Travel

Beautiful Siena Italy, Home of the Palio of Siena

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We love travel and new experiences and use technology to monitor our home while we’re away. We enjoy great food and wine, hiking and cycling, history and art.


2024 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

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Our Antarctica Cruise on the Viking Polaris

We explored the Antarctica Peninsula on a 13-day Viking Expedition Cruise...
View from Bonnieux house

A Week in Provence

We spent a relaxing week in Provence, from our home base in the hilltop town of Bonnieux...
View near Alba

Tasting Wine and Truffles in Alba, Italy

From Bologna, we traveled to the northwest of Italy, to Piedmont. On our last trip to Italy in...

Bologna: Europe’s Oldest College Town

I’ve always enjoyed visiting college towns – from Ann Arbor to Madison, to Cambridge, both...
Scooter in Siena

Two Weeks in Siena

We traveled to Italy and Provence in the fall of 2022 and it was great to get back to more normal...

Coimbra and Fatima

The next day, we said goodbye to Olga and Fernando and headed south to Coimbra, just a short ride...
Porto View from Vila Gaia

Porto and the Douro Valley

After our long week cycling in Alentejo, our taxi came to the farmhouse to take us to the train for...
Valerie at Evora Wall

Exploring Alentejo with Portugal’s Best Cycling

After our first few days in Lisbon, we headed out for the centerpiece of our trip, our bike tour...
Miradora Sao Pedro de Alcantara Lisbon View

Two visits to Lisbon

We began and ended our Portuguese journey with Lisbon. We started with a few nights to get...
Sunset over the Douro River Porto

20 Days in Portugal

I’ve been dreaming about traveling to Portugal for years. I bought my first Lonely Planet guide...
Desert Heart Winery View

New Zealand Wineries: best regions to visit for Pinot Noir

We visited many New Zealand wineries during our 30 day trip. We discuss our favorite regions and...
New Zealand Five Dollar Note

How to Find Penguins in New Zealand

When we first started planning our trip to New Zealand, I wasn’t thinking about seeing penguins. I...
Three Days in Auckland Waiheke Island Vineyard View

Three Days in Auckland

We end our New Zealand journey with three nights in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city...
Rotorua New Zealand Wai O Tapo Steaming Pool

Rotorua, New Zealand – More than a Smelly Tourist Trap

We spent three nights in Rotorua, home of amazing geothermal attractions and Māori meeting grounds...
Wellington New Zealand View from Tram

Three days in Wellington, New Zealand

We spent three days in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city and tacked on a perfect wine weekend...
Abel Tasman beach with kayakers

Abel Tasman National Park

After our TranzAlpine train journey, we picked up a rental car in Greymouth and drove up the...
Christchurch New Zealand Cardboard Cathedral

Christchurch, New Zealand

Our New Zealand journey continues north from Oamaru to Christchurch, the largest city on New...
Yellow-eyed Penguin at Penguin Place

New Zealand Penguins and Steampunk

New Zealand penguins were one of our primary reasons for visiting. We saw plenty during our stops...
Otago Central Rail Trail through Tunnel

Otago Central Rail Trail

We love cycling and have put many miles on our road bikes here in Northern California. When we...
New Zealand Milford Sound Bay

New Zealand: Milford Sound and Beyond

From Melbourne we were able to fly directly to Queenstown, in the South Island of New Zealand, to...
Sydney Bridge at Night

Our 10-day Australia Itinerary

Our Australia itinerary included Sydney, Jervis Bay, Canberra and Melbourne, 10 days by car and...
Australia and New Zealand Map

Our 40-day Australia and New Zealand Tour

We share our experiences and what we learned during our Australia and New Zealand Tour, to help you...
Castel Sant'Angelo at night in Rome

Rome: at home in Italy’s Capital

Last fall we made our fourth trip together to Rome. It’s nice to come back to a city that we know...
Siena View from Balcony with Food

Siena, home of the Palio

Siena, the home of the Palio, has held a special place in our hearts since Mark lived there in the...
Wine Tasting in Tuscany Bellaria

Wine Tasting in Tuscany (via Siena)

If you’ve ever tasted wine in Napa or other wineries in the US, you might think you are ready for...
Lucca scene from wall

Lucca: wrapped in a wall of culture

We love Tuscany and everything about it, the landscape, the food, the wine. Recently we got a...
view from ebikein

Three Days in Cinque Terre (via Genoa)

We love Italy and we love the outdoors so we have been looking forward to visiting the Cinque...
Milan city scene

Milan: Easy Travel and the Last Supper

We have both traveled to Milan for business, together and separately. Milan is in the north and the...
Rome Market Food Tour

Smart Apps and Travel Tips for Italy in the Fall

Last fall we traveled to Italy to see a few new places and revisit two of our favorites. We share...

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