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International and U.S. Travel
Florence, Italy: It’s All About the Art
And other observations during a two-night trip to Florence Excuse me, but how did this post that I published on Medium.com a few years back not make it onto my blog?! Here it is, regardless. (In case you’re wondering how I figured out about the literal missing link… it’s because in attending a class to…
Keep readingA Walking Tour of Naples, Italy
I’m reblogging this post from The Gen X Travels, a fellow WordPress blogger, for two reasons: 1) it has some great “in the moment” photos that I think my travel readers will enjoy and 2) because I want to be able to find it later when I’m planning my own trip to southern Italy. All…
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Carhenge: Ever heard of it?
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I took a three-day trip to Mount Rushmore from southwest Missouri. On the way to and from, we ventured off the beaten path to see some less-visited sites. One of those was Carhenge. Can you guess what it is? Yep, you’re right. It’s a Stonehenge made of…
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The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
In March, I had the opportunity to visit The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri. Named for the city’s patron, Saint Louis IX of France, the structure, according to a tourist guide, “combines architecture of Romanesque style on the exterior with a wondrous Byzantine style interior.” In other words, WOW.
Keep readingHow to get from Delphi to Olympia by bus
See this restaurant? It doubles as the Delphi bus station. COVID-19 Preface: Greece officially reopens to travelers on Monday, June 15. According to this Associated Press story published today, “Timely and strictly enforced lockdown measures have so far kept the infection rate in Greece low and the death toll below 200.”) It was a little…
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Making waves in Venice: A gondola and a cruise ship
For Venice lovers: a video clip of each I’ve been to Venice twice, but neither time have I ridden a gondola or disembarked from a cruise (or embarked on one, for that matter). On my first trip to Venice, I flew to Marco Polo Airport and then hopped onto an Ali Laguna vaporetto to hop…
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How I found connection in the Basilica of San Vitale
On this Easter Sunday, my thoughts turn to the redemption and salvation provided by Jesus Christ, and our visit three years ago to one of the most beautiful churches in Italy, the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.
Keep readingDuring COVID-19, Take Your Tastebuds to Venice
“A Table in Venice” by Skye McAlpine Takes You There Last week, my daughter ordered this beautiful cookbook, A Table in Venice: Recipes from My Home, by Skye McAlpine from Amazon. Its 287 pages showcase 100 recipes from Venice and the greater lagoon. Yes, the region may be under lockdown, but our fascination with all…
Keep readingDear Venice, Get Well Soon
Best wishes for a speedy recovery I took this picture of my daughter last June as she and I returned to Venice from a day trip to Bologna. In the distance, you can see Venice in the lagoon poised for the few remaining months of problematic mass tourism that remained in 2019. It’s quite a…
Keep readingVideo Friday: Can you hear the people sing?
Listen carefully for the summer sounds of Skopelos, Greece.
Keep readingCome see the churches of Greece’s Skopelos Island
…where Panagitsa Tower is just the beginning. All photos: Marilyn Yung How do I stay for three weeks on a Greek island that contains more than 300 churches and 24 monasteries and leave the island with only a handful of photos of them? Tell me how that happens. Here’s how: they’re everywhere. One can’t possibly…
Keep readingPhoto Friday: Sunny Church in Skopelos
On every Sunday morning last June, my husband and I were mesmerized by the calming tones of musical chants floating on the breezes wafting across the natural amphitheater arrangement of Skopelos Town. Also known as the Old Town or Skopelos Chora, the largest town on Skopelos Island is home to 123 churches Greek Orthodox churches.…
Keep readingThree weeks in Skopelos, Greece: The Old Town
Our time in the Old Town on Skopelos IslandLast June, my husband and I spent three weeks on Skopelos Island in Greece, as part of our five-plus week journey across Greece. At the time, I posted daily on this blog about our itinerary as we traversed the country from Skopelos Island, to Athens on the…
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Photo Friday: A Venetian mosaic
The travel is in the details This unexpected mosaic tucked into a corridor in the San Marco sestiere of Venice, Italy will take your breath away. Even the wrought iron barrier is beautiful and provides a contrasting frame for this photo taken by my daughter in June 2019. The design reminds me of a beautiful…
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Time to spare in Bologna, Italy is a good thing
Missing a Renaissance masterpiece isn’t One Saturday last June my daughter and I wandered into the Church of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna, Italy. We were killing time as we waited to meet friends (my daughter’s Italian language tutor, actually) for lunch and a quick tour of the public library before heading back to…
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Phaistos, Crete: The most famous Greek ruins you’ve probably never heard of
A peek into the past in the hills of southern Crete Phaistos. Phaestos. Festos. Faistos. And then in Greek, it’s spelled Φαιστός. No matter how you spell it, each name refers to Phaistos Minoan Palace, the second most important site (after Knossos Palace in Heraklion) of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. We…
Keep readingVisit Mycenae: Feel the quiet power of the Lion Gate
What you can expect to see at MycenaeAsk an art historian about Mycenae and they will likely mention the Lion Gate, the monumental sculptures carved at the entrance to the citadel at the Mycenaean acropolis. While the Mycenaean civilization they guarded through the millennia was buried and ravaged by time and destruction, the lions remained…
Keep readingLa Petite Gemme Prairie: like none other in Missouri
A short afternoon outing west of Bolivar, Missouri Today after lunch, my husband, daughter, son and I ventured out to La Petite Gemme Prairie just a mile or so west of Bolivar. My son told me recently about this nature preserve, but we hadn’t taken time to go see it until today. We decided to…
Keep readingYour Acropolis Ticket is A Ticket to History
Athens’ Acropolis attracts a global audience hungry for history When you visit The Acropolis during the summer months, expect crowds. In fact, The Acropolis hosts more than 2.5 million visitors from January through October. However, despite those crowds, expect to enjoy quiet moments for gazing at and studying the historic wonders that exist there. Yes,…
Keep readingPort Elizabeth, South Africa: The travel is in the details
A haircut, Iron Brew, and biltong in Port Elizabeth It was raining still. Watery pellets pounded the windshield of our rental Volkswagen minivan as Pieter, our tour guide and professional hunter, searched the streets of Port Elizabeth for a barber shop. “I need a haircut,” he had told us that morning when we left our…
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The Jewish Ghetto of Venice: A Walking Tour
Five facts and photos from our brief visit to this less traveled Venetian sight In June, my daughter and I took an afternoon in Venice to see the Jewish Ghetto located in the Cannaregio sestiere, in the north of the city. Two years earlier, on a previous week-long trip to Venice, I had wanted to…
Keep readingThe Zeus of Greek museums: Our visit to The National Archaeological Museum of Athens
From golden goblets to frying pans to perfume On our next to last day in Greece last summer, we capped off our Greek museum tour with a visit to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. It was the last museum we would see, having already visited other museums in Athens (The Acropolis Museum), Mycenae, Delphi,…
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Stepping Across a Controversy in Venice
Santiago Calatrava’s infamous bridge made my bucket list This past June, I returned to Venice, Italy for five days to visit my daughter who was serving an internship at the U.S. Pavilion of the 2019 Art Biennale. While there, my goal was to experience a few sights I had missed in 2017 when we visited…
Keep readingA great man is always willing to be little
His expression compelled me to stop and linger at the display in Mycenae. Only three to four inches in height, this ivory Mycenaean sculpture does not overwhelm with its size or weight, but with its expression. Made between 1250-1180 B.C. this “Ivory Male Head Figure” was excavated in the ruins of Mycenae (Mykines)…
Keep readingI say Heraklion, you say Iraklio
At first, Crete’s largest city threw us for a loop The arrivals terminals at Crete’s airport may disappoint you. First, it’s curiously dim. I remember telling my husband it felt like a Walmart store. Its cold LED lighting cast a cool glow on the blue and gray interior. Second, the ladies bathroom was a mess.…
Keep readingNeed a new perspective on Ancient Greece?
The Areopagus in Athens puts Ancient Greece in its proper perspective This morning, we walked through Athens to the Areopagus, the location of a judicial court, where Paul made his “To an Unknown God” sermon to the Athenians with—wait for it— the Acropolis in the background with its temples to Athena, Poseidon, Erechtheus and other…
Keep readingTravel on Crete: How to get from Heraklion to Phaistos by bus
It’s not easy, but it is possible to take the bus from Heraklion to PhaistosToday, my husband and I visited Phaistos Minoan Palace, arguably the second most important Minoan archaeological site on the island of Crete in Greece. Phaistos has been on our bucket list for our journey through Greece, and because we’ve relied on…
Keep readingThe strange situation I saw two days ago in Athens
An unsettling episode on our otherwise comfortable journey through Greece I guess nothing came of the strange situation I saw two days ago in Athens. Here’s what happened somewhere between the Omonoia and Ministiraki stations. So, okay. I’m sitting on this gray metal bench waiting for a train to whisk my husband and I to…
Keep readingKnossos Palace: A Minoan Culture Club
Treat yourself to Heraklion, Crete in Greece “The Minoans. Very smart people,” the guard told me, tapping her index finger on her temple. She had just explained to me (without my asking, by the way… she was that enthusiastic and had walked over on her own to explain) the purpose of a raised ridge near…
Keep readingScenes from a sunny house in Athens
AirBnB delivers again This is our first major trip where by the time we return home, we will have utilized AirBnB seven times! Today’s post is about our stay near the Athens International Airport with Tania and her son, Kostas (yes, another Kostas!). Tania’s house is called “Sunny House” and it’s ten minutes from the…
Keep readingWhen your AirBnb host shows you the town
…to share his enthusiasm for Olympia As with all three of the towns we have visited so far in Greece since we left Skopelos Island, there is more to the towns than just the historical sites. For example, Delphi is a quaint Alpine-style village full of shops and establishments that cater to the tourist market…
Keep readingCarrying a torch for Olympia, Greece
Olympia, Greece was worth three bus rides and a taxi Yesterday, we toured the Sanctuary of Olympia, the mammoth archaeological site at Olympia, Greece. Thanks to the Olympic Games, I would venture to say that most of us have heard of this site. However, I myself didn’t realize that there was virtually a complete city…
Keep readingMeet our AirBnB hosts: Kostas and Toula
Our fabulous hosts at Mycenae AirBnb offers something that a traditional hotel doesn’t: contact with local residents. We met Kostas and Toula on our first night in Mycenae after three weeks on Skopelos Island. That day, we had ferried to Skiathos Island, flown for 25 minutes to Athens, then taken a bus to Athens’ KTEL…
Keep readingA Day in Delphi
Delphi: Greece’s Top Divine Destination Our visit to Delphi was our favorite single day of our six-week Greek odyssey. Once we figured out the Greeks pronounce the divine destination “Delfie, as if to rhyme with selfie, we settled in and fully enjoyed our day. So… I think it made perfect sense to attempt a Delfie…
Keep readingA boy, a bird, and a bus station in Athens
Parenting looks the same wherever you live Parenting seems to be the same around the world. Whether you live in the United States or Greece, all parents have their hands full with a four-year-old boy. Today, I’m watching a mother, father and their son who looks to be about four at the Liosion Bus Station…
Keep readingMarry an artist and then go to Mycenae
Here’s another perk of being married to an artist A few days ago, I posted on Instagram about how one of the perks of being married to an artist is that you can tag along with them when they serve an artist residency in Greece. Well, if you need another reason to marry an artist,…
Keep readingStafilos Beach for the win
…Stafilos had a dog, so that pushed it ahead of the pack We visited four beaches (Glisteri, Glifoneri, Panormos, and Stafilos) during our three weeks on Skopelos Island and they each were clean, comfortable, and drop-dead gorgeous. However, Stafilos Beach had a dog, so Stafilos for the win. When we visited Stafilos last Friday afternoon,…
Keep readingThe Flying Dolphin: A Need for Speed
Riding Aegean’s Flying Dolphin high-speed passenger ferry When we booked our return ferry tickets from Skiathos to Skopelos last week, the woman at the ticket office confirmed our booking by asking, “There’s a Flying Dolphin you could take. Would a Flying Dolphin be okay?” That’s strange, I thought. Of course, a Flying Dolphin would be…
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Venice doesn’t need another tourist like me
There’s a guard at a basilica who wants us to be better. It just wasn’t as elaborate as I thought it would be, I thought as I surveyed the interior of Venice’s Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Yes, it was beautiful, just not as beautiful as I expected for a “Top 10” ranking in the…
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Going to the hospital in Venice
H is for Ospedale I’m betting that the question, “Wonder where the hospital is around here?” passes through the minds of most visitors to Venice… at least those visitors who stay on the island and think about where they would go if they twisted an ankle or suffered whiplash doing a double-take at an especially…
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When you finally meet your online Italian language tutor
Desperately seeking Clara in Bologna, Italy Last Saturday, my daughter and I ventured out of Venice to Bologna. The purpose of our trip was to meet Clara Ori. Clara teaches online lessons in the Italian language and she and my daughter have been working together since last September. Once or twice a week, they meet…
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A Visit to the Venice Biennale 2019
“May You Live in Interesting Times” In interesting times, artists create. In uninteresting times, artists still create. Regardless of the global political climate, the Venice Biennale—the Olympics of art where countries each exhibit in their own pavilion or exhibit space—continues. Sure, some countries may decline to participate from year to year or may be late…
Keep readingHiking the Coast-to-Coast Trail on Skopelos Island
Three-plus hours of exercise and socializing in the Greek countryside On Wednesday night (June 12), Mitch and I hiked across Skopelos Island from Skopelos Town to the little seaside town of Panormos. The three-hour hike was organized by Heather Parsons, founder of Skopelos Trails. I had heard of Parsons last fall when I found her…
Keep readingA big fat Greek vocabulary lesson about the word “Sporades”
Gus Portokalos would be proud You know in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding when the father, Gus, explains how every English word can be traced back to the Greek language? Well, he’s right on that point when you look at the name for the group of islands that my husband and I are visiting:…
Keep readingA tour of our studio apartment in Greece
Here’s what €40-80 will get you on Skopelos Island, depending on time of year I thought it might be interesting to write a post about our lodging here in Skopelos Town, sometimes called the Chora, on Skopelos Island in Greece. We’re staying in a room that sleeps three people at Mayorka Studios, which is located…
Keep readingA Visit to Rodios Pottery in Skopelos
A Greek pottery master continues a family legacy Yes, you can call Nikos Rodios a Greek pottery legend, but you can also call him the juggler of Skopelos. When we arrived at his studio Saturday morning in Skopelos Town, Rodios was waiting for a large bowl to dry on his “extra” potters wheel. (He uses…
Keep readingA Quick Getaway to Glifoneri Beach
We downsized our Sunday afternoon with a walk to this nearby beach We had planned to go to Stafylos Beach, about one mile away across Skopelos Island. However, that would require a bus, and we didn’t know if there would be buses running on a Sunday, since Greek Orthodoxy does play a major role here…
Keep readingGreek Dancing in the Dark
A slice of Skopelos life Last night, after a dinner down by the harbor at Στου Δημητράκη (by the way, where we dined on giouvetsi, mousaka and ekmek—more on that later), we ventured up the hill to the City School to watch a night of traditional dancing. The show started at 9 p.m. and lasted…
Keep readingCasual Chaos: A Ferry Tale
We had to pay attention. We had to think. Traveling to new places can make you appreciate or at least think differently about the rules and procedures of your own country. And when it comes to safety procedures, sometimes I think the United States tries too hard to keep people safe. We’ve gone so far…
Keep readingWhen you learn (yet again) how much you don’t know
The Church of Agios Michael Synadon on Skopelos We weren’t inside this little church for more than twenty minutes, but that was long enough to be reminded yet again of my ignorance on… well, so many things. Architecture and Greek Orthodoxy are topics that come to mind, as well as the history of the 100+…
Keep readingDon’t Touch the Marble!
What to know before you visit the Acropolis in Athens “Don’t touch the marble!” a thirty-something woman called out into the distance from her perch in front of the Parthenon. With one hand on her hip, and another shading her eyes beneath her billed beach cap, she waited and watched. About thirty feet below, a…
Keep readingAthens at night from a balcony on Sostratou
The sights and sounds from the city of antiquity The hum of an occasional car darting through the maze of streets below The mournful hiss of a street cat The cubist composition of layered apartments A woman’s silhouette within a window The clanging of bells, frenetic with energy The clink of forks and knives…
Keep readingWhat dream are you trading for new hardwood flooring?
When it comes right down to it, I would rather marvel at a Greek monastery than my kitchen. The linoleum flooring in my kitchen is really old. In fact, it’s no longer white. It’s now off-white with an uneven pattern of nicks and dings that has, over the past twenty-four years, resulted in a floor…
Keep readingFrank Lloyd Wright Wronged
When your eyes become accustomed to an architectural wonder It’s important to see the beauty in our midst. One day many years ago when we lived in Phoenix, my husband and I were invited to visit an acquaintance and her young daughter who happened to be occupying a house designed by the world-renowned architect, Frank…
Keep readingFive questions not to ask New Yorkers when you’re building a travel writing portfolio
If travel writing is all about storytelling, then I’m in big trouble As a Midwesterner and an aspiring travel writer visiting the Big Apple over spring break, I wanted to use a trip to New York City to build my portfolio. Sounds easy enough, right? However, good travel writing is all about storytelling, or so…
Keep readingStop and Gawk: The MTA’s Newest Mosaic Stunner
Xenobia Bailey’s Funktional Vibrations You’re a lost cause. When you push against the turnstile to exit the subway at 34th St.-Hudson Yards in New York, you can’t help it. The brilliant cobalt of Funktional Vibrations snags your attention and stops you in your tracks. That’s okay. In an hour or so, this last stop on…
Keep readingPostcards from the seductive edge of South Africa
Peering from the Cape of Good Hope What is it about edges that attract us? Why do we gladly stand, albeit timidly, at the precipice of a cliff? Why the compulsion to see the very last tip of land? When all that we know for sure is safely and surely behind us, why linger at…
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Dear Venice… We have to talk.
Finally, I’ve found a city I can trust myself with — Ravenna, Italy. I didn’t mean to fall in love. I wasn’t looking for someone new. I had never even heard of Ravenna until I went to Italy. But, Venice, I’m torn. In so many ways, Ravenna attracts me. It’s untouristy. Affordable. Strangely familiar. And…
Keep readingWhy staying one night anywhere is never enough: Knysna, South Africa
Knysna wanted to tell us a story, but there simply wasn’t time. We were nearly ready to leave when the winds began howling at 34 South, the seafood eatery where we had dined on oysters, beef, beer, and cheesecake. Raindrops swiped against the plate glass windows. A gust of wind rocked the rafters. The…
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Sins of the flash in Torcello, Italy
The quiet rebellion of women who take pictures anyway When you visit the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon, you observe a sign inside the basilica that forbids photography. Ugh, you think. But it’s so beautiful. Inside, the apse—a half-dome of sorts—is encrusted in gold mosaic. The Virgin Mary resides in its center, alone,…
Keep readingA dull ache for a sharp object left in Italy
When Mom’s pocket knife gets confiscated When the security employee at the gate asked me to step aside, I remembered. My pocket knife. Oh no, my pocket knife, I thought, realizing I had left it earlier in the little cosmetic bag inside my purse. I had forgotten to check it with my luggage and…
Keep readingTravel to places that make you feel small: Monument Valley, Utah
Monument Valley is good for that. Those spires. Those ledges. Those bluffs. Behemoths of weight and mass, rising from the high desert floor with quiet heft and bulk. The space between them is as much a part of the experience as the monuments themselves. My perspective disintegrates. My awe overwhelms. There is no way to…
Keep readingHow I found connection in the Basilica of San Vitale
Of tenacity and Easter cupcake sprinkles in Ravenna, Italy Here’s a scenario: Your daughter requests sprinkles on the Easter cupcakes you’re baking. However, pretend the shaker needed to sprinkle on the dotted decorations has not been invented yet, and the only way to get the sprinkles perfectly placed and evenly dispersed on the cupcakes is…
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Verona, Italy is the bomb dot com
And other observations my daughter made when she visited on a daytrip from Venice My daughter spent three months living in Venice in 2017 as an intern at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a small, yet world-renowned modern art museum located on the Grand Canal. Her time there was magical, challenging, beautiful, and life-changing. On four…
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Padua, Italy: The bluest blue I’ve ever seen
And other observations my daughter made during a quick morning trip to Padua from Venice My daughter spent three months living in Venice in 2017 as an intern at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a small, yet world-renowned modern art museum located on the Grand Canal. Her time there was magical, challenging, beautiful, and life-changing. On…
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My daughter and the peeping tom of Venice, Italy
It was scary to think how much time and effort this man had put into his actions that night. Imagine being 22, female, and in Venice, Italy for a three-month internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a small, yet world-renowned modern art museum located on the Grand Canal. At 2 a.m. on the day your…
Keep readingWhat’s It Like to Live in Venice?
Read “The Politics of Washing” to Find Out While I was surprised to learn that 16.5 million people visit Venice, Italy each year, I was even more surprised to learn that the city claims a mere 55,000 permanent residents, according to this article in The Guardian. That’s 300 tourists for every resident. With numbers like…
Keep readingTen More Things You’ll Find in Venice in March
The large and small details of Venice are around every corner.
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Trusting Your Gut: If It Looks Like a Dead Body, It Probably Is
When I lived in Tempe, Arizona, one night I think I might have witnessed someone loading a dead body into the trunk of their car. This was in 1991. It was around 10 at night and I was walking back from my boyfriend’s apartment across the street. My apartment complex was called Riviera Palms and…
Keep readingFavorite place on Earth
Monument Valley, Utah Well, it happened again. I travelled someplace new and I am forever changed. This time: Monument Valley, Arizona. There is nothing quite like spotting something on the horizon that appears surreal, other-worldly and truly unknown. And then it is something that changes you and makes you feel small, insignificant, yet important to…
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Marilyn Yung 