Jennifer and Lin traveled with me before, this time they invite friends Ward and Karen for a 2-week adventure in Bella Italia. Highlights will include Rome (Arrival), the Amalfi Coast region centered around Amalfi and Ravello, Positano plus Florence, Pisa, Montepulciano and the Val d’Orcia, Montalcino and Pienza as highlights.
Some day, not right now and not in 2020 or 2021, but some day soon, European Focus and its founder James Derheim will simply stop taking clients to Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice, Rome, Florence and the list goes on and on. Why? Mass tourism and the BILLIONS of people who are traveling – it’s ruining […]
July 11 After a string of negative experiences we have taken the Vatican Museums and the attached Sistine Chapel (you cannot visit the Sistine without going through the maze of the museum) permanently off our list of things to see and do in Rome, until they either change things in a major way at the […]
August 16 – from a trip to this region in May You might think these are in Italy. No, they are in the small city of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. We were surprised too. How did we find out about this little treasure town? Well, it started with Jenean’s laptop needing a new power cord. We […]
April 12 Travelers know that major tourist sites have a lack of available toilets, especially for women, who seem to always have to stand in a very, very long line in order to use the scarce facilities. So it was at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome recently, when my guest had to go and the […]
April 2 (From Wikipedia with photos by European Focus) The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the […]
March 31 With fuel prices at an astounding $9 per gallon for unleaded, slightly less for diesel, the Romans are leaving their cars parked and taking public transportation. What used to be a white knuckle drive into the heart of Rome from the airport is now a breeze, with very few vehicles on the road […]