Pompeii and Herculaneum were both well established cities by 79 AD. They were both near to the sea and had strong shipping routes and money inflow. There was an abundance of nobles who came to the cities to watch the arena fights and bet on who would win. The slaves were probably less thrilled about […]
Another region of Italy = another food tour! We are only in Palermo for four days so I found a combined tour that allowed us to tour the markets AND the cultural sights of the capital city. Our guide, Paola, has a degree in architecture and museum studies and was quick to immerse us in
Culture & Food in Palermo Read More »
We boarded a train in Pompei to head to Sicily. A train is definitely not the most efficient way to get to the island, but it sounded like a fun way to travel! Our first train of the day was a quick 40 min ride to take us from our apartment in Pompei to a
We were sad to be leaving Rome because even Chris, who hates most cities, found a love of this vibrant place. We took the kids to ALL the typical Roman tourist stops. The Colosseum The Forum All the Egyptian Obelisks The Pantheon Castel Sant’Angelo aka Hadrian’s Mausoleum This place was originally built by the Emperor
Across Rome from where we are staying, is the small country of Vatican City. Two months ago I set a timer and frantically clicked through their official webpage in order to buy tickets to tour the Vatican museum and Sistine chapel. No tickets are issued for St. Peter’s Basilica, so we decided to head over
The Heart of Catholicism Read More »
We loved our week in Barcelona. We found an AirBnb about 30 minutes outside the city for an amazing price and booked it with the knowledge that we would enjoy a train ride into the city center for the days we went in. Our town, Montmelo, is where the Formula One track is located. We
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We are moving on to Italy from Barcelona. Rather than shove ourselves and our gear onto a cramped plane, we decided to stretch our time and our legs by taking a 21 hour ferry across the Mediterranean. Our ferry is not quite what I am accustomed to courtesy of the WA State ferry system. This
A Big Boat to Italy Read More »
We had a wonderful week in Nice with all of the family. We spent hours exploring the market, playing at the park, eating socca and drinking fresh fruit juices. We took a walking tour of the city and learned some of the history along with a greater understanding about their close ties with Italian culture.
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Adam Smith, often called the father of capitalism, is probably best known for for his book, The Wealth of Nations. However, The Wealth of Nations was not his first work. His first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments in many ways laid the ground work for his later, more famous publication. We were recently in
A Scottish Gentleman Read More »
We recently rented a narrowboat to travel England and Wales via the canals. We traversed the canals for two weeks and I have some fun stories to tell about our time. For those who don’t know how the locks work, here is a short summary: We open the paddles (the things that let the water
