“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.” John Muir, “Father of the National Parks” and co-founder of the Sierra Club

“In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.” ― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

Malta to Sicily Ferry

Update: May 15, 2022 From the look of it, Grimaldi Lines is no longer operating a passenger service between Malta and Sicily. That said, you still have two ferry lines to choose from. Ponte ferries announced four days ago that they will be resuming their fast ferry service between Valletta and Augusta, Sicily this coming […]

Ancona Split ferry

What this post covers If you’re arriving by train to Ancona station and need to pick up your Ancona to Split ferry tickets, this blog post should make the process a lot less confusing. Because let me tell you, there’s nothing intuitive about any of it. I took the ferry on March 26, 2019 and […]

Nice airport airlines

If you need to find out which airlines fly into and out of Nice Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, do so before heading to the airport. That’s because the names of the airlines are not displayed anywhere on the approach roads to each terminal. As a result, if you don’t know which terminal you […]

Wifi access in Europe

This post gives you tips on how to stay connected in Europe without it costing you a bundle. We discuss the benefits of using a  local SIM card in your phone and tell you where to go to access free Wifi connections. Wifi in Europe compared to the US/Canada In 2017, Akamai Technologies, a US-based […]

Fort St. Angelo, Malta

Fort St. Angelo on Malta’s Grand Harbour, as viewed from the town of Senglea. This fort takes up the northernmost tip of the town of Vittoriosa, also known as Birgu. Located next to one another, Vittoriosa, Senglea, and Cospicua make up the “Three Cities,” a largely residential area across the harbour from Valletta. Because access […]

Marina Piccola, Isle of Capri

View of the south side of the Isle of Capri from a beachside cafe at the Marina Piccola (the Little Marina). Although less than 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Grande, where most tourists land on the island, the Marina Piccola is significantly quieter and less developed. Much of that has to do with the […]

Vesuvius peaks towering over Pompeii

Before the huge eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD, the two peaks in this image formed part of a much larger cone shaped volcano. Falling ash and pyroclastic flows eventually buried Pompeii to a depth of as much as 17 feet in some areas. Nearly 2,000 residents of this town, alone, died during the […]

Country lane in northwest Malta

Country lane, northwestern Malta. Much of the island of Malta and it’s sister islands to the north, Gozo and Comino, look like this. Rolling hills, crumbling seaside cliffs, and hardy trees and scrub brush. Malta is an island of huge contrasts, too. The western side looks much like it did seven centuries ago when people […]