NOT MY CIRCUS, NOT MY MONKEY

The Barbary Macaques of Gibralter The opportunities for blog titles here were endless, but the one above seemed to fit best. The Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar are the only wild monkey population in the European continent. A fun fact is that monkeys usually have tails and apes have none, but these are tail-less monkeys. Gibralter may have a famous […]
Pelligro – Desprendimientos

From the comfort of my tour bus seat, an ominous warning about desprendimientos 25 kilometers ahead was of no immediate concern. Nevertheless, I did wonder what all the fuss was about. A later trip to Google Translate revealed ominous pictures of roadways covered with landslides of giant boulders, but we were spared. Our tour is taking […]
CADES COVE WITH MADELYN

Our daughter and son-in-law had an out-of-town soccer tournament with their oldest, so we had a chance to host Madelyn this past weekend. Her birthday was two days earlier and we promised her a day of belated celebration. A picnic in the Smokies sounded the best after we floated a number of choices, but the […]
Here I go down that wrong road again

Reflections on driving in Italy “Here I go down that wrong road again Goin’ back where I’ve already been Even though I know where it will end Here I go down that wrong road again” – John Hartford, Wrong Road Again (Don’t miss YouTube below) The sun was setting as […]
Driving Over a Cliff in the Tuscan Hill Town of Montalcino
There, I got your attention. And yes, we kind of drove over a cliff. Details soon, but do you have that dream ever? That terrible frustration dream where you are in an out of control vehicle down an impossibly steep hill (the hill where your car has no power to back up) and headed over a […]
REFLECTING ON LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL

After another very great Gate1 Travel fly-drive deal for Italy, Marcy and I find ourselves back in Montecatini Terme – a town about 25 miles west of Florence. We are very travel-weary but I think we have gotten used to the rhythm of how it feels to do a 30 hour turn-around from Knoxville to Europe. I would […]