TP Thursday: A cruise kaleidoscope

Here we are in Bari, Italy nearly midway through the Celebrity cruise that is taking us from Rome to Venice and into autumn in Europe. We’ve had a  kaleidoscope of experiences since setting sail; so many that I couldn’t think of a single topic on which to focus this Travel Photo Thursday. Sometimes travel is like that - it jumbles the mind.

So think of this post as a kaleidoscope of our last week:

Napoli:  Birth place of Sophia Loren and pizza!

Catania, Sicily: The Duomo was just one of the many historic sites we visited on this day when we logged 11 miles on the pedometer. Actually, 10 or 11 miles a day is becoming the norm for this trip.

Valletta, Malta:  Watching the sun rise over this ancient city was magic, simply, pure magic. So much so, that we've vowed to return and spend much more than a single day here.

Whew!  A day at sea to rest our senses before heading to Corfu, Greece and up the Adriatic for the last half of the cruise.










 I saved one of our favorite photos to end today’s post:

After all, we know that Italy is at the center of the fashion world, right? This fellow was in a Napoli store window – I couldn’t resist closing this post with him.




Ciao for now!  It’s Travel Photo Thursday so head over to Budget Travelers Sandbox for more travel photos. 

And a note of thanks to those of you who responded so positively to the last post:  Thank you so much for reposting on your FB pages, your tweets , Google + and all the other nice accolades.  They were most appreciated. And it is great to have so many new blogosphere friends.

WAWeekend: A Spa-cation in Washington

This year I finally explored the wonders of ‘the spa’. The ancient rituals associated with healing baths and spa treatments have been around since the time of the Romans, but since I am not one to jump on any bandwagon too quickly, it took me awhile to venture into this unknown somewhat self-indulgent and definitely pampered world.

I wrote about my experience in an article that appeared in The Seattle Times, Sunday, Oct. 14th  - the day Joel and I were exploring Malta.  But thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I was able to see the article within hours of its publication.   Just click the link to access it.

Among the places you’ll read about are:

Alderbrook Inn, the luxury lodge on the shores of Washington State’s Hood Canal.

 Salish Lodge (that tiny speck on the left top of this photo – which is actually a  four-story building that overlooks Washington’s Snoqualmie Falls.

I am not telling you any of the inside story here, you must read the article for those.

Because so many of you knew I was researching this article I wanted to answer a question several have asked about whether my expenses were paid by the publication.  They were not.  And freelance writers for the Seattle T imes are not allowed to accept freebies or discounts not available to the general public, so all the experiences and stays I wrote about were done on my own dime.
(And well worth the price, I might add!)

How about you?  When you travel is a visit to ‘the spa’ a must on your To Do List?

Celebrity Silhouette: Oh the Places You Will Go!

If Celebrity Cruise lines ever needed a new slogan, they could turn to the Cat in the Hat’s, “Oh the Places You Will Go!” and pretty much nail it.

We have started phase two of our Italian Adventure aboard the Silhouette, a ship still in its inaugural season. It capacity is 2,886 guests, its cruising speed 24 knots, for those of you into statistics.


We boarded the ship in Rome’s cruise port,Civitavecchia, on Thursday – a beautiful, sunny  morning as evidenced by the photo above.  We sat on this deck enjoying a leisurely lunch and sipping a glass of welcome champagne while awaiting the announcement that our rooms were ready to occupy.


And at 1 p.m. we were settling into our floating home for the next 12 days.  Thanks to a recommendation from the agency we use for booking our cruises we ended up with a balcony large enough for eight people and a room of almost the same size! 


Everything is large and spacious on this ship – even the lawn art.  Being part of the Solstice Class ships, we do have a 15th floor lawn – that many have remarked is much greener than what they left back home.

Our route will loop us around Italy’s boot:  yesterday we were in Napoli, today Sicily and tomorrow Malta (which was one of the reasons this routing called out to us). Then we have a day to rest our senses before visiting Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and four more ports in Italy before ending up in Venice.

Now that the computer is up and running again (we took a break from computers for a few days) I will tell you more about the wonderful ports we’re visiting aboard this luxurious supersized yacht on which we are sailing.

TPThursday: When Life’s a Beach. . .

As our summer days come to an end and autumn promises cloudy, cool – and damp – days in the Pacific Northwest, we start daydreaming about sun and sand.  Beaches beacon. Memories of some of our favorite beaches are the topic of today’s post.

Malaga, Spain’s  Costa del Sol: A Sunday morning stroll last November on the beach included a stop to inspect this new-to-us way of fishing. Tall poles were inserted in the sand and the line (barely glimmering in the sunlight) stretched out into the sea – so high you could walk under them.

Ko Olina, O’ahu, Hawaii:  We’ve spent the month of January ‘living’ at Ko Olina the last couple of years thanks to taking a plunge into the ‘timeshare’ world.  This is one of our favorite spots at this development on O’ahu’s western shores, some 30 minutes from Honolulu.

Copalis Beach, Washington State:  Now you might think this photo, taken last March, is of a cloudy beach, but in this part of the world we have ourselves believing this is ‘filtered sun’.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico:  A Carnival Cruise stop introduced us to the beauty of the beaches in this part of Mexico last April.

Riviera Nayarit, Mexico:  As much as we enjoyed our quick visit to Cabo, it was the week spent at Rancho Banderas, just north of Puerto Vallarta where our place overlooked this beautiful – and little used – beach.

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada:  While images of beaches may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of this city on the tip of Vancouver Island, all you need do is walk a view blocks from the Inner Harbor and you’ll find them.  Well-maintained trails lead from the roadway overlooking them to the cove beaches below.

How about you?  Has life been a beach this year?

This is post links to Budget Traveler's Sandbox weekly feature, Travel Photo Thursday.  Head over there for more photos.  Hope you’ll stop by again as we tell you of our continuing adventures in Italy this month.  You can subscribe at TravelnWrite or follow along on our Facebook page

Pasta, Patate e Pane: Ciao D2G!

That title means, “Pasta, Potatoes and Bread: Goodbye to our “Diet 2 Go” – at least while in the city’s whose nickname is “la grassa” – the fat.

Diet 2 Go is the eating style we’ve adopted to keep from gaining weight on our travels (or at home for that matter): no bread, no pasta and no potatoes.
 
Well, for this week anyway, the D2G is on vacation as well.

We have been most pleased with our stay here – in fact have concluded that we could have spent a week and not seen everything. . .or eaten all that one could eat. Bologna is known for its food. Its restaurants. Its markets. Sigh. . .its temptations.


Bologna is the birth place of tortellini, those little stuffed pockets of pasta, that as the story goes were created by a short-sighted innkeeper in the 1500’s who wanted them to look like navel of Venus. It also is where tagliette those long narrow noodles were created in 1487, patterned after Lucrezia Borgia’s hair.

Bolognese, the minced meat and tomato based sauce, is named for this town. (And let me make it very clear here: there is no dish called spaghetti bolognese here. . .that was an American invention and it is never ordered here without giving away your nationality!)

Add to that, we arrived in the middle of its Potato Festival. The potatoes grown here are so special they carry the mark of certification: Patata di Bologna D.O.P.   (And the festival, www.patatainbo.it is in its 7th year).

And so it was that we began eating after a trip to the store in the photo above.  But I have to admit, it has been a sinfully fun week at the table and in the kitchen. Let me show you:






“Mamma Mia!” as they say here.  

Sunday Morning: At ‘Home’ in Italy

Anna Rita, the owner of the place we’d rented in Bologna, and I wrote several times before our arrival. In one email she said she hoped we’d find the place we expected. . .


We didn’t. It  quite simply exceeded our expectations!!

I wrote about this place after we had booked “Cassiopea”, our home away from home.  It had some 50 guest reviews and a 5 star rating. . .it also had a deck that called out to me.  Could it be that good? we wondered. Yes, it could!

(I love ‘my’ deck!)

On this Sunday morning the church bells are chiming and I am watching the sun rise over the neighboring roof tops from the front room of the most charming apartment we’ve stayed in to date in our travels. 


Our fourth floor apartment is some 60 steps and four flights of stairs from the entry door, so it isn’t for those who can’t walk and haul suitcases that far (now you see why we travel with small bags and wash clothes along the way).


All the rooms are much larger than we expected and are so beautifully decorated with Anna Rita’s artistic eye.  And details are important to her and her husband Piero – right down to the stapler and tape on the desk where I write to the shampoo and soap in the bathroom and the French Press and coffee in the kitchen.

And several of you knew I had my fingers crossed that Anna Rita was still greeting guests with one of her homemade ricotta cheese tortes. . . .well, she didn’t disappoint. She even had set the table for us! (It is soooo good!)



We’ve had unseasonably hot weather for our stay here with sunny days and temperatures in the low 80’s.  Our time draws to a close tomorrow as we head south to find that Tuscan Sun – although it can’t be better than here can it?

If you go:  We rented through Vacation Rental by Owner and used PayPal for the required deposit, paying the remainder owed upon arrival.  (Anna Rita and Piero picked us up at the train station – another very nice touch.) We are paying 104 euros, or $135 US which includes the cleaning fee.

Hurtling through time and space to Italy

Monday already seems ages ago. Maybe it is because on this Friday afternoon we are giving our senses a break and spending some time at ‘home’ in Bologna, Italy. Time - moving forward, thinking back - really does take on new dimensions when you travel.

Monday was the day we said farewell to our summer in the Pacific Northwest and set out to experience for at least a bit of time, autumn in Italy.

Aboard this KLM flight we hurtled from Vancouver, B.C. at 35,000 feet above the earth at a speed of 600+ miles per hour. Quite mind boggling, if you think about it. 


We arrived in Amsterdam 30 minutes early, we’d flown so rapidly, but then found no gate available so we actually entered the terminal at the time we’d been scheduled to arrive.
 
From Amsterdam, the land of tulips (as captured in this photo of a wall mural) we caught another flight that would take us to our destination: Milan, Italy.

While my wristwatch reminded us it was the middle of the night Monday  (we’d left home at 8 a.m.), we’d traveled through both space and time to find ourselves 9 hours ahead of that time piece and in the middle of Tuesday.  Amazing when you think about it.


We caught our favorite low-cost airline, Easy Jet, which took less than three hours to get us to our first stop on our journey: Milan. We arrived there 24 hours on the dot from when we’d left home.
I’ll tell you more in future days.  Ciao! for now.. . 

TPThursday: A Return to the Retro Auto Court Resort

The story of Auto Court Resorts that began here last Saturday continues. . .

These types of resorts were scattered across the United States during the 1920’s, 30’s and into the 40’s.  The automobile had opened the door to travel and Auto Court Resorts were often the destination.

There were 22 of them on Washington State’s Camano Island and more than double that on neighboring Whidbey Island. 

Thanks to the generosity of its previous owners, the foresight of our State Parks Department and a devoted group of more than 200 volunteers Cama Beach State Park is keeping this segment of travel history alive.

‘Cama Beach – a Sportsman’s Paradise’ as  it was known when it opened in the 1930’s is Washington State’s newest park, having opened in 2008.

  






Back in its heyday, a motorist would have driven this road down the hillside to the resort.  Now it is one of the many hiking trails in this 433-acre park.  There’s even a trail through the wooded hillside that connects this park to Camano Island State Park, one mile to the south.

If one tires of woodland hikes, there is more than a mile of cobbled (small stones, not sand) shoreline to explore along the resort that fronts Saratoga Passage.

While common sense tells you there’s a modern 21st Century out there, here you feel as if you’d time-traveled back to a less hectic world thanks to the efforts of countless volunteers, the park staff  and a partnership between the Park and the Center for Wooden Boats in downtown Seattle.

The Center for Wooden Boats has turned the resort’s original 1950’s boat house into a hub of activity. Boat rentals, boat building, boat repair – if it is boat related, it’s likely scheduled to be taking place here.  In fact each Saturday there’s a special toy boat building class for the small fry - they each take home a wooden boat that they created.









If you look closely at this photo you’ll see the original boat skids used to move boats in and out of the water.  (There are plans afoot to bring the old skids back to life and with the enthusiasm that surrounds this place, I have no doubt it will happen).

While electricity provides modern comforts like heat and refrigeration in the cabins, and WI-FI and internet can be accessed at the Cama Center up on the ridge, the cabins and bungalows that line the water’s edge are retro in both look and feel. No phone, no television.   The original gas pumps are on display having been restored by volunteers.

One building houses a Museum and store where old-fashioned bubble gum and ice cream bars are popular items and there’s a puppet stage and puppets available for do-it-yourself shows.



The peg-board above is from the original resort. Equipment that was available for checkout is listed at the top, the cabins along the side. When you used something a golf tee was inserted by your cabin. When you returned the borrowed items, the tee was removed. If it stayed, you paid!

You can rent boats, kayaks, hike, or do nothing but watch the day turn into evening on one of the many viewing benches. When evening comes you can head over to one of the fire pits for impromptu story telling and sing-a-longs that still take place.

That’s it for this week’s Travel Photo Thursday. Pop over to Budget Travelers Sandbox for more destinations today. We are in Milan, Italy so for those of you following our adventures in the Land of Pasta, stay tuned. . .the tales start soon!

If You Go:

The State Park (retro resort) is open year round. It is a 90-minute drive from Seattle.  Follow Interstate 5 north, head to Stanwood and road signs to the park are prevalent.
Visit the Cama Beach State Park website for rental rates, accommodation information, Discover Pass information and directions, or call 360-387-1550.