Most Italian restaurants in the US cook an Americanized version of Italian food, and few Italians would recognize the over-sized, over-cooked, over-spiced, over-sauced plates served in American restaurants.

Oh sweet, sweet summertime – it’s my favorite time of year. Summer means warm days, long hours of sunshine, birds chirping outside my window early in the morning, and the sounds of children playing in the street. We revel in…

Russian novelist and poet Boris Pasternak once said, “Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” That’s exactly what I found on a trip to the Dominican Republic in late 2019. It was full of surprises and unexpected…

Yes, the winters are cold and snowy in the area of central New York encompassing the Southern Finger Lakes, but ah, the summers! They are ideal for summer getaways. June, July and August are the months when locals and out-of-town…

Swan Valley, Australia’s second oldest wine region, is just 25 minutes from Perth, Western Australia’s capital city. Like so many wine regions throughout the world, Swan Valley’s scenery is idyllic. Vineyard-covered hills, small rustic towns, and welcoming wineries, their picnic…

American educator, philosopher, and natural science writer Loren Eiseley once said, “If there is magic on this planet it is contained in water.” There’s just something about being on the water. It’s an absolute feast for the senses. The tourmaline…

The sun god blessed us on our first day as we ventured into the arid desert landscape on a spiritual journey into the life of the Ancient Pueblo people who once lived in the sacred Bandelier Monument. After the hike,…

As a child, I found nothing was more exhilarating than climbing into a treehouse. While I didn’t have one, you can bet that each year I’d ask Santa Claus for one of my very own. Fast forward to my adult…