Entries by Karen Kuzsel

Part 3-EASTERN EUROPE: STRUDEL, SCHNITZEL AND STRAUSS, A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

BREAKFAST IN POLAND, LUNCH IN SLOVAKIA AND DINNER IN HUNGARY Part 2 was From Concentration Camps to Trendy Kraków Only one road connects Poland with Hungary, and you have to drive through Slovakia to do it. The narrow, exceedingly bumpy road was under reconstruction so traffic barely crawled. It did give us time to peruse […]

Part 1-EASTERN EUROPE: STRUDEL, SCHNITZEL AND STRAUSS, A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

Strudel, Schnitzel and Strauss weren’t all that grabbed our attention about Eastern Europe, but they were certainly components of the rich cultural influences food, wine, music, arts, and architecture played during our recent Odysseys Unlimited Discovering Eastern Europe tour. The trip evoked memories of our ancestry. Yiddish was the language my grandparents, aunts and uncles […]

Part 6: GONDALIERS DON’T SING AND NO ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP? A FIRST-TIMER’S DISCOVERY OF THE REAL ITALY.

GONDOLIERS DON’T SING BUT VENICE STILL EVOKES ROMANCE In Part 5 – The Classical Beauty Of Tuscany, The Elegance Of Florence And San Gimignano’s Tall Towers VENICE Where we stayed: The Carnival Palace Hotel, opened in 2012, overlooks the Cannaregio Canal in the heart of historic downtown Venice. The modern 67 room hotel is not […]

Part 5: GONDALIERS DON’T SING AND NO ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP? A FIRST-TIMER’S DISCOVERY OF THE REAL ITALY.

THE CLASSICAL BEAUTY OF TUSCANY, THE ELEGANCE OF FLORENCE AND SAN GIMIGNANO’S TALL TOWERS Part 4 was Medieval City Faced Chemical Warfare And Peace Makers Wage War Against Poverty In Orvieto And Assisi SIENA, FLORENCE and SAN GIMIGNANO Where we stayed: Villa San Filippo is an 18th century 35-room resort in the Chianti hills, in […]

Part 4: GONDALIERS DON’T SING AND NO ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP? A FIRST-TIMER’S DISCOVERY OF THE REAL ITALY

MEDIEVAL CITY FACED CHEMICAL WARFARE AND PEACE MAKERS WAGE WAR AGAINST POVERTY IN ORVIETO AND ASSISI Part 3 was The Power Of Prayer And Governments Ruled Montecassino And Rome ORVIETO, ASSISI and DERUTA Where we stayed: You couldn’t ask for a better central location to unpack your bags than the Grand Hotel Italia when staying […]

Part 3: GONDALIERS DON’T SING AND NO ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP? A FIRST-TIMER’S DISCOVERY OF THE REAL ITALY.

THE POWER OF PRAYER AND GOVERNMENTS RULED ROME Part 2 was the Sex, Lives And Jewelry Of Pompeii And Sorrento ROME Where we stayed: I never tire of staying in former palaces converted to hotels. One such converted palace to hotel is the 110-room Empire Palace Hotel in Rome, originally built in 1879. Room sizes […]

Part 2: GONDALIERS DON’T SING AND NO ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP? A FIRST-TIMER’S DISCOVERY OF THE REAL ITALY.

SEX, LIVES AND JEWELRY OF POMPEII AND SORRENTO Part 1 was The Magnificent Sights And Sounds Of Amalfi And Ravello POMPEII, SORRENTO and MONTECASSINO Watching one of many fictionalized movies about the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted does not adequately impart the swift horror that befall the populace. […]