Posts

Part 2-EASTERN EUROPE: STRUDEL, SCHNITZEL AND STRAUSS, A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

/4 Comments/in , , /by

FROM CONCENTRATION CAMPS TO TRENDY KRAKÓW
Part 1 was The Razing and Rebuilding of Warsaw
I grew up with the horror stories of the Holocaust, from family whispers to the stacks of books I devoured. (I can’t count how many versions of The Diary of Anne Frank I have read or seen acted.) Just knowing our Odysseys Unlimited tour included a visit to Auschwitz (known in German as Oswiecim) and its nearby sub-camp, Birkenau, made me edgy. We were travelling to Kraków, but the visit to the camps were scheduled for the earlier part of the day. Could I handle seeing the reality which has heretofore only been personal stories or movies?

Trainloads of prisoners would arrive here at Birkenau


I propelled myself forward and listened attentively to the statistics of how many were killed, how many survived, and why it has been a Polish government project to preserve the camps and their wretched history. I shuddered when we passed by a gas chamber, held my breath when we entered barracks that still echoes the misery of their cramped, emaciated inhabitants, and Read more

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

/4 Comments/in , , /by

Spinach strudel, boiled potatoes, sausages and more at Café Museum in Vienna, Austria


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 spoke when they didn’t want me to understand the conversation. English was the rule otherwise. How often did I hear them say, “We are now Americans. We speak English.”
My parents were first-born Americans from parents who fled Poland, Romania and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 1900s. Even as the eldest of my parent’s three children, I didn’t know to ask why they fled their native countries or how Read more

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

/8 Comments/in , , /by

St. Mark’s Square and colorful buildings line Venice’s Grand Canal


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 in the midst of tourist traffic, so if you want to venture to St Marks, museums and art galleries, you either have a very long walk or you can easily take a water bus from a station just a short distance away. The hotel buffet was diverse, with a vegan brioche I mistakenly took for a wheat croissant until I bit down into its soft, buttery texture. These were so amazing I ate them every morning for four days. Russ and I and several Read more

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

/0 Comments/in , , /by

View from Villa San Fillippo


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 Barberino Val D’Elsa. Russ and I stayed in a magnificent suite that opened up to a dining and kitchen area, tiled floors, and a step down to the bathroom and luxuriously appointed bedroom. A comfy chair positioned in front of a large window and balcony in the living room afforded spectacular views of the lush Tuscan landscape Read more

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

/2 Comments/in , , /by

Seated man frozen in ash at Pompeii


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. Vesuvius has since erupted nearly 30 more times, the last being March 17, 1944. Considered one of the most dangerously active volcanos in the world, it’s scary to know it sits only about 20 miles from the city of Naples. Estimates are that as many as 30,000 residents may have been “frozen in place” under ash in 79 AD. An eruption today might cause as many as Read more

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

/1 Comment/in , , /by

St Mark’s Square & the Doge’s Palace on Venice’s Grand Canal


Part 1 – THE MAGNIFICANT SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF AMALFI AND RAVELLO
Pizza, pasta and gelato. Wines that never reach America. Mythological gods and goddesses. Warring religious and political leaders. Artists, sculptors and architects whose works still breathe life into a people, country and tourism-driven economy.
Stunning landscapes of contrasting colors, from the foam-tipped whites of the sea crushing against jagged rocks of the Amalfi Coast to the neon yellow of the lemon tree-studded mountains of Ravello; from

Boar’s head sits in oaken bucket. Otherwise, a typical wine and food shop within stone walls of medieval town

 
Read more

DENMARK & NORWAY: ROYALLY RICH IN BREATHTAKING BEAUTY, FROM CASTLES TO FJORDS

/2 Comments/in , , /by

The Viking Museum in Roskilde


PART 1: VIKINGS DID NOT HAVE HORNS ON THEIR HELMETS
Plunging waterfalls descending from steep rocky mountain walls and glacial gray splashing water into deep shimmery fjords of Norway are not photo-shopped by travel magazines.
Danish pastries are actually called Vienna bread in Denmark, and contrary to belief, they are not one of the country’s better known exports. Bacon is.
Pretty much everyone in Denmark and Norway speaks better English than many Americans.
Scandinavian countries take great care to preserve their heritage, architecture, and cultural norms.
Those are just some of the truisms my husband and I learned during our week’s stay in Denmark Read more