Arriving in Bucharest on Wednesday, it was impossible not to notice how the city crackles with energy.  The soundtrack of the city is the constant noise of motorcycles, cars, and sirens.  On our first night in the Bucharest, a traffic-paralyzing rock concert in one of the city squares near our hotel attracted crowds of fans … Continue reading A walk in the park and other places in Bucharest →

I’ve taken a little break from blog writing while we were on a cruise on the Danube that took us through the Balkans, including Hungary, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria.  This is a beautiful area of the world and we experienced many of the charms of the region and its natural beauty.  Highlights included being entertained … Continue reading The Balkans: Europe’s Crossroads Where East Meets West →

The phrase “getting lost” can convey so many different emotions.  It can mean joy and freedom, frustration and confusion, even fear and panic. Something we both knew from previous travel is that leaving home, especially to go to foreign lands, generally means spending a lot of time getting lost.  In the past two-plus weeks since … Continue reading Getting lost →

We got up on Friday morning and hopped in a rental car to make the two-hour drive to the French Riviera, otherwise known at the Cote d’Azur.  I had been in the area a number of years ago, but it was John’s first visit. A nice afternoon in Nice and the touching story of the … Continue reading A quick weekend on the Cote d’Azur, then au revoir to France →

Provence is known around the world for its cuisine.  Even though we knew that Aix-en-Provence has really amazing restaurants and wanted to try a few of them, we enjoy cooking together and had looked forward to shopping in the local markets to prepare meals as well, so what we ended up with was a mix … Continue reading Il Etait une Fois or Once Upon a Time we had some really great food in Provence →

This part of France is so lovely.. Arriving in Aix-en-Provence We arrived in Aix-en-Provence early on Sunday afternoon.  This charming French town is a favorite of mine. I first visited here, briefly, around 20 years ago and was lucky enough to return in 2011 with my son, Chris, at the end of a study abroad … Continue reading Walking in the steps of Cezanne and other places our feet have taken us this week in Provence →

This is the blog post that should never have been written up as a blog post. It’s about our experience staying one night in Lisbon on our way from Ponta Delgada to Aix-en-Provence. We were just passing through; nothing to see, nothing to say. The Taxi We landed in Lisbon at 7:00 p.m.  and got … Continue reading Cheap Sleep and a Memorable Meal →

In the first few minutes I was awake this morning, I took a sip of coffee and opened my phone.  There was a new posting from my friend, Sharon King, who has written her wonderful blog, Midlife Moments for several years, often on topics related to mindfulness. Her posting was on the value of slowing … Continue reading Letting go of all that it took to get us here →

People are, naturally, curious about our travels, where we are going, what we are doing, what we are taking, and what we are leaving behind.  We have, of course, spent many hours trying to figure all of this out, which is not to say that we’ve got it right, but we have definitely learned a … Continue reading “How do you pack for a year around the world?” and other questions, answered →