Author: Jose

Milano was a weird contradiction and doesn’t feel very Italian to me. Why? It’s pretty modern, people are on-time and in a hurry a lot. They don’t have good coffee. Our guide said they...

We had to come back to Lago di Como since it’s just so dang pretty. Last time we stayed in Bellagio but this time we stayed in smaller Varenna which we preferred. Again we...

Florence/Firenze was originally a Roman fort (isn’t everything). It was originally named Florentia simply because of all the flowers in the hills. This evolved into Firenze, which is right at the edge of our...

I walked from Pienza to the nearby hill town of Monticchiello and back. It was a little less than 8 miles but it is truly uphill both ways 🙂 The pictures are a poor...

We were in Tuscany in October 2011 but we’ve really enjoyed it so much more this time. Being hobbits at heart, we love rolling farmland with comforting hills that welcome rather than forbid. Above...

We thought we wouldn’t like Venice but we both really enjoy just being here. It is so different with no cars, mopeds, or bikes on the roads and dozens of alleys and bridges to...

We are both fans of the movie but Karen is a much bigger fan. The following is pure tourist kitsch. You’ve been warned. It’s amazing how complicated the filming is. They used one house...

We spent a few days in Salzburg Austria. Salzburg is know for Mozart and the Sound of Music (next post) but it has a lot more to offer. Founded in 696, it was not...

How Weird? This Weird! Surfing in the oddly named Englischer Garten (English Garden) in downtown Munich. From old-but-rebuilt stuff, an everchanging coat of arms, weird church relics, to a spontaneous Michael Jackson tribute

Today we visited Neuschwanstein castle built by the allegedly mad King Ludwig II and visited one of the longest alpine coasters in the world. In between Karen had a burger the size of her...