I’m never drawn to the proper side of life, I prefer the messy – yet something was drawing me into the sophisticated side of Vienna. The aroma of coffee and music of Mozart being played on the piano in the background must have put a spell on me. Or maybe it was the dour faced [...]

I had never really considered Vienna before, however upon reading an article by Andrew McCarthy in National Geographic last fall, it came onto my radar. He wrote, “I have arrived in Vienna with a simple plan: to live as local a life as possible. Instead of discovering this famously imperial city from the comforts and [...]

The Rialto Market is buzzing with activity; boats pull up to docks and burly men unload crates of blood red oranges and artichokes, locals laugh and socialize with the shop keepers, and the fish mongers scale and prepare the fresh catches of the day.  This is the main market for locals on the island of [...]

The waitress brings out my pizza straight from the wood oven. The smell of the bread and the wood from the oven makes me salivate. It’s thin, crispy and on an individual little plate just waiting for me to dig in. The waitress sets down a knife and a fork and says “Buon appetite!” I [...]

“I know you, you’ve been here before?” I was stunned that they would remember me after 4 years and countless travelers coming through their doors. I don’t really think that I stand out at all, I have no real defining features, no distinct accents, and with each year the landscape of my face changes with [...]

Locals bustle around the market picking out fresh vegetables and carry on in conversations in Italian with the shop stall owners; the ease in the conversations lets you know that they’ve known each other a lifetime. A breeze blows through the open air market leaving the scent of fresh flowers in the air of the [...]

As you walk around Malta and Gozo, it’s very easy to simply think that the food is Italian. You will see pizzerias, and pasta restaurants everywhere you turn. However before you shovel that last bit of yummy pasta cooked perfectly al dente into your mouth and savor the sauce, or take the last bite of [...]

I followed Philip’s footsteps carefully, trying to place my shoe into his last place he stepped as we walked upwards through waist high weeds and overgrowth. The two dogs bound along in front of us like rabbits leaping through the weeds; full of puppy-ish excitement. The hills were starting to burst with springtime color and [...]