Tonight, my feet have brought me to the streets of Cagliari on Sardinia’s southern coast. Cagliari, a port city founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century B.C., remains the island’s capital, filled with a mixture of modern and ancient architectures. The city lies in the middle of the Golfo degli Angeli, in other words, the Gulf of the Angels. The heavenly aspect to Cagliari at first glance may seem hard to find with run-down buildings and moderately sketchy accommodations, but the angelic quality to Cagliari seems to be perched a flight of stairs above the town in the Castello Continue Reading
A Purpose To Travel Exists “Up In The Air” And In My Childish Mind
When I was little, I loved the idea of travel, not the touring a new state or country but the actual travel part. I used to get so excited for the plane ride, something many of us dread today. Sometimes I would have to remind myself that after the plane touched down, the real traveling was going to begin. I even held TV packing shows weeks before a family vacation, telling my pretend viewers all the necessities to throw in their Little Mermaid backpack before an upcoming trip. This sensation probably developed on my first trip overseas when I was 8 years old. I remember flying high above the Continue Reading
Living in a Hallway? Questions To Ask Before Becoming An Au Pair
This past May, I graduated from college. With my bags packed, I was off to teach a 14-year-old English in the Italian countryside. To me it sounded like a dream after graduation: live rent free in Italy for the summer before figuring out life or perhaps figure out life in Italy. At any rate, the dream turned into much more of a privacy nightmare. I am no stranger to living with Italian families. I lived in Sorrento with a family of four women when I was just 18. By 20, I lived with an elderly Florentine couple for an entire semester. I knew what it was like to live in the home of a culture Continue Reading
Where Are You Going? Plant your Feet Overlooking Urbino, Italy
What many of us forget about travel is our feet. Without the ability to move, travel would fail to exist. These places around the world we view most likely at a standstill. We are usually standing tall or with bad posture, viewing a place on foot. As a part of this travel site for 2010, posts of the week deemed “Where Are You Going?”, a place viewed on foot while traveling, will be featured, predictably every week. The goal of this segment is to expand the idea of travel, that no matter where your stinky, clean, pedicure, no pedicure, aching feet take you, places will always exist that have Continue Reading
My Christmas Card: Holiday Travel in a Rare Sicilian Form
For the holiday season, I can only think of one photograph to share with my readers that represents the essence of holiday travel. While I could slap up a picture of squawking people at the airport or pushy shoppers edging you out of the latest deal, I selected this particular photograph showcasing the ultimate holiday journey. The baroque creamy buildings look almost as if they are glowing. Gazing down from my Sicilian balcony, I think the buildings really are radiating light. Streaming lines of uniformed men follow an angelic statue to Mary. It is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Continue Reading
Extending My Thanks To Travel. Fingers Crossed, Travel Thanks Me Back
As I am just an hour away from Thanksgiving Day, I guess I can devote an extra 30 minutes to give thanks on just an ordinary day of the year. After all, you only can give thanks on Thanksgiving (sarcasm). The picture I have included with this post was taken at the beginning of 2009 in Taormina, Sicily. I was studying in Sicily for the month of January, improving my Italian language skills and my ability to know good gelato from bad gelato just by looking at the glass case. After climbing down to the Isola Bella beach in the dead of winter, the scene is quiet. No one is sun tanning as Continue Reading
Closet Italian Designer Keeps Her Designs in the Closet
Lounging on sapphire-blue colored sofas while watching countless hours of Italian game shows, movies, and jewelry infomercials, a former Italian designer modestly but willingly entertains my unending questions about her life. One question after another she responds almost as though no one has ever asked her about herself before me. Her chatter fills the unbearable humid air of a summer day in Florence, Italy. She may not be as well known as Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, or Dolce & Gabana, but she easily could have been 40 years ago. Sharing the famous street in Florence that could be named Continue Reading