Tag Archives: budget travel
How to get your coffee fix while travelling on a budget
My routine is the same every morning: I get out of bed, trip on my cat, and make a single espresso in my stove-top moka pot. It’s a safe bet that you, my reader, have a similar caffeine routine (though maybe not a 19 pound cat circling your feet). So how do you satisfy your coffee […]
Guess where?
We’re headed to the airport on our way to see outrageously excellent art and architecture, six UNESCO Word Heritage sights and an opera. Guess where? Our cat Janacek is providing a hint below:
Why you don’t need to be rich to be a cultural tourist, and why it’s probably better not to be (really!)
I remember the exact moment: after a morning of winding our way uphill through the medieval Albayzín neighborhood of Granada in Southern Spain, we reached the San Nicholas Viewpoint. We picnicked while taking in the enchanting view of the Alhambra and surrounding mountains and I mentioned to HOB that, according to our guide book, this […]
How to make a budget-friendly travel itinerary tailored to your interests
I’m clumsy, my spelling is atrocious, I suck at math and I’m a total slob, but people, I am really super-spanking good at writing a travel itinerary. Here’ s what works for me: Research like crazy and keep a list. No, I don’t mean a bucket list of far away fantasies, I mean a realistic […]
Three insanely helpful–free!–websites for travelers
As a budget travel addict, I frequently check dozens of websites. Here are a few of the most useful, that I find myself returning to again and again: TripIt Our travel itineraries are intense. We often visit smaller towns and sleep in a different place almost every night. We travel exclusively by public transportation and […]
Why I travel for sacred art and whether I’m religious…….or not
I adore religious art, and I travel to see it in person any chance I get. Most of my happiest days in Europe have been spent with HOB in and around cathedrals (and the occasional mosque and synagogue.) Of all music, I am most enthralled by masses and oratorios, and I’d much rather see art in a church […]
Laundry 101: how to keep your clothes clean while traveling
If you really love me tattoo my name on your neck in fancy script name a ship after me buy me lots of shiny jewelry that will probably give me a rash wash my stinky socks in a giant Ziploc bag and hang them on hotel radiator so they’ll be dry tomorrow morning. No […]
Panini picnic at the Duomo of Syracuse
The entire gorgeous city of Syracusa is a UNESCO World Heritage sight, and if it were up to me, I would extent UNESCO status to it’s panini. Specifically, Caseificio Borderi Elefteria located at Via Emanuele de Benedictis, 6, Siracusa, Italy. We walked through Ortygia island neighborhood of Syracusa, towards the Ionian Sea, avoiding the rements of […]
Campy corbels in Ragusa
I generally have a hard time appreciating Baroque, which I associate with frosting covered architecture encrusted with obese putti and over-inflated grandeur. Ragusa, a UNSECO protected Baroque town in Southern Sicily, just may have converted me into a Baroque lover. The town, largely destroyed in a massive earthquake in 1693, was rebuilt by its wealthy […]
Cefalù: cute costumed children celebrating Carnevale with confetti
Cefalù, in Northern Sicily, is indisputably scenic. It’s dramatically set on the Mediterranean, with a giant rock mountain looming above it, full of golden light, palm trees, and twisty medieval streets. Despite it’s attractive qualities, we spent much of the day irritated with the tourist industry of the town, which has three major sights, two […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 