The Bed and Breakfast scene in Tuscany is booming. For good reason, since it offers something considerably different from its counterparts in other countries. Here, one can stay in a huge castle over 1,000 years old, or a tiny villa a ‘mere’ 100 years of age. Add in the surrounding countryside with its million and […]

Cortona is a Tuscan town once little known to travelers booking for Florence. After the publication of Under the Tuscan Sun (and the subsequent film and follow-up books) it garnered a place on every visitor’s agenda. Justifiably so. In this Italian hilltop town of 30,000 there are more sights than a visitor could see in […]

The Leaning Tower of Pisa may be the most famous landmark of this Tuscan city. But, there are many other stellar sights to see in the Piazza del Duomo where the tower is located. Scattered around lush green lawn lie some of the world’s finest architectural achievements. There’s the famed campanile, of course. But there […]

Seven centuries after its completion the Palazzo Vecchio continues to serve as the Town Hall of Florence. But far from a mundane official city council building, this palace houses many important works of art. From the little Studiolo of Francesco I to the huge tower, the entire complex is breathtaking. Begun in 1299 the building […]

Everything in Florence is art. Shopping for leather goods? Jewelry? Food? Here, such things aren’t merely utilitarian or even decorative personal items. In this major Tuscan city, shopping amounts to searching for a work of genius. And, in Florence, that’s not hard to find. Mercato Centrale Formed from a major urban project in the mid-19th […]

Once an ancient Etruscan settlement, San Gimignano’s first walls were erected much later, in 998 AD. It became one of Italy’s smaller city-statues in the 12th century. Featured in fictional form in E.M Forster’s 1905 novel Where Angels Fear to Tread, this Tuscany town provides the perfect backdrop for a modern visit as well. Situated […]

As the capital of Andalucia, Sevilla has enjoyed a colorful history stretching back over 2,500 years. Whether strolling around the gardens of Casa de Pilatos or looking up in awe at Alcazar, it isn’t hard to believe. Casa de Pilatos Located in the ancient Jewish quarter, the Barrio de Santa Cruz, the Casa de Pilatos […]

Wine is produced in many areas of Spain. The hot sun and Mediterranean breezes make for some stellar Palomino grapes. But the capital of one type – sherry – has to be assigned to Jerez de la Frontera, a city in the Cadiz section of Andalucia. The very name means ‘sherry’, a derivative of the […]

More than a mere horse show, the Réal Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre in Jerez de la Frontera is a combination riding school and entertainment wonder. If you can pronounce the name, you are ahead of the game. Housed in a building that alone makes a visit worthwhile, the famed dancing stallions will do more […]

While Americans and others may celebrate Easter only on a Sunday, that occasion is marked in Spain by an entire week of festivities known as Semana Santa, or Holy Week. The Holy Week festivals that take place all over the country are especially marked in Andalucia. Here, the emphasis is less on doleful repentance and […]