Tourists are warned the rocky coastline of Acadia National Park is slippery when wet, but not everyone heeds.
Sweltering temperatures and high humidity propelled us out of Florida, but the beckoning promise of 60-degree days, delectable lobster (for me because my husband Russ is allergic to shellfish), and new adventures that
Folktale and Fantasy at the Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival.
In Part 3: CASUAL JAUNTS THRU SWEDEN and DENMARK, we discovered that no matter how many times we visit Denmark, there is more to see, more traditions to learn, and more tasty meals to devour with our friends and their families. In this final section, we excitedly greet new adventures.
WHAT WE DID:
You might say Denmark is structured on limestone, beginning in the 11th century when it was used to build churches. One of
I found this on the bathroom wall at Richters Olstue, a restaurant in Køge built in 1644.
In Part 2: CASUAL JAUNTS THRU SWEDEN and DENMARK, we walked for miles on cobbled streets, rode a ferry to Drottningholm to see the Queen’s Castle and the oldest opera house in the country, and discovered that five days is simply not enough to cover the 89 museums located in Stockholm, Sweden.
Things you should know about Denmark, routinely recognized as one of the happiest countries on earth. Even Danes struggle to articulate
In Part 1: CASUAL JAUNTS THRU SWEDEN and DENMARK, excellent food seduced our senses and teased our palates, from the early morning buffet at Nobis Hotel Stockholm to the many restaurants we visited. Eating did not encompass all our time, so read on to see how we worked off all those calories!
Images of these colored buildings in Stortorget Square in Gamla Stan, the Old Town of Stockholm, adorn most souvenirs and postcards.
WHAT WE DID:
A short distance from our hotel and needing to kill time before being able to check in, we came across The Hallwyl Museum. We were initially drawn by the fancy outdoor garden
Stockholm Bay main street is lined with impressive buildings originally erected as banks.
Extreme heat and wilting humidity may have compelled tourists in many countries to make like bats and only come out in the dark shade of day or the prayed-for cool of night, but on our early July trip to Sweden and Denmark, we sidestepped predicted rain and donned light
The CN Tower looms over downtown.
114 floors above the crowd of pea-sized tourists ambling between the Rogers Centre, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, and the miniscule outside Railroad Museum, my first step from Toronto, Canada’s CN Tower elevator left me momentarily light-headed. I focused forward as I inched towards the windows, determined not to look down the 1,465 feet. I gave the Universe a grateful thanks for the small miracle
Growing cactus must be one of the reasons there are so many varieties in Southern Italy.
In Part 5, we discovered Lecce Baroque is an attitude as much as an architectural style and that certified organic wines go down easily with a farm-to-table fresh meal wonderfully prepared.
The last city on this two-week Odysseys Unlimited tour of Sicily and Southern Italy came sooner than it seemed possible. That’s the way it is with all vacations, I expect, but sometimes the days melt faster into the next depending on activities and on the group’s personal dynamics. This 18-member group has been exceptionally harmonious, so the shared experiences have flashed by. Nonetheless, we are headed to Sorrento, a city Russ and I visited with Odysseys four years ago. Then we had mere hours in Sorrento, but an unmistakable allure demanded a lengthier stay.
Lecce Baroque styling means artistic flourishes carved in white limestone.
In Part 4, we discovered conical roofs of flat rocks not bound with mortar can be quite useful to thwart a King’s taxman and in today’s market, bring in the big bucks.
what we learned:
Barocco leccese is an ornate artistic style developed in Lecce and in Terra d’Otranto allegedly between the second half of the 16th century and the end of the 17th. It was developed as a thanks to God for protecting Christianity from the Ottomans. Lecce Baroque style leaves no empty spaces. The thinking was that empty space lets in the Devil. The 2,000-year-old city is considered the “Florence of the South” for the breadth of the fanciful designs of human figures, flowers, and animals carved in white limestone materials encouraged by Charles V, King of Spain, instead of the marble used in Naples. In Lecce, elaborate corbels appear under railings. Classical sculptures of women line the sides of doorways. The point of Baroque design is to wow!
A one € house might be yours.
In Part 2, we explored the historic Valley of the Temples in Agrigento and hiked on Mt. Etna. We also enjoyed sumptuous meals near both those famous landmarks.
We left the island of Sicily for the mainland region of Basilicata, Italy, aboard a 20-minute ferry that docked in Villa San Giovanni, Calabria. Calabria (old Italy) means “place of the bull.” Ninety percent of Calabria is mountainous.
Enroute to Matera, a city of growing fascination the more we learned, we pass by isolated run-down buildings along the road called “one Euro properties.” That’s the price anyone can pay to own one of these crumbling, likely medieval times-built homes. Here’s the backstory. Small villages desperately need restoration of abandoned homes that might entice new residents. However, remaining villagers are likely impoverished and unable to tackle repairs of a second home. Anyone can apply to buy one of those homes for one € with the pledge to restore it to historical accuracy. Applicant must also commit to five – 10 years ownership (depending on the area) but is not required to live there year-round. The property must remain a personal home and cannot be turned into a B&B or other money-making business. Not caring which homes qualified for a one € sale did not stop our 18-member tour group from pointing out luxury homes for the remainder of the two-week trip and yelling out, “One € house.”
View of the coastline from Parco Florence Trevelyan, the public gardens that began as a private park.
In Part 1, we survived an arduous journey to Taormina for the first leg of our two-week Sicily-Southern Italy tour. We learned about the city’s discovery, its shames (eliminating Jews), and folklore stories woven into today’s culture, from pinecones to pottery heads of planted basil.
what we did:
At the top of the pedestrian-only hill from our hotel, Eurostars Monte Tauro, is the serenely peaceful Parco Florence Trevelyan. The beautiful public gardens were originally created as a private park by Lady Florence Trevelyan Cacciola, a Scottish noblewoman married to the mayor. She styled her sanctuary as a typical English garden with an infusion of colorful varieties of flowers and plants from all over the world, but it was her passion for ornithology (bird watching) that inspired many of the park’s fanciful brick structures. The one most used as a backdrop for photos is called “The Beehives”. Taormina’s government now maintains the quiet manicured respite overlooking Mt. Etna and the coastline.