All posts filed under: budget vacation

Travel: Bordeaux, France

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I included Bordeaux a few years ago on one of my trips to France. But only because I was travelling by train at the time, and didn’t want to take long-haul train rides from Spain into France. So I used Bordeaux as a hub, spending only a day or two in a small hotel in the outskirts of the city. My loss I gather from this article detailing (just in time mind you because I was considering bypassing France on my next trip to Europe) eight reasons why we need to consider Bordeaux. {photo source}

‘Ode’ to Paris Fashion Week

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Paris and I go ways back, to when I first visited this amazing city at age eleven to visit with family at the time. Since then I’ve been to Paris a dozen plus times, not only for family, but just because, I need to be there every year simply soaking it up. In light of the fact it is Paris Fashion week, I’d like to share with a few tid-bits (if you will) about my favorite city-next to San Francisco of course. Well maybe just a tad more than San Francisco. {photo source} {photo source} {photo source}

Travel: Scotland It Is

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Ah the beauty and intrigue of Scotland, I have forever passed up when traveling to Europe. Until a year back when a dear friend of mine insisted we make a stop in Scotland on our way to Italy, so she could show me her favorite destination in the world. I went along and sure enough, found myself falling in love with the country so much  that I actually  wrote another novel, currently in edit and cover design mode, about Scotland. Just a side note, I am having trouble coming up with a title. So for so many reasons,  I dedicate this travel piece to Scotland:  

Missing Tuscany…

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I think I took my annual trip to Europe too soon this year (in May), because I am having withdrawals right about now. Usually we go in October.  Italy is always on the list. Tuscany a must. I pick a different place each year and we spend a few days taking it all in, and wishing we could simply buy a villa and remodel it “Under The Tuscan” style. The sad thing is I add to my misery by searching online for everything Tuscany, of course I’ve also subscribed to a few sites so you can imagine my inbox daily, reminding me that I am not there. So, Tuscan desserts  will have to do from this site to get me by through the holidays, and into the next year,  when I begin planning my annual trip – for sure October 2016.  Until then I share with you these recipes:

travel: it’s all about italy

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What is it about this wonderful country most of us Americans can’t get enough? I can only speak for myself of course when I say I am madly in love with Italy – Rome, Florence, Venice, Genoa, and every other corner in between  from the hillside small villages of Cinque Terre, to the wonderful Como district, the country the most romantic in my opinion –  and very different  from the well known city of love – Paris. That is where I chose to base  my first novel Piazza Navona, the story unfolding in my imagination and mind, over a cup of espresso sitting in a cafe on the historic Piazza Navona. One day, while I sat in a cafe in Rome-in Piazza Navona, staring at a small stationery store, I realized I wanted to write a novel, about a woman who falls in love in Rome. But I knew I needed a twist on a story that has been told a thousand times. So in 2011, after my return to San Francisco, I began working on my first …

Travel: European Cities To Add To Your Travel Plans

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I just got back from my annual trip to Europe in May, and I am already thinking about planning the next one. This year, my travel partner and I decided to change it up a bit, adding a few new destinations, seeking some adventure.  We opted for Lisbon, Porto, Edinburgh, back to Madrid, then through the norm, the French Rivera, and ending up in Paris. And I have to say it was the best decision we made. Based on the article here, I would like to say that I have to agree with Porto, Salzburg, Seville, Edinburgh, Bruges, Verona being underrated destinations, but most definitely places worth seeing and exploring. As for the rest of the places on the list, I need to add to my list of places to see. The problem is, I have to wait until 2016.