A Money Saving Guest Post: Home Exchange Vacations
8 Valuable Tips on How to Swap Your Home Ed. note: I’ve always wanted to do this — have a free vacation while swapping my home with a simpatico family. I just didn’t know where to begin. Home exchange expert Shelley Miller explains it all for you . . . Right now you’re thinking holidays and snow and family, but…
Thinking About San Francisco Today
One of Tim's amazing early morning shots The Changing Light The changing light at San Francisco is none of your East Coast light none of your pearly light of Paris The light of San Francisco is a sea light an island light And the light of fog blanketing the hills drifting in at night through the Golden Gate to lie…
A Is For Aardvark — Books, That Is
For us it was important to create the right atmosphere, so that people who have discovered us can really have the space and time to escape into a different world. — Co-owner Edward Tobin Books stores are my favorite places. I love a great independent bookstore, whose selections, design and events reflect the personal quirks and preferences of the owner.…
Mark Twain, Yosemite and the Chinese Camp
National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst. — Wallace Stegner The problem with keeping an appointment at Yosemite National Park is that there are too many outrageous things to see on the way up to it. Neat small towns, like Greeley Hill (population 915)…
California: Golden Gateway to Great Cuisine
The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. — Calvin Trillin I haven’t been to a lot of California, but where I’ve gone, I’ve eaten well. Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Francisco, Corte Madera, Sausalito and Tiburon have all demonstrated creative cooking with…
Sweet Dreams Are Made of These
A FULLY BAKED GUEST POST: This week’s post comes from writer Barbara Worton, author of the highly acclaimed children’s book, Too Tall Alice. Her work has also appeared in Memories of John, edited by none other than Yoko Ono, and various other publications. Like me, Barbara is the child of one Italian parent who very much identifies with that (dominant,…
Sunflowers
The sunflower is mine, in a way. — Vincent van Gogh And who could argue with this? Of course it is Vincent’s. But sunflowers are also my favorite flower. There’s nothing like driving through Tuscany or Umbria and seeing acres and acres of them dancing in the light breeze. They look so cheery and substantial. They are my favorite flower…
Follow Your Nose
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything. — Charles Kuralt Sometimes, you’ve just got to get off the road. The LIly B., sans rigging Last Sunday, Tim and I took a road trip with some friends. Actually, with Tim’s sister and his new friend Verlon, the very talented…
Going to Umbria? You’ve Gotta Meet Anne . . .
This cooking tour is dedicated to the people who taught me to live, to cook and everything about life. — Anne Robichaud Anne serves the pasta I’d known about Anne Robichaud for almost two years before I finally met her. My friend Rosemarie hired her as a tour guide when she went to Assisi in 2010. And her name is…
Travel in Peace
When we return home, we can put what we’ve learned — our newly acquired broader perspective — to work as citizens of a great nation confronted with unprecedented challenges. And when we do that, we make travel a political act. — Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act I want to tell all you travelers or soon-to-be travelers about…
Travel Tips Newsletter
Every once in a while, Linda posts useful gems about mustn’t-miss travel info. Group travel? Packing? Where to go? What happens when an emergency strikes?
SIGN UP HERE TO STAY INFORMED