It's Christmas Time on the Water...The Best Lighted Boat Parades Across the US

Harbors and rivers are ablaze, with mega-yachts, cruisers, sailboats, kayaks, and other flotables sporting every starry decoration imaginable from Christmas trees to naughty Santas. It's Christmas time on the water. And ever since the first little line of boats with lights strung from their masts set sail, holiday lighted-boat parades have become bigger and more extravagant each year.

With the economy still wobbling, it remains to be seen along the shore whether this year's celebrations will be as spectacular as those in more fiscally robust seasons of past years. However, a quick survey of websites dedicated to the parades indicates that, despite the economic climate, the parades will float on as elaborate as ever (boat owners spending as much as $40,000 to deck the halls of their vessels according to one website).

The waterside Christmas celebrations, most of which start showing up next weekend (the first weekend in December) and continue through the month up until the weekend before Christmas, are usually run by Chambers of Commerce, Yacht Clubs or Visitors Bureaus as a draw for communities on the water to not only the parades, but to local restaurants and shops. For example, the Newport Beach, California parade, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of this type of spectacle (this year is the 101st parade) attracts millions of viewers each year, many of whom reserve tables at waterfront restaurants. Hey when you can't offer a white Christmas, boats with glistening decorations playing strains of Jingle Bells are a great way to make the holiday merry and bright. And Newport Beach, whose holiday regatta sails between Balboa Island and Pennisula, starts the season right with 5 consecutive days of boat parading beginning December 16.

Not to be outdone, the festival of lights for these boating extravagances often extends to shoreline residences and busineses as well. Creating runways of light for the parades, owners throw large parties where canal or harbor front docks are strung with lights and lawns and lanais bedecked with lighted Santas, reindeers and more. In the tiny waterfront town of Punta Gorda in Southwest Florida, for instance, boat parades wind through a maze of canals passing homes elaborately lighted for the procession.

The historic waterfronts of Alexandria, Virgina and Annapolis, Maryland will also sparkle during this holiday season. Alexandria's 10th regatta of lights which launches this Saturday, December 5, will navigate the Potomac from Washington to Alexandria's dock. Appropriately, Annapolis will welcome Santa from his boat rather than a sleigh the following Saturday.

The big daddy of the Lighted Boat Parades, Fort Lauderdale's Winterfest Parade is an entertainment extravaganza, entitled this year "That's Entertainment." The December 12 show, and it is a show, actually includes what the parade sponsors describe as giant showboats with musicians and dancers. Highlighted features of this year's 38th Annual splash of mega-yachts and more are "Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza Showboat," the Clydey Foundations "Cirque" Floating Finale, and a "Phantom of the Opera" show. This year's grand marshals include celebrities Alonzo Mourning and Kim Kardashian.

Here's a rundown on some of the best upcoming Lighted Boat Parades:

Parade	Dates and Times	More Information
Newport Beach, CA	12/16-12/20 6:30 PM	http://www.christmasboatparade.com/
Punta Gorda, FL	12/5 6-9 PM & 12/19 6 PM	http://youbelonginpuntagorda.blogspot.com/2009/11/punta-gorda-lights-up-harbor-and.html
Annapolis, MD	12/12 6-8 PM	http://www.eastportyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=32
Fort Lauderdale, FL	12/12 6 PM	http://www.winterfestparade.com/winterfest_schedule_of_events.cfm
Marina Del Ray, CA	12/12 6 PM	http://www.mdrboatparade.org/home.htm
Venice, FL	12/5 6-8 PM	http://www.venicechristmasboatparade.com/
Alexandria, VA	12/5 4-6 PM	http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?AttrID=26951
St. Augustine, FL	12/12 6 PM	http://www.sayc2000.com/R_Blair_Maintained/LightsRegatta_2009.html

Top 5 Airports to get Stranded in over the Holidays

Not that anyone, in particularly me, likes to get stuck in an airport at anytime. Nonetheless, we know if does happen. Therefore, I was intrigued by the list that SeatGuru.com released today -- a list of their Top Five Airports to get stranded in over the holidays. Chosen among other things because of amenities like massage spots, play areas for kids, free WiFI, upscale shopping and dining choices, here they are:

San Francisco International Airport (SFO). SFO's highlights include the famous Boudin's Bakery (and their sourdough bread), upscale shopping at Burberry, Coach and Gucci, XpressSpa services including massages and facials, museum exhibits throughout, shower facilities and a play area for children.

Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). Among other offerings, SLC offers free Wi-Fi throughout the airport, views of the Wasatch Mountains, numerous restaurants and has won awards in pollution prevention, recycling and as the best on-time airport for departures in the past. --

Portland International Airport (PDX). Named Nation's Best Airport by Conde Nast Traveler three years in a row, PDX is eco-friendly (new solar panels produce electricity and the Best of Nike store is powered by 75% solar energy), has free Wi-Fi, no sales tax and local restaurants have a strong presence with eateries such as Pizza Schmizza, Rose City Cafe and Laurelwood Brewing Company calling it home. --

McCarran International Airport (LAS) (Las Vegas). In addition to countless slot machines, LAS also has aviation museum, massage locations, free Wi-Fi, the Jose Cuervo Tequileria, storage lockers to stash belongings, an oxygen bar, hotel souvenir shops, room check in for the MGM Grand and for long delays, it's just 5 miles from the strip. --

Miami International Airport (MIA). At MIA, travelers can get manicures, pedicures, massages and even spray tanning at the JetSetter Spa, view ongoing art exhibitions, enjoy a hair cut at the salon, rent a mobile phone, and for members of the U.S. military, there's an Armed Services center for personnel that serves food and refreshments. There are also 30 dining choices including cuisine from Cuba, the Caribbean, Japan and more.

These all sound good. But, honestly, I am not into pedicures or massages at airports. But here's what I am looking for:

• Better much more comfortable seating... someplace I can dose off if need be -- pod to rent might be nice
• Solid good restaurant choices and healthier food spots
• Places to walk -- get some exercise (I usually walk back and forth across the terminal..but this doesn't always work in crowded airport)
• Some interesting local cultural displays : exhibitions of local art, history
• Shopping, shopping.... shops where I would really want to buy something or need to

(Free WIFI is a given, and I won't even put this one on the list!)

Lake Orta -- A Travel Story Best Told in Images

Our trip to Lake Orta, a mystical journal to one of the sub-Alpine Italy lake districts, is, like many travel stories one best told in flickering images:

A dog sitting on the ancient stone floor of a shop. An island floating in the middle of the lake lit up like the flickering candles on a cake in the mist. Strains of an opera and soft tolling of church bells. Views down an ancient medieval passageway. Glimpses of a flower decked garden descending to the lake. A tiny 16th century church oratory built to honor deliverance from the Black Death. Narrow streets with ancient arches and tower homes. And always the Island from the shore, from the water always beckoning you like Bali Hai. And ultimately the voyage to and around that silent, sacred and enchanting place.

Images haunt forever and draw you back to this special place --

Arriving at the upper town of Orta San Giulio, I was reminded of many resorts in the mountains in the states. It was only when we descended on the circuiteous road to the San Rocco Hotel that historic Orta San Giulio began to reveal itself. The lobby and most of the hotel was formerly an 18th century convent, but our room was in the more modern, and recently renovated Villa Giseppi section of the hotel, which provided an extremely comfortable accommodation within this stunning historical setting.

Surprisingly untrodden for a destination within reasonably easy reach from Milan Airport, once the daytrippers who arrive early in the morning depart, Orta becomes amazingly quiet and serene -- at least it did in late August when we visited. While one of the best kept secrets among the northern lakeside resorts, it's cobbled streets have been walked by many famous travelers, including Honore de Balzac, Friedrich Nietzsche and Robert Browning, the later who described it as "Alp meets heaven.."

Truly a place to wander with it's traffic free center, you can easily get lost in time as you meander Orta San Giulio's streets and courtyards past 16th and 17th century frescoed buildings that now house unusual shops, gelaterias, and restaurants. We stopped to buy soaps from an ex-pat American lady who ran a shop on the Piazza, then spoke with the proprietor of a pasticceria and bought souveners at another shop tucked away in a charming courtyard. At the waterfront off the Piazza we watched as a bride posed for pictures with a backdrop of the Isola San Giulio.

From the waterfront, taxis whiz back and forth from Isola San Giulio with it's ancient basilica, on the site of a primative church founded by St. Julius in the 4th century ( the saint apparently chased snakes from the Island, sounds like the St. Patrick legend--no). Arriving on this isolated piece of land, you are immediately engulfed by its tranquility and sacredness. Meditative signs dot the short, silent walkway around the perimeter of the island blurting walden-like messages..."Every Journey Begins Near to You," "When You are Aware the Journey is Over".. (I think the author had the traveler in mind.) The steps to the the Basilica of St. Julius, which has been modified over the course of centuries, steer you to the church as soon as you disembark from the launch. As are many of the ancient churches of Italy, it is extraordinary and definitely worth exploring. We stopped for a coffee at a bar/restaurant-- Ristorante San Giulio. While the formal dining room looked inviting, we decided to return later and descend the steps to the terrace restaurant which juts into the Lake. Another one of those amazing places where we frittered away several hours watching the boats parade back and forth and the people come and go while enjoying the tourist meal -- 3 courses for 16 euros.

Our time at Lake Orta was too short. As I reflect on our visit there , I can easily see why it has been referred to as a "star in a galaxy of sub-alpine lakes." Orta quietly entraps you --- drawing you back to visit again and again.

There is a Lake Orta Tweep www.twitter.com/LakeOrta but not many tweets yet.

Also be sure to pick up the marvelous little booklet published by the Associaione Turistica Pro Loco Orta S. Giulio at via Bossi 11 in Orta S. Giulio. (Christmas on the Lake looks lovely with a parade of Christmas trees, lights and decorations.) Information in English can also be found at www.orta.net.

Nixon Library hosting Holiday Train Exhibit -- Reflection of a President with Many Interests

While living only a few miles from Yorba Linda, California for most of 2008, I was a frequent visitor to the Nixon Presidential Library there. After my first visit, the serenity of the place and my interest in exploring a bit more of that period in US history kept drawing me back. Nixon, no matter what else history might say about him, was not boring. His story, which winds its way through both some of the darkest and disgraceful periods of US History and some of the most glorious periods, has both a Dickensian and Shakespearean quality to it, as he rises from a poor, lower-middle class family to become President of the United States, only to fall from power in the Watergate scandal.

The Library now also showcases the multi-interests of the man who brought it into being. For instance, Nixon was a decent pianist and loved music, especially piano. (Below is a youtube video of his playing the piano on the Jack Parr Tonight Show.) He is also known to have jammed with the band at the Grand Ole Opry, and accompanied Pearl Bailey at a White House performance. And the music lives on at his library with free concerts every Sunday.

Another of his interests was trains. Trains run everywhere through Yorba Linda and Orange County California where Nixon grew up, carrying cargo and passengers east and west, north and south. It's no wonder he developed a fascination for them. Nixon reflected in his memoirs, "In the daytime I could see the smoke from the steam engines. Sometimes at night I was awakened by the whistle of a train, and then I dreamed of the far-off places I wanted to visit someday."

This holiday season a special exhibit at the Library and Museum will take visitors on a magical journey through the world of miniature trains. One of the largest such collections ever assembled, A Holiday Festival of Trains features a landscape of toy trains, many whistling through tiny snow-covered turn of the century villages, a 1890 Bavarian castle, and forested mountain passes with over 5,000 miniature trees.

A Holiday Festival of Trains will be on display from Monday, November 16, 2009 through Sunday, January 10, 2010, and is included with museum admission. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is located at 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, California 92886. The Library is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $9.95 adults, $3.75 children 7 to 11, free for children 6 and younger; $6.95 for seniors 62 and up, and students; $5.95 for active military.

Failure to Launch -- Researching My First Cruise -- Some Tips I have Learned

Yes, I have to admit it...other than charters in the BVI, small river tours, and self-cruises, I have never taken a cruise on one of those big cruise ships. I have travelled all over the world many, many times, been just about everywhere, been on cruise ships many times, but I have failed to launch. I can't explain why...or maybe I can but... Anyhow, I think it's time I tried a cruise especially since right now the prices are right.

So I am researching..both through twitter, blogs and with many friends who go on cruises constantly. I guess what has coaxed me into this voyage exploration are the many cruise tweeps, the deals ...and most recently Simone de Santi's (aka ARoadRetraveled on Twitter) upcoming cruise on which she will be tweeting.

Anyhow, here are some of the suggestions I've gotten so far, some obvious, some not so :

1. After you have decided on the type and length of cruise (probably short, if it is your first) research cruises carefully including first the cruise lines and ships that fit your needs in terms of destination, price and style. Then once you have narrowed this down, review the ship's decks and cabins and decide in advance exactly where you want your cabin to be, for instance, you may want to avoid a cabin near an elevator (sound familiar) or below the ship's theatre or nightclub. If you have concerns about seasickness, I'm told the best room location to minimize the ship's motion is in the dead center of the ship. On most large cruise ships, this location is on the lower passenger floors, in the center inside cabins. Ask a lot of questions before you book. Consider using a cruise specialist who can answer your questions and help you find the right trip for you.
2. Figure out where you are going to park (if you are driving to the embarkation point). You may, for instance, want to avoid the multiple story garage especially if you are on a large ship with lots of disembarking passengers heading for the same place.
3. Mark your luggage ideally with the tags provided by your agent or cruise line directly...make sure your name, deck number and cabin identification are on each piece clearly. Two tags per bag have been recommended.
4. Arrive early..even if it means waiting....better to be checked in early and have time to get acclimated. You will have to wait..be prepared for this.
5. Bring a travel-on that has things you will need for the first few hours on the ship. Also consider what luggage you check...you may want to wheel off luggage yourself at the end of the voyage.
6. No surprise here...there are plenty of food choices.. so you don't have to worry about food choices for the most part, but you may want to check with your agent or the cruise line if your needs are unusual
7. Worried about catching flu or other...I'm assured that sanitizers are everywhere on ships (again check) and that cruise lines are very conscientious about heath issues ....just use ordinary precautions
8. Consider going to shows -- everyone says they are fantastic...check with passengers on your ship who have already gone
9. Don't expect perfection...and have patience...there will be lines.. something may be broken..
10. Larger ships have many pools..pick the pool area that suits you. If you don't want to listen to music, find a quieter pool.
11. Think about safey and avoiding injury,e.g.. Be careful if the decks are wet, they can become very slippery. Watch for the raised lips in some doorways especially. Of course, never sit on the railings.

There's lot of ideas and suggestions on the web and twitter about first-time cruising. I don't think I agree with a lot of it. The above seems to make sense so far. But I am still researching. Here are other sources of information that look reasonable:

Sources of Advice for First Time Cruisers:

Lessons on First Time Cruising

Expert Tips for First Time Cruiser -- Good List of Tips

Recent Excellent Blog on Dining, Smoking, Tipping and among other things.

Cruise Critic Website -- Good source of information about cruise lines and ships as well as cruise tips

Suggestions on Packing Blog

Confessions of First Time Cruiser -- Day by Day Account of First Time Cruise-Taker's Alaska Cruise

Note also:

Simon DeSanti's Travel Tweets (this coming week)

And finally here is my Twitter List of Travel-Cruise-Tweeps:

Cruise Tweeps -- People who tweet about cruises that I follow.

Day of the Dead Celebrated in Mexico the US and on Twitter

A tradition believed to have started in Mexico and Latin American with similar rituals occurring in Spain and as far as New Zealand is now being celebrated throughout the U.S. as well. Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a holiday that blends Roman Catholic rituals with those from Mesoamerican cultures. The memory of dead ancestors is honored believing that their souls visit the living once a year. Officially commemorated on Novembers 2 ( All Souls Day), it is celebrated also on November 1 (All Saints Day).

In the US, while many of the older rituals are followed, new interpretations abound. In Chicago, for instance, Staff Sgt. Juan Arreola honored five fallen Marines when he ran in a 5K Race of Dead in a primarily Mexican neighborhood while mariachi music played and skeleton figures danced to mock death (full story). College classmates in Casper, Wyoming have decorated sugar skulls with colorful frosting and borrowed masked from the International Museum of Arts and Science in McAllen Texas (full story). In Virginia, the Latin Ballet has their own interpretation of the festival. Following ancient customs, the dancers set up an elaborate altar with candles and photos of departed loved ones, skulls and marigolds, . This is used as a backdrop for a dance in which African movement is combined with a modern interpretation of the traditional candlelight vigil (full story).

And in the social media world, tweeps around the world have begun tweeting away about this ancient tradition in their own way.

The origins of the Day of the Dead dates back to pre-Columbian civilizations. It is believed that it may have originated with Aztec celebrations during which they made colorful altars to welcome departed souls home.

St. Simon's Island -- Georgia's Lovely Barrier Island Full of History and Charm

While on a jaunt up the East Coast from Miami to New York City, we stopped for two days on St. Simon's Island. I 'm not the first to sense that coming to the barrier islands that border Georgia is like coming home. Maybe for me, it's because of summers I spent as a child on a barrier island further north, and something about the look, feel, and most importantly the smell of these isles that reminds me of those summers.

I look over the sea grass and tidal creeks as we cross over the Sidney Lanier Bridge and ride along Route 17 past Brunswick and onto the causeway that connects to St. Simon's. The nostalgic aroma of the salt marsh brings on a most pleasant, comforting sensation, and even without directly connecting in memory to summers long past, I know my senses have already brought me there.

The state of Georgia is barricaded from the ocean by a chain of these small islands along its more than 150 mile coast line. Georgia's barrier islands, I learned from the film shown at the Maritime Museum at the Historic Coast Guard Station, are growing as opposed to similar barrier beaches further north which the sea is reclaiming despite man's attempt to hold on to them.

Shrimp boats lingering at the horizon at dusk remind visitors of what should be fresh in the many seafood restaurants here. Pamphlets and posters around the island proclaim the values of wild local shrimp vs. the imported or farmed fish with less nutrition and more potential for contamination. Unfortunately, the cheaper imported and farmed variety is driving the price down for the wild shrimpers..making it more and more difficult to make their living at this long-standing industry. I did manage to enjoy some Shrimp and Grits at a favorite spot on the Island: Barbara Jeans.

St. Simon Island also has a rich colonial history...going back to the early settlement, established on the island in 1732 at what became Fort Frederica, by General James Oglethorpe. The stated purpose of the settlement was relocation of poor Londoners, but Ogelthorpe's main mission was to establish a stronghold against further encroachment by the Spanish who claimed rights in Georgia. The remains of Fort Frederica (mainly excavated foundations of houses that made up the military town and the Fort) are now a National Monument worth a visit -- a short film provides a good orientation to the grounds and the history. It's a lovely setting cluttered with large live oaks draped in Spanish Moss. Many of the Revolutionary warships were made from St. Simon's oaks, including Old Ironsides.

St. Simon's is linked by a causeway to Sea Island, home to one of the top resorts in the country, The Cloisters of Sea Island, with a bit of history itself. At the Lighthouse Museum on St. Simon's, there is a photographic exhibit on the G8 Summit held on Sea Island in 2004.

In addition to visiting the National Monument, Lighthouse, and Maritime (with a great little video on the Coast Guard), we ventured up Lawrence Road which is dotted with historical markers telling about the plantations that once thrived on the Island. (Many very wealthy, powerful South Carolina planters and slave owners came to Georgia in the early 19th century and established plantations with cotton as a primary crop.) Today the road winds under canapes of Oaks with long strands of moss hanging like icicles creating an eery, yet sensual atmosphere. Large, splendid mansions line the edge of the savanna and river on the right of the road ending at the Hamilton River Club Marina where you can depart by boat for Little St. Simons's Island (A private island with 7 miles of untainted beaches that can be toured by reservation only).

Another restaurant we visited on the Island was Catch 228 in Redfern Village. A smallish local place, it might look like a hole-in-the-wall, but go on in. The food is outstanding, fresh fish of all kinds, and the service is friendly and efficient. I had the blackboard special of blackened mahi and shrimp with cheesy grits and the most delectable hush puppies ever.

For other particulars on visiting St. Simon's see www.comecoastawhile.com, the visitor's site for Brunswick and the Golden Isles. Their driving tour brochures are excellent.

World Tourism Day -- A Day to Celebrate Travel for Travel's Sake

Today is world tourism day--the 30th commemoration of this day celebrated by The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) every year since 1980. As a passionate leisure traveler, I dedicate my blog today to the sheer joy of leisure travel. Having just deposited a good deal of my discretionary currency into the world economy on my recent journey, I can personally attest to the economic benefits of tourism.

World Tourism Day, hosted this year in Ghana, coincides with the anniversary of the date (September 27) in 1970 when the UNWTO Statutes were adopted, a milestone in global tourism. According to the UNWTO website the purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the role of tourism within the international community and to show how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. This year’s theme "focuses on the world’s cultural wealth and the important role sustainable tourism plays in revitalizing local traditions and making them flourish as they cross other cultures".

England is credited officially as the first country to promote tourism as an activity. With the Industrial Revolution and growth of the economy in England and other parts of Europe, leisure travel became popular among the rich and eventually the middle class began to spend some of their income and leisure time touring. Over time many forms of tourism have evolved including adventure tourism, cultural tourism, heritage or historical tourism, eco-tourism, medical tourism, war tourism, wildlife tourism and sustainable tourism. According to the World Tourism Organization, in 2008, there were over 922 million international tourist arrivals with world tourism receipts reaching $944 billion. By 2020, the number of international tourist arrivals is expected to reach 1.6 billion.

I sometimes think that many people view travel as a necessary burden for business endeavors or as a thing to do for vacation or retirement. Obviously, travel is much more vital to our world than this. Tourists are discovers learning about new places, terrains, and most importantly people. They are jolted from the everydayness of the life they are comfortable with. They see and hear new things, smell new smells, taste unique and sometimes bizarre new foods and meet people very different from those they associate with in their day-to-day life. They come in direct contact with the diversity of their world, and yet in that same foreignness discover the similarities in their universe in a child's play, a mother's smile, a stranger's kindness. As this happens the world becomes a closer place, a better place.

I first witnessed travel through the eyes of a soldier returning from war...despite the hardship of conflict, he came home with stories of adventure and awe at places and things he saw, he gave to me what my mother called my "wanderlust." May it be in the future that more of us wander first as tourists...so that the children of the world will first learn about travel through a tourist's eye.

Happy Tourism Day!

Seduced by An Enchanting Hotel Above the Hills of Florence -- Villa San Michele

It was a hot Sunday in Florence...very hot... but high above in the hills of Fiesole a pleasant breeze blew and birds tweeted incredibly entrancing songs. I had decided to visit Fiesole on my next trip to Florence after having read "Loving Frank," the fictionalized story about Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. The descriptions of Fiesole and its appeal to Lloyd Wright and Cheney drew me there.

Some travel advisors say "skip it"...well perhaps if you only have a very short time in Florence. But for me, it would have been a mistake not to have seen this magnificent view and experienced for a few hours what attracted people like Lloyd Wright, Gertrude Stein, and other artistic people here. For afterall, you don't go to Fiesole for Fiesole, you go to see Florence spread before you in all its magnificance.

The tourbooks advise that one of the best places to enjoy the view from Fiesole is the small Parco della Rimembranza on Via di San Francesco, public gardens with benches, shady trees and a panoramic view. But I also wanted to visit the well-touted Villa San Michele situated on the site of a monastery founded in the early 15th century.

So we took a taxi from Florence and stopped by the Villa for lunch to sip cokes and nibble on lovely sandwiches on the terrace of one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever visited. The present building with its facade attributed to Michelangelo dates from 1600 when it was enlarged and renovated by Giovanni di Bartolommeo Davanzati. The property was owned by the Franciscan monks until 1818, when Napoleon dissolved monastic orders returning the Villa to secular use. One can imagine the monks walking the loggia of the then monastery and wandering through the now public rooms of the hotel. Inside the hotel, antique chairs, altars, stone walls, frescos and other religious artifacts all come together to create a sense of spiritual retreat somewhat at odds yet strangely compatible with the current purpose.

One of the public rooms that is used now as a lounge and informal dining space off the interior restaurant was the refectory of the old monastery. A magnificent fresco, completed in 1642, and later restored by Orient-Express Hotels, the current owner of the hotel, adorns the back wall in a three-part alcove. This is only one of the many interesting public spaces where you can sit quietly and read or write (as I noticed several hotel guests were doing.)

The guests rooms are either in the main building of the old monestary or in the new space blended into the setting in the garden area. There are also junior suites on the hillside between the garden and the pool and in the old Limonaia. The most coveted room I was told is the one situated in the former chapel with perhaps some of the most magnificent views.

I climbed up the hill near the small 17th century building to take some photos and get a glimpse of the view the hotel guest in the chapel might have. Ah I thought, some day I will stay here. From here I truly knew why Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright loved Fiesole so much.

Some tweeps I followed for Florence:

www.twitter.com/toscanamia -- for Italian Cooking Lessons in Florence

www.twitter.com/tuscanyvillas -- for Information on Florence

www.twitter.com/aroadretraveled for Information on Florence

www.twitter.com/TuscanyTourism

Another interesting blog article about Villa San Michelle.

Arriving in Venice

There is nothing as special as arriving at a travel destination....especially when it's Venice, Italy -- one the world's most beautiful cities. Here is a slide montage of photos I took while on a vaporetto on the Grand Canal.

Lunch with a View -- Visiting the Cipriani Hotel

Directly across the water from the Piazza San Marco in Venice on Isola della Giudecca, the Cipriani sits in its all its contrapuntal splendor of old and new. Contemporary amenities, including spa, red-clay tennis court, outdoor heated pool and modern accommodations have been seamlessly integrated into the remnants of a 16th century cloister. Reading the reviews of the hotel from recent visitors provide a schizophrenic picture...




Some complaint about the price, of course, in today's value conscious world, some have issues with a few rooms needing remodeling, but, then there are the raves about the service, the peace and tranquility, and, of course, the views. We didn't stay the night, but the afternoon was lovely, though expensive. Worth it, yes. But I went particularly to see the view and to experience the world the owner of Harry's Bar was trying to create...an oasis of peace and privacy within minutes and site of perhaps the most famous, photographed and beloved squares in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.


I never tire of arriving anywhere by boat, it always seems special. But arriving on an island in the Hotel Cipriani's launch is more than special, it is to enter for a moment the world of the privledged. It is also to enter the place that Harry created....and remarkably just as he envisioned, the first thing that is evident especially after leaving the hustle and bustle of St. Mark's Square is the quiet serernity.





After a morning of museums and shopping in Venice, wandering through Cipriani's garden and along the waterfront near the hotel was indescribably pleasant. And sipping prosecco on the flower-adorned terrace of the Cipriani's lovely restaurant, sheer bliss.