(Short read – less than three minutes)
What do you do when on vacation? Do you go to the beach and drink rum punch? Or, see how many places you can visit in Europe in fourteen days? Maybe run from museum to museum to museum in Paris? Take a cruise – I know – many of you love cruises. Me, the very thought of a cruise makes my skin crawl. Give me long, leisurely stays in dream cities and towns rather than a collection of quick visits anywhere. I still get goose bumps thinking about the month we spent in Venice. Or the enjoyment of being remembered by name in Montepulciano, even after three years!
I really enjoyed trying to learn Italian at Il Sasso, a language school recently featured in Monocle Magazine. I have a personal quest to visit each ancient village that makes up the City of London. And not so different, the time we spent as a family in a house near Arezzo, Tuscany . I thought having 12 people sharing a house over three weeks would kill me but I loved it.
I have a whole list of other places that I would like to see. Palermo in Sicily is near the top of the list. The food and the Art Nouveau / Liberty style architecture are just two of the attractions. Or maybe a month in Chania on the Greek Island of Crete. Recently I stumbled upon two other experiences that intrigue me:
Spend some time at Coldcroft Farm, May Hill in West Gloucestershire, England. Its stars, the Coldcroft shire horses, help its owners work the land where owners Jamie and Katie raise sheep, “Old Spot” pigs, geese, and Gloucester cattle. It only has two overnight-stay options but its web site has links to other inns.
Please watch the video. Shire horses are just magnificent creatures. Enjoy the Shire horse experience! Bonuses include walking and cycling in the beautiful Gloucester countryside with lunch at a country pub. Maybe best of all, spotty wifi and cell coverage so you are forced to disconnect.
I know! You would rather be on a crowded beach in Nice, Antibes, or Menton! However, for something different spend time at Casa Sallusti. Located in the hills above Nice, it has been a Ecocert certified farm since 2002.
Enjoy life on a working organic farm with a tiny hotel operation and farm-to-table cuisine. Its chef is a refugee from a Michelin-starred establishment. The immediate appeal of Casa Sallusti may owe itself to my attraction to indulging in an Agriturismo experience in Italy – still very much on my wish list of things to enjoy
I was born by the ocean – in Broughty Ferry, Scotland! Throughout my childhood I bounced back and forth, from the port city of Sept-Iles, Québec to the shores of of Cape Breton. I love the beach! But for me, beach means long stretches of shore and ocean with no one in sight! Or a little cove on the Island of Iona in the drizzle. I think that the only good time to be on a Florida beach is very, very early in the morning when there is no one there.
All travel is good. Everyone has his or her own idea as to what makes for a perfect vacation. Whatever the preference, disconnect, recharge your batteries, have fun! And just maybe…..
I know! I am going to sound like a grumpy old man. Maybe that is because I am. I have been scratching my head in wonderment at the Taylor Swift phenomena. Is she an Incredible song writer, composer, and performer? I really don’t know! A discussion for another time? But probably not. At my age […]
Don’t build it! At least, Not In My Back Yard ! I acted as an advisor in the sale of a beautifully natural, 14-acre urban waterfront estate. Existing zoning allowed for the development of 30 to 35 single-family homes, which after road dedication would leave very little green space. I did not think that was […]
We were visiting Glasgow (literally that Dear Green Place in Gaelic) to see where my father was born, grew up, and went to University. Fortunately for me, my cousin John from Australia had just visited and had met with historians, Bruce Downie and Norry Wilson. So, we too arranged to meet them in the Govanhill […]
Vienna on top again. This week both Monocle Magazine and The Economist unveiled their quality of life / most liveable city indexes. There are differences in the way each publication sets its index. So it is even more impressive that once again, Vienna tops both lists. I am a bit lazy today so rather than […]
Many Viennese went from hot bedding to superblocks overnight. Could they even imagine an apartment complex 1000 metres long built along two streets with even more massive landscaped courtyards? Could they conceive of 1400 apartment units built to house 5000 people on 56,000 square metres or 38 acres of land. Or a vertical build-out that […]
Vienna had been a poor city even before the First World War. “Normal” housing arrangements meant six to eight people sharing one room and a kitchen. Then, in early 1919, just after the Armistice, the cost of living tripled in two months. Bed lodgers could no longer afford their 8-hours a day in a shared […]