Travel Around The Clock

I have to say that this was my very first time in the U.S. Yes, at 40 years old I was still "U.S. virgin". And more appropriately "San Francisco virgin". Also this time I was travelling alone (partially for business) after about 17 years. I almost forgot that travelling alone is a very intimate and introspective experience. Thoughts are constantly crossing your mind but there's no one next to you to share them with. You almost talk to yourself like a lunatic and you stare in the face on the people, looking for a sign, a friendly smile. San Francisco was definitely an unexpected and unique surprise. I didn't have much time and I wanted to live the city directly as much as possible. So I decided to take a small rucksack and walk all around with no plans, no guides and without using public transport. I just had a small map that I had found in a tourist office. I saw nearly all San Francisco in 2 days. At the end my shoes were smoking and shouting "En...

Puglia (or Apulia, for English speakers) is the Italian region occupying the heel of the peninsula: an amazing area extraordinarily rich in culture and traditions. My personal experience was extremely physical and that’s the reason why I decided to describe it via the 5 senses. Sight There is no better way of depicting Puglia than using its own peculiar features: the long dry stone walls bordering the roads and the surrounding large green fields, olive groves or vineyards.... ...the Masserias,  ancient farmhouses now often renovated and transformed in beautiful restaurants or hotels.....  ...and the trulli, very distinctive buildings characterized by a conical roof and typical of the Valle dell'Istria. Hearing Puglia has all the sound of pizzica, the traditional folk dance characterized by a fast rhythm and lots of tambourines. It can be described in words. You have to listen to it... Smell  This region is rich in perfumes and certainly that of o...

The only way to fight the incoming apathy and sense of depression due to a November rainy afternoon, was to look back at our pictures and notes from our week in Corsica and write about some of its beautiful beaches! Since last time we were in this gorgeous Mediterranean island 2 months ago, memories are still fresh. One of the things we love more about Corsica (other that good food and wine and an extraordinary mix of French and Italian cultures) is the fact that it has something for everyone. Mountain? Ticked! Amazing sea? Ticked! Sandy beaches? Ticked! Rocky bays? Ticked! Beautiful ancient towns? Ticked! (And we don't want to repeat ourselves about food & wine!) But let's go back to beaches...and let's start with an easy one: Plage Aregno . Easy in terms of access because is just by the town of Algajola and there is a quite spacious parking. No facilities there other than a kayak rental. But the beautiful landscape on one side, the view of t...

Cap Corse is a thin strip of land in Northern Corsica called 'the finger' stretching towards the Italian region of Liguria. It is possibly the wildest and less spoilt part of the island and offers plenty of untouched beaches, beautiful hiking paths, ancient Genoese towers, fresh seafood and a worldwide acclaimed muscat ! Mediterranean maquis, Corsica Genoese tower, Corsica Starting your way up from the dynamic port town of  Bastia , on the eastern side, the road is one lane per direction making the trip a bit slow at times, but still extremely enjoyable thanks to the amazing views of the sea on your right. Once you arrive in Centuri, at the top of the finger on the western side, things get a bit more complicated as the road's conditions are extremely poor and nothing has changed at all since we visited 3 years ago; it still looks like a work in progress without having made any progress! Cap Corse, Corsica This time we spent most of our holiday on the eas...

Italy is our native country and, although we have decided to live abroad, it is a country that we deeply love, extraordinarily rich in art, history, natural beauty and food and wine traditions.  Being an expat is not always easy, but it has the advantage that every time we return to visit our families, we always find the time to explore the country like tourists and to discover the little gems, often off the beaten path, which make this country so unique. A part of Italy, we particularly love is the Tuscia, an area once inhabited by the Etruscans, in northern Lazio. Here the charming villages, with their picturesque stone houses and narrow alleys, have preserved a good part of their medieval-Renaissance physiognomy.   One of these is the medieval hamlet of Farnese, a tiny village, counting not even 1700 inhabitants, beautifully perched on a tuffaceous cliff.  Its name derives from the Farnia tree known around Europe as peduncolate oak and depicted on the city coat o...