travel

Gas Cap

I don’t know how to say this word in any other language, but yesterday the gas cap on our rental car nearly brought me to my knees. It must sound like I am making this up, but the first two… Read More ›

Déviation

The French have a way of taking English words and making them sound French: they pronounce “Wi-Fi” like “we-fee,” for example. Americans have a way of doing the same with French words, too. This is the end of a very… Read More ›

Zunftmarkt, Bad Wimpfen

Today we journeyed to the Zunftmarkt, to witness characters in medieval costumes simulating everyday life as craftspeople, circa 14th century. As is often the case with the changing of the seasons, autumn just showed up yesterday – so while it… Read More ›

Der Kleiderschränk

This is slang for “giant,” or “hulk of a guy.” It also means large clothes cabinet, and that’s what my mom bought from the Hofmeister last week, which they delivered yesterday. They sent one guy to haul this thing up… Read More ›

The Nose Doctor

Starting around Innsbruck Tuesday, I developed an ingrown hair in my left nostril which persisted all week. I went online to look for remedies, and saw something that suggested you can squeeze it out with tweezers. I tried this, but… Read More ›

Firenze

We made it to Florence in about two hours, with hotel reservations for the Hotel Duomo, which is right across the way from the famous Duomo tourist attraction. The last leg of the trip had us travelling by foot since… Read More ›

Feniglia

Yesterday we went to the other beach, Feniglia (Fe-knee-lee-a), which is 10 km from the villa near Orbetello. It was quite different – more of a public beach, but still Olivier phoned ahead to reserve beach chairs for us and… Read More ›