Smaller text Larger text

Destination: Uncategorized

Posted on

Waking Up a Block from David…in a Four-Poster Bed

When I opened my eyes after a delightful night’s sleep, it occurred to me that this is pretty good living — a four-poster bed, in a 16th-century monastery, a block from Michelangelo’s David, with a farmers market going on just outside my window on the most venerable Renaissance square in Florence (Piazza S. S. Annunziata). I’m in a nice guidebook work rhythm: two or three days spent learning, and a day in the hotel inputting on my laptop before heading to another great city. Today I’m leaving my favorite hotel in Florence (Loggiato dei Serviti). But I’ll be back in September with 25 fellow travelers when I’ll be guiding our Best of Europe in 21 Days Tour. If you’re on my tour, I have a hunch we’ll have a great time together.

This is Day 26 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

Posted on

Soaking Up the Joys of Traffic-Free Florence

Some people shop randomly. I sightsee randomly. And after a long day of determined and focused sightseeing while researching my guidebook, I find a special joy in just being out and lapping up the beauty of a great city like Florence. Its downtown is traffic-free, the street musicians are top notch, and romantic floodlighting spills onto the goofy selfie-stick salesmen. Then suddenly it hits me. Seeing the Baptistery newly restored, I, for the first time in my life, truly appreciate the amazing stonework in this zone. Here, 900-year-old Baptistery stones, 700-year-old Duomo (cathedral) stones, and 150-year-old Duomo facade stones all come together in perfect harmony.

This is Day 25 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

Posted on

Cameron’s on the Front Line of the Corniglia Gelato Wars

Cameron Hewitt (my wonderful co-author and fellow guidebook researcher) is just settling into his spring research trip and starting with the Cinque Terre. The pirates of the Cinque Terre survive in its many hotels and restaurants. They chew up and spit out guidebook researchers to the degree that many of my gang opt out of this highly competitive little bit of paradise. But Cameron’s there to make sure everyone who’s in my guidebook deserves their listing…and I’m pulling for him!

cameron-italy-corniglia-gelato-wars-640x428

By the way, if you enjoy Cameron’s take on Europe, be sure to “like” his Facebook page — he’ll be blown from Italy’s Cinque Terre and Dolomites, to Salzburg, and the Austrian Alps before meeting up with me and our TV crew in Bulgaria and Romania. Don’t miss out on Cameron’s keen insights.

 

Posted on

Studying Math in Church

In Florence, the Church of San Lorenzo is a great example of how Renaissance architecture is poetry — stony, mathematical, and timeless poetry. You’ll need to turn up the volume to better hear my guide, Alessandra, riff in a stream of consciousness manner about the mathematical underpinnings of all this beauty. And even though I don’t really get it, I’m happy to simply enjoy it and accept the fact that this visual harmony is not accidental, but logical. Next time you’re in a Renaissance church, enjoy the math.

This is Day 24 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.