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A Perfect Day in Arezzo

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  Piazza Grande and Catherina piccola con cappello grande Arezzo should be named the Goldilocks city of Italy (a new award I have conjured up) because when it comes to finding a city that you can explore in a single day, Arezzo takes the cake - not too small, and not too big. Better yet, you can fit in an afternoon rest and  not be woken by a trio of bears! Piazza di l'Agostino And like all great Italian towns, Arezzo is full of unknown churches with surprising art treasures, square towers, and narrow streets that are either asleep during the day, only to come alive at night with overflowing restaurants, or are known for their specialized  shops, whether it be high fashion, artistic creations or underwear. We found the centro storico to be absolutely charming, especially as it was almost empty of tourists like us! Of course, Catherine had just celebrated the fact that there are no tourist groups in Arezzo, when one came around the corner to block the view I was trying to ...
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The Highs and Lows of Our Getting to Italy

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  Just happy to be in the right airport at the right time And I don’t mean starting off 15 meters below Bloor Street on line 2 or cruising at 30,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. Rather, I was thinking metaphorically, something English grads must do all the time. In any event, our low point was at the departure level of Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Which is Toronto’s major airport where the vast majority of flights in and out of Toronto have their terminus or origin. But the majority counts for nothing when it comes to finding your specific flight. And so it was that the computer couldn’t find us in the system when we scanned our passports. And then it suddenly dawned on us - we were at the wrong bloody airport (sorry, I’ve been watching British TV)! What to do?! Well, first, you have to have a quick, loud and dramatic argument about what will be the quickest mode of transportation between Pearson and Billy Bishop Airports so that the entire airport knows that something is amiss with...
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Les Derniers Jours

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  Mention of the Loire Valley inevitably conjures up images of young couples biking by a romantic chateau with a wine glass balanced in their free hand. Now picture two sexagenerians madly racing through city streets in search of a free parking space, or racing ahead of a busload of septuagenarian tourists to avoid being trampled, or frantically searching for a public washroom after risking a bottle of our landlord's finest tap water.  To tell the truth, we actually enjoyed our time in the Loire. We did see chateaux, we did drink wine, and although we never climbed aboard a velo, we did do our fair share of hiking. So, sit back, pour a glass of Vouvray sparkling wine, and let le fleuve Loire roll by. The Chateau de Chaumont overlooking the Loire Among the many misconceptions you may harbour about the Loire, I expect one of them is that the Loire and the Loire valley are largely coterminous.  As it turns out, the Loire Valley refers to a section of the river, about 1/4 the...
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