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Souvenirs for Men?
With our trip wrapping up, it’s time for the acquisition of a few souvenirs. Gifts and souvenirs always stress me out, only because the variety of items offered are usually generic and impersonal making them destined for the dustbin shortly after handover. Certainly this isn’t the case for all souvenirs. The options for women seem…
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The Return of the Puffy Coats
Melanie was suggesting I take on a fashion blog. Excuse me, but the hoody and jeans I am wearing don’t exactly make me qualified in the least to offer my opinion as to ‘what’s hot’. She then asks, ‘How about making one about the random, sometimes stray, cats and dogs we seem to encounter?’. Still…
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Ciao Italia! Next time we’ll chat more.
Well, we’ve made it out of the land of pizza and pasta. 5 weeks in Italy has now quelled any urge for a strictly carb based diet, consumed during Italian eating hours. Now only another 5-6 days of trying to remember to reply with ‘Oui’, instead of the reactionary ‘Si’. After a stint like…
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What do you have for breakfast?
Ah, one more morning of the hotel-offered breakfast. It’s never free, since you are getting billed somewhere, but tomorrow morning’s early task will be to fill the belly to bursting. It’s a 6 hour train ride from Verona to Nice, if all goes well and connections are made in time, but the hope is with…
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Verona to Milan? How about Venice?
Surprise change of day trip today. Instead of heading west to Milan, we opted for the less expensive eastbound train to Venice. Budget has to factor in somewhere. It is different arriving in a city such as this where we already know the layout from last years three day stop. No time wasted in identifying…
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Naughty or Nice? No Santa to decide
Ah, December. This of course means just over 2 weeks of procrastination from any specific shopping, and just over one final week to face the madness in the shops. Here it’s a little harder to notice. Either it’s an evening promenade down the two main shopping streets, or that similar rush is also starting here.…
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A Padlock to Symbolize Your Love?
We’re not talking chastity belts, or anything kinky that might involve leather hoods or overly complex harnesses. Ever consider symbolizing your loving relationship with a lock? Europeans in many cities have started in on this a few years ago, and it is something we noted last year on Via dell’Amore while doing a day trip…
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Efficiencies of European Accommodations
Bored by the end of the title…we’ll call that a new first. Throughout our travels, both this year and last, we’ve encountered a few unique features related to personal energy and water usage that could really be handy in saving the world a bundle in wasted electricity. Motion sensor in the bathroom. How many times…
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Internet Inhibited, and damn cold!!
It’s yin and yang. Black and white. Internet abundance and now none. Yes, a decade ago, adding wifi to the list of requirements was unheard of in an apartment rental or hotel. Now we can’t seem to live without it. Heat might even come in second to updating my hockey pool roster. It’s why we…
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Re-education in Modern Art
Everything is relative, and yesterday was no exception with our visit to the Galleria d’arte Moderna. With the expectation of geometric shapes mashed into shag carpet, then framed and hung on a wall to evoke some emotion…I was a little surprised to find none of it. Once again, no pictures were permitted to capture the…