Follow me as I journey from the southern tip of Italy’s Puglia region all the way up to the Trento Alps. I’ll be focusing on budget-friendly travel, and I’ll rarely use a car. Along the way I’ll sample traditional foods, visit lesser-known ruins and cities, sample excellent wines, and visit local cooking schools, the entire […]
Italy from Bottom to Top: the Cuisine of Puglia
To enter Puglia’s culinary world is to walk into a combination of creativity and simplicity infused with fresh produce. For centuries, agriculture was the primary source of income, and you can taste the high standards of the local farmers who know just how a vegetable is supposed to taste. Chemicals have been introduced to the […]
Italy From Bottom to Top: Biking in Puglia
This morning, we woke up and said goodbye to the city of Lecce. We have two bicycles, only one of which has gears (profuse apologies to my girlfriend. Kristen). We’ve given our backpacks to a friend who we will meet up with in the city of Mesagne. Fortunately, bicycling in the south of Puglia isn’t […]
Sundays in France
Whether you are in Paris or a small village, Sundays in France seem to have a similar pace. Our life in St. Jean de Losne the last couple of Sundays has been no different. A very important start is Neil’s trip to the boulangerie for a baguette and croissants or some other baked goods he […]
Exploring Provence for the First Time: Day One
Follow Linda and Dave Beach’s story about their first trip to Provence: On Monday we drove to pick up my parents at the Marseille Airport. We had planned to explore the coast near Marseille that day, but since Dave wasn’t feeling well and Mom and Dad were jet lagging, we headed back up to Bonnieux. […]
Exploring Provence for the First Time
Follow Linda and Dave Beach’s story about their first trip to Provence: While we have been to France several times, neither my husband Dave, nor I had been to Provence, so it was new territory for both of us. We decided to rent a house for a week in the small village of Bonnieux and […]