It’s an early morning rise to meet our driver Marta who is taking us to Porto, a coastal city in the northwest of Portugal and a 3.5 hour drive from Lisbon. Porto, or O Porto in Portuguese, is the second largest city in Portugal and is also synonymous with the Port wine. But first we …
Early September marked our first return to Europe since the start of COVID. Crystal blue skies and warm air greeted us as we exited the airport. As we drove to our Airbnb, our driver Pedro explained some of the areas we cruised by. Fortunately, our accommodation in the Bairro Alto (meaning upper quarter in Portuguese) …
There’s lots to see and do today so the plan is to do two towns; Volterra and San Gimignano. Now for the diehard Twilight fans out there, Volterra is featured in the New Moon movie. The truth though, is filming actually took place in the nearby town of Montepulciano. In Volterra, no vampires were sighted …
Today we did a day trip to Siena about 15 minutes from the country house. Another UNESCO World Heritage site, Siena doesn’t disappoint with its medieval buildings and the famous piazza known as Il Campo. In July and August every year, The Palio takes place. It’s a horse race like none other and done right …
It is quite an eye opener navigating through the Naples train station and thankfully our guide at least pointed the way for us. One must understand that you must wait just before your train arrives for the platform to be announced. Once it is, you should not wait as passengers dismembark and then you embark …
Another town that is a must-see in the Amalfi Coast is Ravello. It sits about 365 metres above the town of Amalfi. It produces spectacular views of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the town of Maiori below. Many may know about the renowned Ravello Music Festival in the summer where outdoor concerts are held. However, even …
You cannot go to Amalfi without visiting a lemon grove and learning how Limoncello is made. The “sfusato amalfitano” is the most famous Amalfi lemon and arrived centuries ago from the East. The whole coast of Amalfi is dotted with lemon groves and if you own even a small terrace, people will grow lemons such …
The God of weather still smiled on us as we embarked on a jaunt to Positano to the west of Amalfi. Walking our two kilometres up the stairs from our villa and then down and up again we reach Scala to board our bus to Amalfi to catch our ferry to Positano, we almost hit …
There are a few things that are a must see when one is in Naples. Mount Vesuvius, Pompei and Herculaneum. A few days ago, the Roman Gods must have been angry and unleashed a downpour on Naples and Amalfi. Their wrath caused indiscriminate havoc everywhere. Our first exploration in the morning was Mount Vesuvius. At …
Aaahhmalfi! The skies threatened to open at any time as we arrived in Naples. Big thunderheads filled the heavens above. Our destination? The Amalfi Coast. It is a 50 kilometre stretch of steep hills, rugged coastline in the Campania region, dotted with beaches and colourful villages grappling on hillsides. You need to have a strong …