There are quite a few castles in northern Italy, I’m realizing as I put together these blog posts. We stopped at Castello di Torrechiara on our way from Parma to Ferrara.
Year: 2012
Northern Italy Road Trip: Parma
Now where were we? Ah yes, after two days of gluttony in Sirmione, we hit the road again. One and a half hours later we were checking into the Palazzo dalla Rosa Prati right in the center of Parma.
Urban surfers and other notes from a Munich summer
Before I go back to chronicling our Italian road trip, I thought I’d remind our readers that we do, indeed, still live in Munich, despite the fact that we haven’t blogged about it in months. We’re half-way into our fifth year in the Bavarian capital. Spargelzeit had just come to an end, and biergarten season is in full swing. Every single public place has at least one TV in it, lest a moment of Euro Cup soccer go unwatched.
Guest Post: So you want to be an expat writer
I recently met Saskia Akyil, a fellow American expat in Munich. She was giving a presentation on how she self-published a novel. Having had a mostly-finished novel living on my hard drive for years, I was impressed. Inspired, even. That book of mine just might see the light of day after all. One of these days.
I asked Saskia if she’d be interested in guest posting on this blog, and to my delight she was happy to share some of her wisdom about life as an expat writer. Here’s what she had to say:
I had always wanted to write a novel, so I did. Once it was (self) published, I started hearing from other expats who:
- Wanted to write a book.
- Were in the process of writing a book.
- Had written a book.
Upon further thought, I realized that there are some pros and also some cons to trying to make a career of writing as an expat. I think that so many expats (especially trailing spouses) write because in many ways, it does make sense.
Northern Italy Road Trip: more Sirmione
After a grueling first day of eating, drinking, and taking in views, we woke up on our second day in Sirmione to a breakfast that looked more like a dessert buffet.
Northern Italy Road Trip: Sirmione, Lago di Garda
After breakfast in Levico, we drove a quick 1.5 hours down to the southern end of Lake Garda to spend two days in Sirmione. While the northern parts of Gardasee are overrun with German tourists, Sirmione is overrun with a healthy mix of nationalities.
Northern Italy Road Trip: Levico Terme
After a leisurely lunch in Bressanone, we drove another couple hours to Levico Terme, a small town on a small lake just outside of Trento. This destination was mostly chosen for its location – we wanted a short drive for our first day of the trip, and we wanted to relax and do nothing once we arrived at our destination. Well, nothing besides eating yummy Italian food.
Northern Italy Road Trip: Bressanone
We recently rented a car and headed to Italy for 11 days of food, art, medieval cities, wine, grappa, gelato, more food, more wine… you know, the kind of stuff you do in Italy.
Austria: moors and more from Burgenland
My recent trip to Burgenland (the gently hilly southeastern corner of Austria) involved all kinds of local surprises.
Austria: in which I master the art of schnaps distillation
One of the destinations on my recent trip to Burgenland, Austria, was the Lagler hotel and distillery. Most of our brief time there involved eating and sleeping, but we did manage to squeeze in a couple of other fun activities, too, such as a morning swim in their adorable fake-grotto pool. But our visit was mostly about the schnaps.
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