The Val D’Orcia, a valley about 25 miles south of Siena, is likely what everyone thinks of when they hear the word “Tuscany”. Rolling hills of green and gold punctuated by picturesque hamlets, cypress-lined winding dirt roads, abbeys and monasteries along the ancient Via Francigena preserving centuries-old chants, olive groves and vineyards surrounding farms, castles, and historic […]

It’s hard to encapsulate the essence of a place in a single phrase. There are too many layers and complexities, flavours and voices, volumes and colours. But when I think of my latest trip to Florence, “the devil is in the details” comes to mind. I was caught up in a whirlwind of self-inflicted (and […]

When I travel to places I don’t know, I like finding the threads that bind destinations together. This exercise in dot-connecting led me recently to follow the trail of one of Portugal’s most popular, and bizarre legends. Alcobaça, about an hour or so north of Lisbon, is a quiet town with an outsized history and […]