TUSCANY During our travels last year, we heard of a town called Forte dei Marmi and decided to spend 4 days there this year. Are we glad we did! Situated on the northern Tuscany coast, Forte dei Marmi has long attracted the rich and famous…

PIENZA, ASSISI and TORGIANO 1459, it was the dream of Pope Pius II to turn his birthplace into the perfect Renaissance city, so we have him to thank for the beautiful medieval town of Pienza. Quaint shops and restaurants line the pedestrian only streets. Pienza…

ITALY: NORTHEAST COASTAL AREA From Torgiano, we made our way over to the northern coastal area of Italy. The entire east coast of Italy runs along the Adriatic sea and Italians flock to the countless beach resorts in July and August, but things were pretty…

CROATIA: WOW! We arrived in Croatia on May 25th and quickly fell in love with the country. It is absolutely beautiful! Though many of the buildings in the cities are from the post war era, modern resorts have been built along the water to accommodate…

CROATIAN COAST Alfred Hitchcock thought the sunset in the ancient city of Zadar was the most beautiful in the world. With crystal clear waters and numerous islands off its coast, Zadar is certainly scenic but it is also very historic. Zadar is 3,000 years old…

CROATIA: INLAND Croatia has 8 national parks – quite a lot for a country slightly smaller than West Virginia. We visited two of them. The first, Krka National Park, runs along the Krka River and is home to the largest travertine cascade system in Europe….

SLOVENIA Slovenia is a beautiful country but we did not have a beatific entrance to it. One must buy a pass to use the highways before entering the country. We, along with countless others, did not see the sign just before the border stating that….

AUSTRIA Rainy days and cloudy skies overshadowed our first few stops in Austria but could not hide the beauty of this country — magnificent mountains, sheer cliffs, hills lined with green velvet grass and dotted with alpine houses. Fortunately, we had been forewarned that Austria…

AUSTRIA TYROL We visited 3 towns in the Austrian state of Tyrol. All are popular ski resorts as the area is in the heart of the Alps. They are also popular summer destinations as Austrians love hiking the mountain trails. Unfortunately, rain and clouds continued…

RETURN TO ITALY Slightly south of the Austrian border is the city of Merano, Italy. In this mountainous section of Italy, the people speak both German and Italian as the area was part of Austria until after World War I. Merano is a beautiful city…