Picnics in Italy
April 23, 2010The photo above was a picnic for about 20 people that we organized at a farmhouse in Tuscany. We just knocked on the door and asked the owners if we could use their back yard and it worked well. Picnicking…
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One day in Livorno
April 12, 2010Most of the inquiries I get about Livorno are from travelers arriving by cruise ship who want help planning one day in the area. I wouldn’t consider Livorno to be one of Italy’s top destinations, but that can be…
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Meeting boys on Italian trains
April 09, 2010I thought it would be fun to enter this little story into the Grantourismo–HomeAway travel writing competition! An American friend and I were on a train full of Italian military boys. Noses in guidebooks, we’d been planning our day trip…
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What to see in Assisi
March 29, 2010The first time I went to Assisi was on a high school trip as an international exchange student. My principal knew I was having tough time acclimating to my new home, so invited me on all the class trips…
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Short Trips from Milan
March 16, 2010When I worked in Milan I took advantage of weekends to travel. Below I’ve made a list of my favorite places to visit from Milan in 1, 2, 3 or 4 days. I’ve put cities in a list based on the minimum…
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Booking hotels in Italy: 10 tips
March 04, 2010Booking a fantastic hotel in Italy can be a daunting task. It goes without saying that you need to check recent reviews and don’t just look at the review score: read the comments thoroughly. Cross-check reviews across different review sites,…
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What to do in Volterra, Tuscany
March 01, 2010There’s off the beaten track and then there’s way off the beaten track. Volterra, Tuscany has both. Spend half a day in this tiny medieval Tuscan hilltown (pop: 12,000) without the tourist crowds of say, nearby San Gimignano. Here are…
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Vatican free Sundays: stay far, far away
February 15, 2010Most of the time, my clients take my advice. And one of my standing pieces of advice is to never visit the Vatican on free Sundays. But on one recent occasion, I was designing an itinerary for a…
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Italian language learning tip: notice Italian signs
February 05, 2010Learning a new language is a bit like detective work at first. You can memorize the grammar rules and a list of vocabulary and practice your accent, but those things are only useful when implemented in communication. Once you’ve arrived…
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Write a blog post for Italy Beyond the Obvious
Would you like to write a blog post to be published on Italy Beyond the Obvious? Read this first.
