Durres
There are some sights to see, but

There are some sights to see, but

On the way back to the capital, Tirana, during a tour of Albania, we stopped off in Durres, a large coastal town. This wasn’t on the itinerary. Our guide was very service-minded. It’s...

Apollonia

The monastery, lunch and the mosaics

Near the ruins of Apollonia in Albania, there is another attraction called the Ardenica Monastery. It is said that the monastery was started to be built in 1282 on the site of the…

Himare

Stop at Dhermi Village

After lunch in Porto Palermo on the Albanian Riviera, we headed further north along the coast. After a series of hairpin turns, we crossed the highest pass in the area at 1,100 metres….

Turkey

The whirling dervish

In Cappadocia in Turkey, we went to see the ceremony of the whirling dervish. They were showing it to tourists in an ex-caravanserai. Though it was for tourists, it was very serious and…

Kanazawa

This is another bliss

We visited Yuwaku Onsen, about 50 min.bus ride from Kanazawa, Japan. The ryokan (Japanese style inn) we stayed was called Kanaya and our room was in an annex. I was very surprised to…

Spain

Locks are even here

The custom to put a lock on a railing along the river and through the key away into the river to declare your eternal love started from an Italian film. I found the…

miranda-friends
Miranda Friends

In Moscow 1980

This is my friend, Tarcisio’s posting. When we landed at the Moscow airport in April 1980, at the passport control we we found the officials wearing uniforms, with no smiles or no expressions. They looked...
shopping
Shopping

Shopping in the Disappointing Puerto de la Cruz

We left La Laguna, the old capital of Tenerife in Spain, which was a lovely place that exceeded our expectations and moved to Puerto de la Cruz, the second place we stayed on the island....
airlines
Airlines

United Airlines

United Airlines is one of the most important Airlines in U.S.A. According to company’s official web site, in 1926 United Airline’s first flight of mail was flown by T. Warney from Washington to Nevada. It...
food
Food

Speck Festival

Our main purpose of our trip to South Tyrol was this Speck Festival.This is held every October in Santa Maddalena, about one hour drive from the village we stayed one night. Speck...
hotels
Hotels

Hotel where Napoleon’s army was stationed

When we had a short holiday in Veneto in north Italy, we stayed one night at a hotel called Ca'Sette which was in the suburbs of Bassano del Grappa. This property was...
food
Restaurants

Because it is Near Naples

If you look at a map, Sorrento, where we stayed, is very close to Naples. Naples is famous as the birthplace of contemporary pizza. Many people from Naples make pizzas all over...
food
Food

Eat oysters

Because I said I like oysters, Max, the tour leader took us to a small town called Curaco de Velez by ferry from the main Chiloe Island in Chile. There are apparently...