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This afternoon I had beer with a friend at a local brewery. Not extraordinary – one can’t leave the house nowadays without tripping over a local brewery. The extraordinary part was he…

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Grand Canyon: Ledge Lunacy along the South Rim

‘People fall into the Grand Canyon all the time’, a friend told me when I mentioned my family was planning a trip there. ‘That’s crazy’, I thought. I mean, how can y…

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Antelope & Horseshoe: Sharing the Beauty

There are many reasons to visit the state of Arizona: the Grand Canyon, the red rocks of Sedona, ‘Flag’ aka Flagstaff, etc. Two sites that are also getting some attention are Antelope …

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Rouen: Cathedral Lights and a Martyred Heroine

Rouen: Cathedral Lights and a Martyred Heroine

The French city of Rouen is known for two things – its magnificent cathedral and the martyrdom of Joan of Arc at the age of nineteen. There has been a church on the site of the Rouen cathedral since the 4th century.  Construction started on the current cathedral in the 1200s.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Rouen on a summer night then the place to be when it gets dark is the square in front of…

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High-speed Trains

Am I the only American who thinks it’s absolutely criminal that we don’t have high-speed trains in the United States like they do in Europe?  Let’s look at some times on a trip from Rome to Florence:

Car: 2 hours, 56 minutes Plane: 55 minutes Regular train: 4 hours High-speed train: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Taking the high-speed train is faster than driving your own car plus you don’t have to worry…

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Vatican City

Well, if you have to do it. Don’t get me wrong – Vatican City is well worth a visit – if you’ve never been there before.  St. Peter’s Basilica is magnificent. Michelangelo’s Pietà alone is is worth a look.  It’s such a shame you have to look at it through glass while surrounded by people jostling you to get closer.

This is a good as it gets when going for a view of the Pietà.

This brings me to…

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My Obsession with Mosaics

My Obsession with Mosaics

“…but beautiful mosaics are made out of broken pieces” — Lori Jenessa Nelson

Traveling through Europe there are plenty of beautiful palaces and churches to look at.  For some reason though, while others are gaping at flying buttresses or speculating on who once lived in a certain palace I’m the one in the corner with my camera up against a wall or floor.

One of my favorites from the excavated…

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Church Walking

If you’re lucky enough to be spending time in a European city that allows free entry into churches then I recommend a bit of ‘church walking’.

Church walking is when you’re on your way to somewhere, spot a church and decide to go in just to take a peek around.

By ‘looking around’ I don’t necessarily mean counting the number of flying buttresses or the size of the organ pipes or figuring out if…

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Rome: How to spend your time if you've already seen the Forum

Rome: How to spend your time if you’ve already seen the Forum

Walk the ‘Heart of Rome’

When arriving after an international flight the best thing to do to prevent too much jet lag is to plan nothing but stay awake for an early dinner and bedtime.  A little exercise after sitting for many hours on the plane is also a good thing.  Enter the Heart of Romewalk (aka ‘The Roman Death March’ if my sister is setting the pace) designed by Rick Steves.  The walk is a…

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Pompeii

When in Rome Pompeii is an easy, if long day trip.  Early one morning we met up with City Wonders for a bus ride down to the ruins of Pompeii.  The bus had a guide who pointed out points of interest along the way like the ancient Abbey of Montecassino and the Appian Way – the ancient main road from Rome to all other points in the empire.  Three hours and 1 rest stop  later we arrived in the…

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