A hotel may be your first choice when looking for a place to stay while on vacation but should it be? I've stayed in a wide range of unique stays from convents to apartments. Take it from me when I ...
Italy
Studying Abroad in Italy: 10 Cities of Food & Self Discovery
After a decade since studying abroad in Italy I look back at each city I visited and reflect on what I learned. For a budding foodie, Italy is one of the best places to nourish your ...
My Guide to Venice, Italy
This is not a guide that covers how to get from the airport to your hotel. Nor is it a guide that talks about what you should do with your 6 hours before you need to get back on your cruise ship. This ...
My Best Travel Photography: Europe Edition
Life has been so busy lately I have barely had time to celebrate the year my website turns 5. It's official birthday was in March of this year but with the redesign underway I wasn't able to give it a ...
The Most Expensive Coffee in the World: Kopi Luwak & the Catch 22
"It'sa the most expensive coffee in de worrrld." Our very Italian Walks of Italy guide annunciated to us, a slightly buzzed group of 20 travelers from around the world. We had just arrived at the ...
Art Smart: Marrying the Sea, Venice’s Love of the Adriatic
Just in time for the month of love and floating mischievous cupids the ArtSmart Roundtable is taking aim at the depiction of love in art. If you're new to ArtSmart Roundtable you can follow us, a ...
Cin Cin!: Drink Like a Venetian – Wine with Context Travel
I love wine. I visit plenty of wineries. I enjoy learning about the ancient elixir. Trying to pair it with meals is a delicious trial and error. I even enjoy photographing it. But I have to be honest. ...
Living Like a Local in Venice with GowithOh Apartments
Local Venetian life is like an exclusive club you can only inherit or purchase your way into like Elton John. But, I've found a bit of a shortcut that doesn't cost you over €4000 per square meter nor ...
Venice on a Plate: A Food Tour of Venice with Walks of Italy
So much good food! Yes I am still alive after so much traveling within these past 4 weeks. From Italy and France to Northern British Columbia I have returned with many stories to tell. But I ...
Snapshots of Venetian Splendour #GwOGourmands
Venice, as I explain to anyone who asks, is one of those places that makes your heart glow when you think about it. At least it is for me. Where else can you see history preserved in time so much so ...
ArtSmart: Learning to See The Light in Vicenza, Italy
ArtSmart is a group of bloggers who write about a specified topic to be published on the first Monday of each month. You can see my colleagues' posts at the bottom of this page. This June the ...
3 Blogs to Follow Before You Go to Venice
With only 1 month to go until I return to Venice. I have been allowing myself to binge on all things Venetian during the weekends. This includes watching usually bad movies set in the gorgeous Venice ...
History & Highlights of Peggy Guggenheim’s Sculpture Garden
Visiting the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice for the first time is an experience to remember. But visiting it for the first time as the sunsets at a private party with booming music and an Aperol sprits in ...
Sunday Pranzo: The Oddest Place I Ever Ate in Rome
To this day one of the most oddest sandwich shops I have ever step foot in was in Rome very near to my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express where we admittedly cheaped out on our hotel accommodations. You ...
Venice Decoded: Top 3 Lion Statues
June marked my 3 year anniversary since I first met and became infatuated with Venice and its history. I traveled there in 2010 to study art history and in particular the Reniassance of Venice and the ...
ArtSmart: Artist as Comedian in Vicenza, Italy
Happy April Fools! As we indulge in the last of the winter's helpings of hearty vegetables and salty ham or turkey we may want to take care in accepting mama's special plate made just for you, the ...
Art Worth Traveling For in Rural Italy
I am very excited to be writing my first post for the ArtSmart Roundtable which is a group of brilliant bloggers who write once a month on a topic or theme, each interpreting the ...
Vogalonga 2013: Paddling Venice
Want some nautical adventure in the middle of a historic city this May? Why not sign yourself up for the Vogalonga in Venice? While Venice is celebrating Carnival this February, I am reminiscing ...
Wandering the Vatican & Spotting Celebs
The Vatican Museum was a highlight of my trip to Rome. However, the weather was not cooperating at all so my boyfriend and I stood in the rain (with sandals) for 45 minutes waiting ...
Tuscan Views
I first saw San Gimignano on the cover of my DK Italy guide book. It being my first trip abroad I would consult the guide for vague help before arriving somewhere new. When I realized how ...
Florentine Flaneuse: Wandering the Streets of Florence
The first time I stood before the Duomo di Firenze I was consumed with the vast amount of detail ...
Itinerary: Bologna, Italy
Besides being a foodie's dream location, Bologna also offers a wealth of activities where visitors can interact with its gritty, ancient and intellectual history. It is home to one of the ...
Top 5 Ways to Experience Intimate Venice
If you've been to Venice you may have your mind made up on whether or not you love it or hate it. The streets are narrow and difficult to manoeuvre amongst the dense lines of tourists ...
Is Venice’s Palazzo Ducale Worth It?
Hands down, Venice was my favourite city of Italy. This goes against popular opinion where some seem to think it is not worthy for a lengthy visit. This couldn't be more wrong. I wrote a guide for ...
Mantua (Mantova) Market
While on the topic of markets this week I must share a most unusual and exciting market in the small town of Mantua (AKA Mantova). You know...that place where Romeo was exiled from fair Verona? Well ...
Walk to Villas in the Italian Countryside: La Rotonda, Vicenza, Italy
One of the best "strolls" I have ever had the privilege to take was in Vicenza, Italy. Actually, to be more specific, it was from the centre of town up into the hills over looking Vicenza. Hiking up ...
Is Rome’s Colosseum Worth The Visit?
My final day in Rome I saved the best for last or what you expect to the best... the Colosseum. I had worried that I built this iconic symbol to be something more grand than what it was. ...
Is It Worth Taking a Day Trip to San Gimignano, Tuscany?
One thing that drove me nuts while in Italy was the lack of bacon and eggs. I learned very fast that the Italians aren't big breakfast people and, often, the only thing I could turn to were ...
Rome And All Its Blunders
Rome was a surreal city - hard to wrap your head around. Past and present collided to create an experience that rivaled Dali's melting clocks and vast landscapes. Rome is constructed of vast layers – ...
Music Travels
The opera Aida, at the Verona Amphitheatre. One thing that I love about travel is the unexpected moments or sights that you encounter. Getting to Capri, as I previously ...
Getting to Capri: Drive through fear and hitch a boat ride to easy shore
Getting to Capri felt like no easy feat for a novice world traveler. We took the train from Rome, which was lesson number one in European travel, and we passed with relative ease. However, lesson ...
