An unabashed tourist and her family explore the world one holiday at a time.
Milestone birthdays should be celebrated, the more spectacular the better. If, like me, you exist in a Peter Pan-like state, it’s best to forget about your age and rather focus on a wonderful experience. For that reason I had decided to spend my 35th birthday in Italy and, more specifically, I wanted the day to be filled with art, culture...
There are perhaps as many as a thousand fountains spread out all across Rome, according to the Inguide to Rome. They were once ancient shrines to water nymphs, but nowadays locals and tourists alike come to quench their thirst at the cool mountain waters still transported via aqueduct to the city. Some of the fountains are famous movie stars, others...
The Inguide to Rome calls the Borghese gardens a “splendid park” and “one of the most beautiful parks in Rome”. True as that may be, our memories of it have been forever tainted by the scammers that prey on gullible tourists underneath its green boughs. Now, we’re South Africans and pretty used to warding off unwanted attention from beggars, overenthusiastic...
Isn’t it wonderful when travel serendipity conspires to bring you an unexpectedly memorable day? Gareth and I had such a day when we visited the Pantheon while in Rome during a three-week trip to Italy. Not only did we get to see one of the oldest temples in the Eternal City, another relic from Emperor Hadrian’s time, circa 125 AD, but...
One of the stops on our self-guided Demons & Angels tour of Rome, Castel Sant’Angelo has been on my must-see list since the first time I set foot in the Eternal City. The round fortress dominates its surroundings by sheer size and antiquity and I’ve always wanted to know what was going on inside its impressively fortified walls. Built between...
Gareth and I both enjoyed Dan Brown’s bestselling novel Angels and Demons and we’re huge fans of the Tom Hanks film as well. So when we visited Rome, we went out of our way to see some of the Eternal City’s featured sights. Here’s what we found (there might be some spoilers below for those of you unfamiliar with the...
Rome is a crazy, busy, noisy city. But step onto the ancient Via Sacra, past the Arch of Constantine and into the Roman Forum, and you will leave all of that behind. If your imagination is active enough, and you choose one of the side paths not trampled by the hordes of tourists, it is almost like taking a step...
Our first experience of the Colosseum left much to be desired. It was the very first thing we went to see when we arrived in Rome. At 10:00 in the morning, the queue already stretched outside and around the building. Not having bought prepaid tickets, there was nothing for...
The Doge’s Palace, or Palazzo Ducale, is one of the iconic landmarks of the Piazza San Marco in Venice. For years I’ve been appreciating its Gothic architecture from the outside, but this year Gareth and I finally toured the interior as well. If you don’t mind queuing, you...
What does wold-renowned fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones and Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci have in common? As it turns out, the church of San Barnaba in Venice, it seems. Gareth and I, film buffs that we are, wanted to find where X marks the spot in one of our favourite movies, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so when we had...