I'd start by wishing a very happy Jubilee Weekend to everybody, especially HRH The Queen. She's a class act. It's been a busy week with only seven days between Tours once again. This time I'm off to take Highlights of Tuscany, one of my favourite Tours, and in one of my favourite places, …
Best of the Italian Lakes
That's the name of my next Tour and I'm off again early Wednesday morning. We'll be staying on Lake Orta at Orta San Giulio. Lake Orta is the smallest and most Westerly of the Italian Alpine Lakes. The best thing is, nobody knows it's there. Lake Orta is peaceful and quiet and not as busy …
Isola Del Garda
Today we made an excursion to what is quite probably one of the most beautiful islands on Earth. Isola del Garda is a privately owned island in Lake Garda. The same family have been living there for hundreds of years. You can only visit if you have pre-booked, Not many people are allowed to. We …
41,692
Why 41,692? Read on… Today I’m back in Sirmione, but this time as an excursion from our base at Desenzano del Garda. I thought I’d drop in a quick blog post over lunch while my clients explore this lovely little town. Tiny little church next to the castle at sirmione On this visit I thought …
Risky Business in Malcesine
Today, our final full day at Lake Garda, so we made an excursion to the pretty little town of Malcesine. It’s about 3/4 of the way up the Lake, headed North. The Northern end of the lake used to be owned by Austria until the end of the First World War when suddenly, it wasn’t …
Dogs Now Mandatory in Venice
They’re not, but it sure feels like they might be! I have never been anywhere with as many mini doggies as Venice; tiny little things that fit in a handbag and enormous hounds. But they are just part of why we all love Venice. It’s the epic, cheerful, rolling chaos of the place. Dogs, kids, …
Verona, Valpolicella & Aquatic Naughtiness
A busy day yesterday! Over breakfast on the terrace I noticed two Grebes on the lake engaged in what might politely be called a courtship ritual. It featured much raising of crests, splashing and rising out of the water together and mutual presentations of fish and seaweed. It was rather sweet and I plan to …
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