June 6 We visited the Normandy battlefields, the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach and the German fortified spur of land known as Pointe-du-Hoc a few days ago. The experience resonates today, the 68th anniversary of the D-Day landings which set in motion the final defeat of Adolf Hitler’s Evil Empire. The landscape at Pointe-du-Hoc is […]
Monet’s Garden at Giverny, France
May 30 We spent a pleasant afternoon strolling around the charming hamlet of Giverny, France the other day. The highlight and purpose of our visit was the visit Monet’s house and garden, which the artist created so that he had a natural pallet of light and color for him impressionist creations. Good weather was on […]
Somber Visit to the Western Front at Ieper, Belgium
May 30 We took our guest Dennis Duffy to Ieper and to the portion of the Western Front near Ieper on May 29. Every day is Memorial Day in Ieper, site of intense battles and barbaric destruction of life and property during the “Great War” of 1914-1918. Ieper was totally destroyed by many months of […]
Three Nights in Beautiful Bruges
May 30 There are few better ways to begin a European Adventure than three nights in one of the prettiest small cities in Europe. Bruges, or Brugge, or Brugges, or however you want to spell it (there are several variations, all correct) is a fairyland of gorgeous squares, little lanes, canals, carriages led by clopping […]
The Last Brewery In Bruges, Belgium
May 30 We took the interesting tour of the Henri Maes “Halve Mann” brewery in Bruges the other day and found it a fascinating look into how one of the more than 35 breweries that used to exist in this small Flemish town operated. Our guide, Ian, was the highlight of the day as he […]
The Gorgeous Oetztal of Austria
May 20 We spent the day in one of the most scenic valleys of Austria, the Oetztal, near Innsbruck. The Oetztal is perhaps best known for the discovery of the “snow man,” nicknamed “Oetzi,” found frozen in a glacier high above the valley floor. Oetzi is now in a museum in Bolzano, across the border […]
The Cinque Terre is Alive and Well After Flooding of 2011
May 18 News hit the world like a flash. The beautiful Cinque Terre of Italy’s Ligurian coast was destroyed by terrible mudslides in October, 2011. Torrential downpours had reduced the villages to colorful versions of Pompeii. Well, not entirely true, as we found out on a recent visit to this sparkling part of Italy. Two […]
A Day in Montepulciano, Tuscany
May 12 We’re on a slow ramble around Tuscany with two nights in Montepulciano, one of the prettiest of the Tuscan hill towns. Also one of the steepest, we’ve determined, after visiting others such as Siena, Montecchiello and Pienza. Montepulciano is famous for its palaces around the main square, its unfinished church (they ran our […]