Travel and ideas for specific destinations such as cities, countries, parks, or areas of interest
We’re at a restored picture-perfect farmhouse up in the hills of Lucca on the vineyard and olive groves that are owned by Piero Tartagini and Francesca Pardini, taking a cooking lesson from Zeela Rubenstein and her husband Mauro Gehigani
Everyone is watching. We’re in the ancient Coliseum in Rome but these gladiators won’t fight to the death, thank goodness. They’re not slaves or prisoners of war.
It’s only a half mile but a steep 40 per cent grade makes it seem much longer. After all the eating aboard the Disney Magic (www.disneycruise.com) as we cruise the Med, we’re glad for the exercise as we head to one of the most famous volcano craters in the world. Mt. Vesuvius.
Everyone visiting NewYork for the first time needs a friend like Coreen Bourke. The lifetime New Yorker and retired phone company administrator was our designated Big Apple Greeter (www.bigapplegreeter.org), volunteering her time to show visitors like us the New York neighborhoods she knows so well. It’s a free service underwritten by generous donors.
DAY SIX It’s all about the swish of your hips. We’re at Douar Laroussi about an hour from where the Disney Magic is anchored this morning in Tunis, Tunisia in North Africa.
DAY FIVE – We’re in Malta, so where are the Knights? The city of Valetta, Malta’s capitol, was built by the Knights of St. John who came here in 1530 to protect the pilgrims.
Imagine if you could only get into your office or house via toeholds carved into rock. Imagine cooking by tossing a hot rock into a waterproofed basket filled with stew fixings and grinding corn with a rock. Imagine living with your family in small stone rooms. Imagine no TV or video games to entertain the kids — just stories passed down from generation to generation
Nantucket — the only place in America that has the same name for the island, the county and the town — does have a well-deserved reputation for being preppy. “It is the only place you can wear pink pants and get away with it,”says one local.
Finally, we’re off! The 32-foot Winnebago RV is stocked with every variety of food from Costco as well as toys, games, movies, pillows, sheets, towels, special “blankies,” and stuffed animals, along with two kids, 5 and 7, two parents and me.
Camping purists—like my wilderness-loving daughters—would turn up their noses at this, but with two young kids, we’re glad for the space, the AC, the beds, the fridge, running water and shower, and when it rains, not being in a soggy tent.
The kids are climbing up a 32 foot ladder, squeezing through a tunnel, walking in toe holds carved into the sandstone, learning all about archeology, Native American culture and ancient history as they go
Travel back to the 18th century and you can even ask a British Regular, famous for their red coats, what it was like to serve so far from home where everyone seemed to hate them. (Not so much different from today, is it?) Watch the Regulars’ Changing of the Guard at the site of their original garrison at Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
Certainly tent camping was cheaper and many suggest that RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids.
The Garlands were dedicated RVers long before they bought the park. They still meet up at campgrounds with California friends they met when Mary was in a Mom’s group. Many of today’s campgrounds, she adds, give you the option to tent camp, bring an RV or stay in a cabin
We’re OFF! A 32-foot RV stocked with food from Costco, toys, movies, two kids aged five and eight, two parents and me. The family is my cousins the SItzmans, who live in Denver. We’re off on a weeklong RV trip across Southwestern Colorado in a home away from home from Winnebago
Big Apple Greeters — it seems such a simple idea – to connect locals enthusiastic about their city to first-time visitors or those simply visiting from elsewhere. Now, because of the economic crisis, the nonprofit organization has found itself in a financial crunch of its own and must come up with $300,000 in new funding by the fall if they are to continue. (Are you listening major travel companies?)
Had we been here in the 1800s, we would have been hunting whales rather than photographing them. Provincetown was a very busy whaling port.
Thanks, Harry. Suddenly, young people, who wouldn’t spend much vacation time with their folks, much less get out of bed this early if they didn’t have to, think family vacations are fun again, especially when mom and dad or grandpa pay for the trip and pop for $100 wizarding robes (yes, despite the 90-degree Florida heat, fans traipsed around the park in the floor-length robes, wearing Hogwarts ties as belts) or $30 wands.
I smile thinking of that hot day at Disney World when my son and older daughter worked so hard to convince their little sister that she really was “grown up” enough (and tall enough) to ride Space Mountain. “So cool!” they told her. “Not too scary,” they promised.
We’ve started off on a morning walk on our second day in Provincetown and about a mile from town. We come across an inn at the top of a hill so striking we have to stop for a look. Land’s End Inn is not only spectacular with amazing ocean views but kid friendly too with a pile of kids’ games.