At the top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Taormina is a small but picturesque town on Sicily’s eastern coast. Home to a spectacular ancient Greek theater, gorgeous coastal views, lovely beaches, and the imposing sight of Mount Etna in the background, Taormina is certainly a town worth exploring. I visited Taormina twice on…
Catania is a captivating Sicilian city right at the foot of Mount Etna, deserving of more attention than it gets. While it’s best known for its gorgeous Baroque architecture and charming historical town, Catania also has stunningly gorgeous views of the spectacular (and spectacularly active) volcano. When living in Italy, I made several trips to Sicily, and…
Verona is ironically known for all the wrong things — and forgotten for many of its best merits. Like that whole Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet thing? Well, the setting is technically right, but that’s about where the similarities end… any of the supposed “houses” that are related to it, are actually not connected at all!…
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is absolutely a must-see destination for any lover of the great outdoors, and the numbers are there to prove it. This is the most visited national park in the country, winning by a landslide, pun only slightly intended. Knowing all this, when I was planning my road trip through the…
From the loud warbling of the call to prayer and the persistent calls of the men who run stalls in the souks constantly striking your ears, Marrakech is a cacophony and a shock to the senses. The sights, smells, and sounds of Marrakech are deeply layered, and not always pleasant: the pungent smell of incenses…
Pisa may be best known for its iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa, but there’s more to the Tuscan city than its famous crooked tower. Home to lovely medieval architecture, the world’s first university botanical garden, great museums, and amazing Tuscan restaurants, Pisa is a perfect Italian city to explore on a weekend trip — especially…
A series of five seaside villages cascading down precarious cliffs, with narrow cobblestone alleys in between warmly-painted colorful homes — all with the scent of the sea. Sounds like a dream? It’s a living one: the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Cinque Terre, the gem of Liguria. This beloved quintet of fishing towns, the…
Most famous for its Cannes Film Festival, this charming French Riviera small town has grown a larger-than-life name recognition. But it’s so much more than this annual festival! After the star power of the festival has faded, charming Cannes remains a refined and sophisticated — but less frenetic — place to spend a few days…
Switzerland is a land of ridiculous beauty, and the fantastic network of alarmingly on-time trains helps you zip around gorgeous landscapes without losing any time. Honestly, as a former New Yorker, I envy how an entire country’s train system runs so much better than a single city’s… but I digress. This Switzerland itinerary by train…
