Hello and welcome to another travel report, this time on our short trip to the area around Apalachicola in Florida’s panhandle with my wife and our two dogs.

If you’ve been to Florida, you may have noticed that they like to give catchy names to their numerous coasts. Here is no different and is sometimes referred to as “Florida’s forgotten coast.” Sounds ominous, but in fact we found it beautiful and had a wonderful time. But it does live up to this name, at least in our experience during this trip: the crowds forgot to come! Typically, winter is the peak season for Florida, but we were pretty shocked to find that’s not the case here, at least not this particular week in December. We had the beach to ourselves, and a few restaurants!

We stayed about 25 minutes from Apalachicola at a location known as Indian Pass Beach which is a tiny peninsula adjacent to St. Vincent Island.

Our first full day there was a bit cloudy, but it was still fairly warm and made for a nice walk on the beach with the dogs.

Lunch was at Indian Pass Raw Bar where we had our first taste of the famous Apalachicola oyster. Here we had them raw and in a preparation they simply call baked, which is oysters on the half shell sprinkled with cheese and baked until brown. Both were great! I also really liked the steamed shrimp here.

Interestingly, ahead of the trip we learned about the harvesting of the wild oysters from Apalachicola Bay, or more accurately the lack thereof. The Bay has been closed for oyster harvesting since 2020 in order to allow the wild oysters and ecosystem time to recover after the BP oil spill and other recent negative impacts. Next year is the end of the initial prohibition, but it’s unclear if the Bay will be reopened for harvesting so soon. So, where do all the local oysters come from in restaurants? Well, oyster farming is still allowed and I believe that makes up the local supply. Supposedly these farms are actually helping the ecosystem recover, as oysters tend to act like filters that help to remove impurities from the water. I do hope the Bay is given enough time to completely recover before wild harvesting resumes.

After lunch, we headed to the Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center and got tour by one of the volunteers. This center exists to help support the sea turtle population that nests on the beaches in the area. They are also acting as a sanctuary to a few (non-sea) turtles and tortoises which were mostly donated pets. Excitingly, we were able to sponsor a nest for the 2025 sea turtle season, which means we funded protective measures to be placed when a nest is discovered on the beach. Then, we’ll get some info about the location of the nest and how it progresses throughout the incubation period. We might return next year to check on our nest! (Sorry, somehow forgot to take any photos at the Center!)

It was nearing dinner time and we had learned that with the reduced crowds, it was best to get in early before restaurants closed. Our destination this evening: Hole in the Wall Seafood in Apalachicola.

Here, of course, we had more raw oysters! I also tried the seafood gumbo which was good and piping hot.

The next day, we decided to head over to St. George Island State Park with the dogs. But first, a stop at Bayside Coffee.

When we arrived at the State Park, we learned dogs were not allowed on the beach. But that was fine, since it was pretty foggy and we wanted to explore other parts of the park.

We decided to walk on a trail through the salt marsh, which ended up being beautiful in the fog.

On the way back through Apalachicola, we stopped for lunch at Up The Creek Raw Bar which is right beside the docks along the river.

That afternoon, we rode bikes along the beach outside where we were staying. It was a surreal experience with the fog, the waves breaking right next to us, and the mostly empty beaches. We saw more dolphins than people!

That night, we returned to Apalachicola for dinner at Owl Cafe which was located in a really cool old building.

Of course, we had more oysters here! The rest of the food was good too with the gumbo being the highlight of the meal for me.

After dinner, we took the dogs for their evening walk before the moon rose and when we looked out at the waves breaking into the beach we thought our eyes were playing tricks on us. It looked like the waves were glowing as they broke. But as we watched in awe we realized it must be bioluminescence that was triggered by the motion of the waves! It was unexpected and incredible! There was so little light pollution that we could see this naturally occurring phenomenon. I’ve only witnessed bioluminescent waters in one other place: the bio bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico. While I know that the dinoflagellates that produce the light are common in ocean water, I thought it was exceptionally rare that they are present in enough concentration for humans to see their light. So I was very shocked that they appeared to us on this nighttime walk! After a little research, I learned it can be more common than I realized in the Gulf waters. Sadly, I didn’t have the necessary equipment to photograph the effect (namely, a tripod).

The next morning we had time for one last walk along the beach before our departure.

Thanks for reading this travel report. We loved this part of Florida and are hoping to return soon!

Hello from Delta flight 67 Rome to Atlanta!

Now that our time in Italy has wrapped up, I thought I’d try to compile some thoughts on our overall experience in Italy. This was my first time traveling in Italy. I’ve been wanting to visit for some time since I love Italian food and I have some heritage in Italy via my mother’s side of the family (according to my DNA report, I’m just under 25% genetically Italian heritage). And, for various reasons, the Italian culture is the one that has prevailed in my family’s traditions. So, the trip was more meaningful to me than most.

In short, our time in Italy was fantastic! The food and scenery both exceeded my expectations. The food especially just seems so much better than what we have access to in the US. Even simple, raw ingredients, like a tomato, tasted much better than anything I’ve had before. And for more complex ingredients like olive oil and cheese, well, Italy is just producing stuff on another level compared to America. I’m definitely returning home feeling inspired to do what I can to find local, fresh ingredients for meals at home.

One experience that is really sticking with me is making pasta in our airbnb. The host provided the ingredients and suggested a simple preparation of just olive oil and cheese crumbled on top, which is what we did. We simply cooked the orecchiette in salted water, topped it with olive oil, salt, and crumbled cheese. We added fresh tomatoes as garnish. This dish was fantastic! And it took all of 15 minutes to prepare. I’ve cooked a lot of pasta at home in the US and I’ve never had something be so easy and incredibly delicious. There was no skill on our part, so the only explanation is really great ingredients.

Looking back to the places we visited, in order: Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Puglia. I don’t think I can pick a favorite. In fact, I think a highlight was visiting multiple regions and seeing the differences in food and culture. We learned about Italian history and how most cities (and the regions around them) were distinct with their own cultures and dialects until Italian unification in 1861. Even to this day, these regional differences carry on. We learned of a few different dialects and how different they are from one another. So, if you visit Italy, I’d definitely suggest visiting a few regions to experience these differences.

In Rome, we loved seeing the ancient Roman history in the Colosseum and Imperial Forum. It’s amazing to have a view onto this ancient civilization and see the city they built. It’s also incredible to think that Rome has been inhabited continuously since antiquity. We also enjoyed modern Rome, meaning it’s a vibrant city beyond the touristy parts. This means you can find authentic, local food without too much trouble. Some of our favorite dishes were in Rome.

Florence was amazing to see the art and the beautiful Renaissance era buildings and streets. If you stay in the central part of the city, it’s very walkable. Florence is also very touristy, every street is filled with tourists. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but is the reality of visiting the historic parts of Florence. The food can be great here too, we had one of the best meals of our trip here. So, it’s certainly possible to avoid tourist traps and find great places.

Tuscany was beautiful. Just driving through the countryside, or even better, biking through it, gives you so many scenic views. I enjoyed that we got to stay at a farmhouse and enjoy some agritourism while we were there. Visiting all the small Tuscany towns was very fun too, each one has its own unique history and feel to it. Of course, the food is great in Tuscany. We loved the handmade pici pasta, and had one of the best cacio e pepe dishes of our trip in Tuscany. The wine is great here too, and it was fun to visit a few vineyards and see exactly where the grapes came from.

Finally, our time in Puglia was great as well. While both Puglia and Tuscany are heavily into agriculture, I think Puglia exceeds Tuscany in this regard, giving you access to fresh, local foods almost everywhere you go. In fact, many of the foods we had in Puglia were the best on our trip. We loved the bread (especially the focaccia), cheese, meats, and seafood here. Puglia is also a lot less touristy than Tuscany, especially if you get away from the coast and head inland. Our e-bike tour through Puglia was one of the best rides of my life. The Pugliese countryside is beautiful in its own, unique way. I also loved the cities rendered in white, from the cobblestone streets to the buildings. Puglia definitely felt as if it could have been a different country from Tuscany and the cities of Rome and Florence.

So, overall the trip was great! I’m already thinking about when we might be able to return to Italy. I’m definitely going to miss the great food (and lack of humidity) after returning home!

Housekeeping and thoughts on blogging

Just a quick housekeeping note: I’ve gone back and added categories to all these Travel Report posts to make it easier to find them and read any that were missed:

• Italy 2024 category for just the reports on Italy.
• Europe Train Journey 2024 category for the posts on my earlier Europe Train Adventure
• Travel Report for every travel report posts

You can find these categories and all my prior posts on the Archive page.

This trip was the first time that I’ve tried blogging about travel and I’m very happy that I decided to do this. Not only has it been a nice way to share with family and friends what I’ve been up to, but I’m happy to have it for myself as a detailed log of what I did. It’s also been fun to reflect on every step of the trip and think of what I wan to write about and which photos I want to share. It’s been a fun creative outlet.

So, thank you for following along! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these as much as I did writing them. I don’t currently have any big trips planned in the future, but whenever I travel next, I think I’ll keep up with the travel reports. So, if you prefer to follow via email, you can subscribe here and receive posts shortly after I publish them. My About page also describes other ways to follow, such as RSS or ActivityPub/Mastodon.

Ciao!

Hello from Puglia, aboard the train headed to Rome. Puglia was the last leg of our trip in Italy, aside from tonight in Rome before we catch our flight back to Atlanta tomorrow.

So, let’s cover what we got into in Puglia!

We stayed in a house just outside the city of Noci. It was a great property with beautiful gardens. It really felt like we were deep in the countryside even though we were a kilometer or two from town.

Here’s where we stayed.

On our first full day, the main event was an e-bike tour around the Pugliese countryside. We started in Alberobello which is known for buildings with conical stacked stone roofs known as trulli. In fact, you can find these buildings all over Puglia, but they are concentrated in Alberobello, and some have been converted into shops and hotels.

We spent some time here, seeing the trulli up close and we even were able to enter one. These buildings are often 100s of years old and very rustic. Living in them can be a hard life, since you don’t have many modern comforts. We learned that for this reason, maybe 20-30 years ago, most people were trying to get out of Alberobello to live somewhere more modern. It wasn’t until relatively recently that it became more of a tourist attraction and owning a trulli became more desirable.

Us on our tour bikes in Alberobello.

Us with our guide, Adriano, who was fantastic!

Our next stop was Martina Franca, where we stopped for a coffee break in this plaza. We drank caffè Lecce, which is espresso over ice with sweet almond syrup (more on this later). I’m glad we were introduced to this drink, because it’s great! Especially on a hot day.

Us riding down a bike trail that was built along the path of a historic aqueduct.

Locorotondo was the next stop.

Here we had a “light” lunch featuring some typical Pugliese foods, such as cappicola, focaccia, bruschetta, burrata, and orecchiette. Everything was extremely delicious! I especially loved the focaccia we had in Puglia. Often it was made with a darker grain that gave it more flavor. I think the focaccia here is the best I’ve ever had.

Our ride completed by circling back to Alberobello. I recorded our route on Strava if you are curious for more detail. At 50 kilometers, it was a long ride, but very fun! One of the best rides of my life!

That night for dinner, we headed into Noci.

The next day, we drove south to head to tour a dairy farm that specializes in cheese.

One of the pens where cows are kept. We learned how the different pens are used to group cows that are different stages of their milk production cycle.

Some of their cows resting in the shade.

Then, we got to tour the cheese laboratory, as they called it.

Hoping I got “accidentally” locked in the cheese aging room.

Then, the highlight of the tour, watching one of the cheesemakers demonstrate how to make fresh mozzarella. He explained that you only need 3 things for cheese: milk, salt, and enzymes.

For this demonstration, he started with fresh cheese curds and added salt and hot water then began to mix and stretch it with a wooden pallet.

Here the curds are being stirred with the added salt and water.

Now the curds are starting to come together and are being stretched further.

And the stretching is finished when he was able to stretch it above his head.

After all the stretching, he started to shape it by hand, demonstrating 4 different shapes: knots, braids, ball, and burrata.

But the highlight was being able to shape the cheese ourselves! Here’s Beth making burrata, which is stretchy mozzarella filled with stracciatella (strips of mozzarella and cream). We got to eat what we made and it was the best! So fresh and flavorful. I’ve never had burrata this good before.

Later, we headed to a beach club, or lido as they are called in Italy, to relax and sleep off our cheese comas.

Dinner was in Capitolo which is right up the coast from the lido.

A sample of the fresh seafood they had that night. We ended up eating the lobster and scorpion fish.

Sunset at Capitolo was very pretty!

The next day we visited the seaside town of Monopoli.

A cool portal onto the harbor.

The harbor was very beautiful.

Monopoli is still an active port, yet remains very scenic.

The streets of Monopoli are beautiful as well. I love the white render buildings and the white stone streets.

Someone taking a selfie in this square.

Ok, a quick break to show the Italian way to make caffè Lecce, as we learned from our guide on the bike tour. The drink is named after the city of Lecce and is served as espresso with a side of almond syrup and ice.

You pour the espresso into the glass, letting the cup rest upside down to make sure every drop of espresso makes it in.

Then you stir it together and enjoy. I love this drink. I’ll have to try and find the right kind of almond syrup in the US so I can make this at home.

After Monopoli we headed to a Polignano a Mare, which is another seaside town famous for its beach and cliffs with sea caves. Here we had a boat tour, which was a great way to see the coast.

Beth gets the photo credit for all the pics from the boat.

Here, the very famous beach.

Our guide even took the boat into a few of the larger caves, to our surprise! The water inside was beautiful

Inside this cave, you can see the pathway up above, which is actually a very high end restaurant built into the upper part of the cave with views out onto the sea.

The streets of Polignano a Mare at night, showing some lights celebrating the song “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” by Domenico Modugno who was born in Polignano. There’s even a statue of him that we saw from the boat. However, our guide told us that the statue and celebration of Domenico is just for the tourists and the people from Polignano don’t like the signer because he claimed to be from Sicily rather than his true birthplace of Polignano a Mare.

More night views of Polignano.

Our next day we headed for a cheese tasting at Baby Dicecca, which is located inside a forest preserve. We were lucky enough to meet the cheese maker himself, Vito Dicecca, who was very nice. He stopped by our table a few times to chat with us and see what we thought of his cheese. We tasted a lot of cheese, and they were all great, but his signature blue cheese served as a cake topped with cherry was the star!

Later in the afternoon, we fought off our cheese comas and headed to Matera for a tour of the city.

We learned the history of Matera, which is vast. The civilization originally started as cave dwellings carved into the rock cliffs along the stream. Over time, people built on top of the caves, adding stonework to create buildings. However, every building is at least partially carved into the rock. Many buildings have vast caves below them. At least, if you were well off you could afford to have a building above ground. Many of the poorer residents lived entirely in caves with no access to fresh air.

What was shocking was to learn how by the 1950s the city was in very rough shape. There was no running water or electricity. All of the residents were living life as if it was still the 1800s. Malaria and other diseases ran rampant as it was impossible to maintain modern hygiene.

The government eventually stepped in and evicted everyone from the historic part of the city, into new public houses that was constructed adjacent to the historic buildings. So, from the 1950s until about 1990, the historic buildings sat vacant. Our tour guide told us that at one point, the government considered just demolishing the historic city, but abandoned the idea when they determined the amount of dynamite needed would be too costly

So, the city sat vacant until the 1990s. At this point, the government decided to try and create a tourist destination. Modern utilities were installed and buildings were rented out to businesses. But, things didn’t really catch on until about 10 years ago.

Now, the city is in full tourist mode, with Michelin star restaurants and 5 star hotels.

However, it can be a surprising mix, as you’ll pass buildings and areas of the city that still look completely abandoned and right next door is a swanky hotel.

Another view of the historic city. I found Matera to be so fascinating and intriguing. It’s hard to fathom that people have been living here for so long and how hard that life must have been.

Matera at night is beautiful!

And that brings us to the end of our highlights from Puglia. I really loved this region of Italy. The countryside is beautiful, and we had some of the best food of our trip here. If you visit Italy, I’d highly recommend Puglia. It can be a lot less touristy compared to Tuscany and gives you an opportunity for more authentic experience.

So, we have tonight in Rome, then we’ve reached the end of our time in Italy. It’s been fantastic! I’m happy that we were able to see the big attractions in Rome and Florence and then spend substantial time in the countrysides of Tuscany and Puglia. It’ll be hard to leave Italy!

Ciao!

Ciao from Noci in the Puglia region of Italy!

Get ready for a giant, image heavy post about our time in Tuscany! There’s so much beautiful scenery, I absolutely failed to edit this down.

To start, and a big highlight of this part of our trip, was the Tuscan villa and farm where we stayed. This was outside Montefollonico with views of Montepulciano in the distance.

It was like a fairytale!

I mean, they even had this rabbit that lives in the yard behind our room.

Here’s the view of Montepulciano.

On our first full day, we set out to explore the countryside around Montepulciano by e-bike. This region is famous for its wine production and beautiful medieval and Renaissance era town.

Admiring the view shortly after we set off on the e-bikes. At first, I was skeptical that we’d need a mountain bike. By the end, I realized why. Some of our route was on essentially farm roads that could be gravel and fairly rough. Even with an e-bike, the hills here are a challenge!

But the views were worth it!

This is a very typical Tuscan scene with the cypress tree and gravel road.

The route the bike shop provided included some stops for wine tasting. I loved how informal it was here at Boscarelli. These vineyards really are small operations.

Of course, Montepulciano has a beautiful church.

More views from Montepulciano.

Next few days we did some driving itineraries to see more of the countryside and the small Tuscan towns.

First up was Trequanda.

Also great views from Trequanda. We are beginning to see the pattern that Tuscan towns are built on the hilltops, creating great views of the landscapes.

We visited another winery and agriturismo. This one, called Fattoria del Colle is run by women. Again, it’s a small operation.

More great views.

We visited a small olive oil producer, met the owner and got the full tour. It was really fun to learn about the process, seeing the older machinery (big granite wheels) alongside the newer (centrifuges that reduce contact with air).

This small, family run operation puts out some great olive oil!

They make several D.O.P. oils and this cloth details the Siena D.O.P. region.

Next up was Chiusure, which is adjacent to this valley of rugged, eroded landscape.

Just outside town was this monastery with this monk statue turned up to 11.

Lucignano was the next town we saw. I thought the streets here were very photogenic.

It’s so cool to see the town walls and entryways. Some (most?) date back to the Etruscan civilization. However, the walls have been reinforced and rebuilt over the centuries.

Dinner in a castle? Why not?

The dining area had some unexpected modern touches. Food was great.

Next was Monticchiello, which also had great views.

And the town itself was very picturesque.

This small town had quite the history full of combat and attempts to breach the town walls. We learned about the documentary called Spettacolo that’s about the theatrical event put on in the town square every year. We definitely will have to give this a watch!

Here’s what looks like a regular cup of espresso, but it has a bit of grappa added to it. It tasted great. In Italian it’s usually called caffè corretto which translates as “corrected coffee”.

The next town we visited was Pienza, which is famous for being a Renaissance era planned city in the style of Humanism. It was the home of Pope Pius II who oversaw the construction and eventually returned to live here.

A view of the piazza.

During the equinoxes, the shadow of this cathedral fills the square, mirroring the image of its facade.

This building was the home of Pius II and his family.

Forget the history, the view was the best part. Must have been good to be the Pope.

Oh and you’ve gotta taste the pecorino cheese that is made here and is world famous.

After the cheese, we walked just out of town past this old church…

To this view. If it looks familiar, it’s because it was used for a scene in the movie Gladiator.

The next place we visited was Castiglione del Lago, which, as its name suggests, is next to Lago (Lake) Trasimeno.

We bought a ticket to walk the fortress battlements and it was totally worth it.

Next stop, the town of Cortona, which was built on terraces cut into the hillside. It has these amazing, ancient walls.

A cool celestial globe I spotted.

I really liked the streets of Cortona. It had taller buildings than we were used to seeing.

Just outside of town is another monastery. This one is beautifully set into the stream’s valley.

And that was it for our time in Tuscany! Thanks for reading through the post. We absolutely loved our time there and would go back in a heartbeat.

But Puglia was calling. So we headed back to Florence to take the train to Bari via Rome.

Ciao! I’ll have another report on Puglia. Sadly, this is our last stop before we head home!

Buonasera from Tuscany! Tonight’s post has the highlights from our time in Florence. We’ve been in Tuscany for a few days now and it’s taken me a while to get this post together because there’s so much I wanted to cover even though we only had 2 nights in Florence. And the WiFi and cell isn’t great in Tuscany, so it’s taken a bit to get all these photos uploaded.

Back to the start of this leg of the trip, we took the train from Roma Termini to Florence. Roma Termini was surprisingly good. It was clean and had a nice design. We got coffee before our train was ready to board and it was a nice experience.

Our high speed Frecciarossa to Florence.

The first highlight from Florence was Palazzo Vecchio, which was the home of the Medici family during the Renaissance. And if you know anything about the Medicis, you know how humble and plain they were. Their home reflected that.

One of my favorite rooms here was the map room, which had detailed maps of all the world that was known to them during the Renaissance.

A view of the Duomo.

A duplicate of the statue of David displayed outside the Palazzo.

All of central Florence is a beautiful Renaissance city.

The next highlight is the Uffizi Gallery, which is right next to Palazzo Vecchio on Piazza della Signoria. The Uffizi was originally built by the Medicis as an administrative building. Now it houses mainly Renaissance era works of art. Some pieces are older and were acquired by the Medicis and other collectors.

This building also has a map room. Check out this stone artwork.

Huge map frescos.

A view of the Uffizi’s courtyard.

Vecchio as seen from Uffizi.

Medusa’s head painted on a shield.

A bridge covered with buildings that are now mostly high end shops.

Just happened to walk past this print shop while they were at work. You could smell the ink as we walked past.

Ok, let’s talk about the food. It has been consistently good the entire time we’ve been in Italy. But the pasta at Cibrèo Caffe was amazing.

Spinach and ricotta tortelloni.

Cacio e burro.

Had to have pizza at least once during this trip, and this was our first. I had this quattro formagi and enjoyed it. I’m learning that I like almost anything with Gorgonzola on it.

Next highlight is the Duomo. The facade is most intricate I’ve ever seen.

The interior is austere by comparison, but still beautiful. Check out the clock that was describe as working on “Italian time.”

And that’s the recap of Florence! We saw so many incredible things, it’s impossible to capture it all.

Next, we picked up a rental car and headed into the Tuscan countryside. I’ll recap our time in Tuscany in the next post!

Buonanotte!

Ciao from on board the Frecciarossa high speed train to Florence!

Rome was incredible! It’s hard to capture everything in one post, just like it’s hard to capture like 2,500 years of history in a few days in Rome! Still, here’s the highlights!

I successfully linked up with my beautiful wife, Beth, in the late afternoon on June 2. We had some drinks and a bit at the hotel, before we went out later for more drinks and dinner.

The next day was all about the Colosseum and Roman Forum. It’s hard to describe how amazing it is to see this ancient structures and to try to imagine the city during the Roman Empire.

Later, we headed up to see Trevi Fountain.

Dinner at an enoteca where I loved this paccheri with sausage and asparagus. It was simple, but great! I’m now in love with the paccheri pasta shape.

The next day, we started in the morning with a food tour with Sophie, which was great. We walked around Rome, mostly the Trastevere neighborhood, having small bites as we went. Roman food is great, it’s a lot of meat (Mortadella is a local favorite), cheese, and bread, which is just perfect in my book. Even something as simple as tomatoes, cheese, and olive oil was amazing. The tomatoes were probably the best I’ve ever had. Don’t forget the baked goods, like the cookies from this bakery, which is the oldest in Rome.

One of the things about Rome is how you will see ancient ruins and stunning buildings everywhere you go in the city center.

Here the legendary Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.

A picturesque street.

I loved this weird fountain.

Dinner last night was at Trattoria da Enzo in Trastevere. I had no idea how popular this restaurant was, until we showed up and saw the giant line! They serve traditional Roman food. We loved the carbonara, amatriciana, and meatballs.

Now, we’ll be arriving in Florence shortly. We’ll have 2 nights here before we pick up a car and head out to Tuscany.

Ciao!

Ciao from Rome! With my arrival in Rome, this marks the end of my solo journey that started in London, England. I’ve managed to make it all this way with nothing but train travel and my own two feet!

Milano centrale.

But before reflecting further, here’s my ride from Milan. This is Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa high speed train model ETR 1000, which I believe is the newer engine and cars.

The cabin on this car is a little bit nicer than my equivalent TGV from Paris to Lyon. This is also where I wrote the majority of this post.

Arriving into Roma Termini.

Overall the trip went smoothly. One thing that surprised me was how many tunnels, long completely dark tunnels, this trip entailed. Looking at the map, it makes sense, as we have to traverse multiple mountain ranges. I don’t think it’d be feasible to travel at high speed over the mountains.

My hotel was close enough that I decided to walk.

It’s amazing to me that we are staying right next to the Roman Forum. These ruins are steps away from the hotel’s front door. It’s hard for me to believe that ruins from 2,000 years ago are just right here!

So, I think now is a good time to reflect on the overall trip. There’s so much novel for me in this trip: new countries, new modes of transportation. Despite how unfamiliar I was with all of this, I think things went extremely smoothly. My trains all ran on schedule and I was able to complete each leg of the journey without a hitch.

Knowing what I know now, would I recommend trains, especially high speed trains, as a mode of travel between European cities? Absolutely. For me, traveling like this is just so much more relaxed than flying. If it’s realistic to take a train, that’s how I’d go in the future.

I really wish high speed rail would come to America. I think it enables a type of travel that isn’t really possible without it.

Ok, now for some highlights.

Favorite train: Glacier Express. How could I not choose this? It was just over the top in every way.

Favorite non-scenic train: Eurostar from London to Paris. This train had the nicest cabin and best service. Oh and not that this train isn’t scenic, the French countryside was beautiful, once you get through the darkness of the Chunnel. The only negative of the Eurostar is having to go through airport like security and passport control. But that’s all about Britain and the EU and not the train’s fault. But it’s notable that this is the only time I’ve had to go through security and passport checks like this.

Favorite stop: Zermatt, Switzerland. Seeing the Matterhorn both just from the streets of Zermatt where it seems to loom over the town as well as from mountain top via the gondola was absolutely incredible. From my experience, Switzerland is just an incredible country. So beautiful in many regards. I’m looking forward to returning someday.

Favorite city: Lyon, France. Historic and beautiful Vieux Lyon, good food, bike friendly. I’d like to return and spend more time here!

Favorite train station: This is harder as I didn’t spend too much time in the stations…but I think it goes to St. Pancras in London. I loved all the glass ceilings and how it seems to mix modern and classic architecture.

So, what next? Here in Rome, I’ll be linking up with my wife and we will travel around Italy. I arrived first due to her flight being delayed. (Hahah, train wins!)

I think this will conclude the daily travel reports. But I will try to post some highlights from each part of Italy. We will be staying a few days in Rome, Florence, the Tuscany countryside, then all the way down in Puglia outside Bari, finally back to Rome for our flight home. We will be taking trains to travel from Rome -> Florence and then Florence -> Bari. We looked into flights for the Florence -> Bari leg, but we really couldn’t find anything that made more sense than the train.

So, thank you very much for reading and following along with my trip! It’s been really incredible. I feel so lucky to have seen so many countries, cities, and sights along the way. I’m glad I could share some of it with you all here.

Ciao!

Buona sera da Milano! I spent the day wondering around Milan, here’s what I got into.

The first stop for me today was Castello Sforzesco, a castle from the Renaissance era.

It was fun to see the huge courtyards with their impressive architecture.

Don’t forget to look up every now and then!

Here they have a room that displays the Rondanini Pietà which is Michelangelo’s last sculpture.

My next stop is the Duomo di Milano. I’m here mostly for the architecture and it’s a shame that the tickets to go up on the terraces and roof are all sold out! I did not anticipate that tickets to go up stairs or an elevator would sell out. Wait hours in line, sure. But, I would guess that due to the age of the building they might limit how many people are allowed up.

Still, the building is impressive enough from the plaza.

And on the inside.

This is some of the most detailed stained glass I’ve ever seen. This one almost looked 3d to me.

Check out this statue of Saint Bartholomew with no skin!

A square right around the corner from the Duomo.

The sightseeing today was classic Milan, but I think the best part of my day might have been dinner. I was lucky and found a place that seemed less touristy. At least, they did not have an English menu and my waiter did not speak English. Still, it was some of the friendliest service that I’ve had since entering Italy. And the food was exactly what I was looking for, really good without being overly fancy or pretentious. I think I did alright ordering in a mix of bad Italian, English, and pointing. One thing I’m learning, ChatGPT is pretty helpful with other languages (at least Italian and French). It provides a little more context and guidance than something like Google translate. It certainly helped me navigate this menu for some of the terms I did not recognize.

Here’s one of the dishes I had, it’s tagliatelle with pulipo (octopus) and Gorgonzola. When I ordered, I was wondering if the Gorgonzola would be overpowering, but it wasn’t! The dish was great and very well balanced.

This brings me to the end of my night. Tomorrow, I take the high speed Trenitalia line to Rome!

Buonanotte!

Hello from Milan, Italy! I’ve reached the final country on my trek and I’ve arrived via another world class train line. Today’s star was the Bernina Express, which travels between St. Moritz and Tirano, Italy. This line is named after the Bernina Pass through the Alps.

In the last few days, I had been seeing snow in the forecast for St. Moritz. I spoke about the forecasted snow with a few people working at my hotel and they were skeptical that it would snow there this time of year.

So, this morning when I woke up and looked out my window…sure enough the snow was falling!

Staff in the hotel continued to tell me this is very abnormal for St. Moritz this time of year. I’ll take them at their word and believe that I must be very lucky then to have a train ride in snow today.

And it really did make the passing forests look like a winter wonderland.

Sure, we couldn’t see the mountains or valleys that we’d normally see on this route, but I think it was worth it to get a taste of winter in Switzerland. A few passengers sitting nearby agreed it was our lucky day.

After about an hour into the trip, we stopped so passengers could exit and take photos. We were told this is a very scenic location. I’ll just have to assume that’s true.

Since we really couldn’t see anything much in the distance, I decided to photograph the snowy train instead.

When we got underway again and slowly began our decent, the snow turned to rain and the forests became more dense and green.

Looking at the weather radar, it the snow really seemed to be isolated just to the area around St. Moritz.

As we traveled along, one of the notable sights was this 360 degree spiral viaduct. I always enjoy when the curve is tight enough to see the cars ahead of us.

Shortly after the viaduct, we arrived in Tirano, Italy! The Bernina Express describes itself as “from glaciers to palms” and sure enough I did see palm trees in Tirano! What a ride to go from the snow to palm trees in about 2 hours.

I thought it was interesting that the Bernina Express basically runs right through the heart of this small town, almost operating as a street car. When you exit, you are in a small square. Here’s the building that serves as the entrance to the railway to Switzerland.

And here’s the building for the Italian train service, operating under the name Trenord.

I had lunch in Tirano, cacio e pepe from a restaurant right next to the station. Not bad! Certainly better than what I was expecting to eat near the station.

The view waiting for the train in Tirano. Not a bad view with the Alps in the background. But I couldn’t help but notice that things were no longer as pristine as they were in Switzerland.

My original ticket from Tirano to Milan was for 3pm. I’m not sure why I left myself so much time (almost 4 hours) in Tirano. I guess I thought I’d have a leisurely lunch? Well, I was ready to head out around 12:30, so I bought a ticket for the 1:00 train to Milan.

As the train neared Milan, it got pretty crowded. At least in my car, it seemed every seat was taken.

After about 2 and a half hours, we pulled into Milan and wow it’s crowded. I’ve to see a train station so bustling. I guess a lot of people are taking the train in Milan.

And that brings us to the present moment, here in my hotel room in Milan. Tomorrow I’ll sightsee, then on Sunday I head to Rome, which will mark the end of my solo train adventure. (Don’t worry, my wife and I will still be using trains to get around Italy. But the motives change to practicality over train travel for the sake of train travel.)

Reflecting now on my time in Switzerland, wow was it incredible. Not just because of the trains (which were great), but all the natural beauty is what stands out. Seeing the Alps was amazing. The views from the Glacier Express were great, but honestly, being in Zermatt, seeing the Matterhorn, then taking the gondola up to 12,700 feet for even more insane views really takes the cake. What an amazing place. I’m already thinking about when I can return, haha!

That’s all for now. I’ll have another update tomorrow with what I saw in Milan. Goodnight!

Hello again from St. Moritz!

I decided to have a rather low key day today, the skies were mostly overcast and after so many days of either travel or activities, I was feeling the need to recover.

So, what’s a low key day in the Swiss Alps look like? How about a short train ride, followed by a gondola? Sure, why not.

I’m learning that spring in St. Moritz, more so than Zermatt, is a very in-between season. Ski slopes and lifts are shut down. Summer activities largely don’t open up until a few weeks into June. In fact, there’s only one gondola and mountaintop open near St. Moritz: Diavolezza.

My view from the top.

Normally, the view from here includes several higher peaks, including Piz Bernina, which is the tallest peak in the eastern Alps. But, no such luck today. However, I do think parts of the glacier were visible when the clouds cooperated. I stayed for a bit to see if things would clear up some, but more clouds rolled in. It also snowed/sleeted very slightly. I was at about 10,000 ft of elevation and even with the clouds, it was a curious combination of being hot and cold at the same time. Cold because of the air, but hot because of what little bit of intense sun made it through the clouds.

So, I decided to head back down the mountain. Here’s the view from the gondola on the way down.

My train back to St. Moritz pulling into the station.

From here, I returned to the hotel to have some tea and do some reading. I enjoyed the view of the lake and mountains while doing so.

Tonight, I’ll have an early dinner at the hotel and an early night. Tomorrow, I have the Bernina Express which will travel through the Bernina Pass to Tirano, Italy. After a short stop there, I’ll take a train to Milan.

Goodnight!

There’s some interest in how I packed for this trip, so here’s a post about that. (Hi, Su!)

I knew I needed to develop a packing strategy ahead of the trip so I could be away for about a month. I also had a few other goals:

• Have a carry-on sized bag so I wouldn’t need to check it and it’d more easily be stowed on trains
• Ideally a backpack so I’m not lugging a roller down cobblestone streets or something like that. Plus it would be nice to have both hands free
• Enough organization to keep clean and dirty clothes separated. Plus have my bag not turn into a sloppy nightmare after living out of it for a month. Since for a good portion of the trip I’d be in the same spot for only 2 nights, repacking and staying organized should be easy.

So, in anticipation for this trip, I got a Cotopaxi Allpa 42L travel pack.

What appealed to me about this is that it opens suitcase style and has some organization but not too much. So more pockets than a duffle bag, but not excessively compartmentalized.

It’s also a backpack first and includes a hip belt, which has been great and I’d highly recommend a hip belt for a bag this size.

Here’s how I’m organizing the bag:

• Main compartment
  • jackets and nicer shirts in the bottom of the main compartment folded simply to not be too thick
  • packing cubes on top of those
    • small packing cube (top): underwear and socks
    • large packing cube (bottom): pants, shorts, t-shirts
• Top left small compartment
  • packable day bag
  • travel towel
• Bottom left mid-size compartment
  • Beach stuff (bathing suits, beach shirts)
  • Extra shoes and sandals
• small compartment on the face of the bag (which is face down on the bed)
  • My dopp kit
  • Some small items like power adapters and battery

Here’s everything stowed.

And here’s the bag all zipped up.

Packed like this it weighs 24.6 lbs.

While I got this bag in anticipation of this trip, I’ve used it for some shorter trips earlier in the year as a trial run. So far, I’m very happy with this bag. I’ll probably continue to use it when I need something that doesn’t need to be checked.

As far as clothing strategy, I wanted to go for a capsule wardrobe where any top can be worn with any bottom. I also chose merino wool t-shirts since I’ve read they are good for travel, stay relatively clean (even after wearing for multiple days, but so far I haven’t had to test this theory), and dry quickly (in the event you need to wash them in your hotel room).

My goal was to be able to go 7 days without doing laundry, so I have enough socks, underwear, and shirts to accomplish that. Ideally I’d be able use hotel laundry service before I hit 7 days and I could avoid doing laundry in my room. So far, so good on this front. I’ve used a coin-op laundry once and have my hotel doing laundry today.

So one challenge for my trip in particular, aside from the length, is the different climates I’d be traveling through. From moderate, damp climates like London, cold mountain climates of Switzerland, and warm beach climates of Italy.

Here’s a tally of what I packed in more detail:

• 2x button up long sleeve shirts
• 1x button up short sleeve shirt
• 2x cotton t-shirts
• 5x merino short sleeve t-shirts
• 1x merino long sleeve shirt
• 1x exercise/hike shirt
• 1x lounge shorts
• 2x synthetic shorts
• 1x synthetic pants (wore the second pair on the plane)
• 7x pairs of socks (5x merino, 2x cotton)
• 7x underware
• Rain jacket
• Arcterix packable down jacket
• 2x hats
• 2x swim suits
• 2x beach shirts
• Sandals
• Extra sneakers (Lems)
• packable backpack (Matador)
• packable travel towel

Reading this list out, I think I fit a lot in the bag without it feeling extremely over packed. (It does require some effort to close, though.)

One thing I didn’t want to put in the Allpa was any electronics or things (like medicine) I’d want with me in the event my backpack was checked.

For this, I opted for this sling bag from Aer. In here I packed:

• iPad 10" Air
• Kobo ebook reader
• Medicine
• International power adapters
• Phone/iPad charger and cords
• Passport
• Print out of train tickets
• Glasses and sunglasses

This bag is just big enough to fit all the above!

So, about a week and a half in to the trip and so far I’m pretty satisfied with this setup! I think this has convinced me that carry-on backpack travel is the way to go!

Have you ever packed for a trip like this? How did you pack and how did it go? Let me know in the comments!

Update: I forgot to mention some clothing I purchased during my trip:

• A lightweight zip up fleece from North Face. I wanted another layer in Zermatt before going up to 12,000 feet and something that was more mid-weight than my down jacket.
• A crushable Mont Bell hat. I’ve been wanting more hats like this and found it in Zermatt.

These two items easily fit in the backpack!

Hello from St. Moritz!

Today is all about the Glacier Express, a scenic train through the Swiss Alps between Zermatt and St. Moritz. This train is considered a bucket list item by many and has accolades aplenty. Will it live up to these expectations?

The exterior of the train is rather ordinary for Switzerland.

But the interior, that’s something incredible.

I’m riding in what they call the Excellence Class. Here, every seat is at these picture windows with a table. You are served a six course meal with wine pairing as the trip progresses. It’s excessively luxurious, but this is likely a once in a lifetime thing, so I thought it was worth the splurge.

Here’s a few facts and figures from the Excellence Magazine that was provided to us:

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Jungfrau-Aletsch and Albula & Bernini Line
• Route length: 291 kilometers
• 291 bridges
• 42 km/h avg speed
• From 584 to 2,033 meters above sea level
• 45 m^2 windows in each carriage
• 91 tunnels
• In operation since 1930
• Steepest gradient: 12.5%
• 31.9km cog wheel stretch

But forget the numbers, let’s talk about the views. The landscapes quickly became impressive. A lot of the advertising shows this train in winter, but I’m glad that I was able to take it in the spring, as the green fields with wildflowers against the snow capped mountains made for stunning view after stunning view.

I’m very sorry that these photos do not do it justice. You’ll have to take my word for it. Or, better yet, come and experience the Glacier Express for yourself!

Here we have one of the first highlight landscapes: The Oberalp Pass, which is 2,033 meters above sea level. Here you see the Oberalp Lake.

Near the pass is, surprisingly enough, this lighthouse. This lighthouse marks the source (well, one of) the Rhine river. It’s a smaller scale exact copy of the lighthouse in Rotterdam where the Rhine meets the sea!

When I booked this trip, I did not expect to see the origin of these famous rivers. In Lyon, the Rhône river passes through the city. The train route from Lyon to Geneva to Brig follows the Rhône river valley and we saw the headwaters of this river as well. So incredible! Not to mention the milky blue color of the water, which my train neighbor told me is due to the glacial melt water mixed with the mineral content of the mountains.

The next highlight is the Rhine Gorge, which we are told is known as the “Swiss Grand Canyon.” I’m not sure about that comparison, but it was an incredible sight that stood out from the other landscapes. This photo really doesn’t do it justice.

We had a short stop at a station to switch out engines. So, I took an opportunity to photograph engine 626.

A few more scenic village views before our next highlight.

The final highlight on the trip is the Landwasser Viaduct. It was built in 1902 and stands 65 meters tall. It is considered an architectural masterpiece. Again, the photos do not do it justice and, honestly, the best views would have been from outside the train rather than on it. But I do think it was cool that we could catch a glimpse of the forward carriages of our train as we made the crossing.

Not too long after the viaduct, we pulled into the platform at St. Moritz.

Thank you, Glacier Express, for an incredible experience! So, does it live up to the hype? Yes, I think so. I don’t think I’ll ever experience anything quite like this anywhere else. The views were amazing. The train interior was over the top luxury. The service was great. The food, hands down the best I’ve ever had on a mode of transportation. It was certainly high-end restaurant level of food. And the wine pairings (all Swiss wines, I believe) were very good as well.

The view in St. Moritz immediately outside the train station.

And here’s the view from my room. It’s perfectly on theme for this whole trip and somewhat accidental, as I didn’t realize it overlooked the station.

Tomorrow, I’ll explore St. Moritz! I believe there’s a cog railway up the mountain that I’ll most likely visit.

Goodnight!

Hello from Zermatt, Switzerland! Today was all about the mountains.

I spent the morning with breakfast at the hotel (another enjoyable buffet!) and some wandering around town. I was waiting for the sky to clear before I headed up into the mountains.

When I saw this, the Matterhorn, emerge from the clouds, I knew it was time.

I headed to the back of town where the gondola base station is location. Our destination: the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. I hopped on the first gondola and began the ascent. Pretty quickly we were approaching the tree line.

After a total of 3 separate gondolas, I was at the top! I immediately went to the viewing platform and it was incredible! The sky was clear, any clouds still hanging about, we were above them!

And the Matterhorn looks stunning! From up here you see a different face of the mountain.

I think this shot is of the highest peak visible from this location. I believe it’s over 4,500m (~14,700ft). The Matterhorn clocks in around 4,400m.

Yours truly posing with the Matterhorn in the background. I didn’t build the snowman.

From this platform we are at 3883m (12,739ft) of elevation, which is the highest mountain platform in Europe.

Here’s a few more photos from the viewing platform. It’s really stunning to be so high up and seeing these incredible mountains. One bit of info that I thought was fun is this location is very close to the Italian border. There’s a gondola that can take you down on the Italian side. I believe you can also walk or ski over the border. I was so close that my phone must have connected to an Italian cell tower because I got a “Welcome to Italy” text from Verizon to tell me about my travel pass. Also, the cell service was, somehow, incredible up here.

Next, I went inside the building (which is really more like tunnels carved into the mountain) to check out the glacier palace, complete with ice sculptures.

There’s even a restaurant up here! So I grabbed a bite. I had a dish that was bread covered in mushrooms in sauce topped with cheese. The whole plate was stuck under the broiler to melt the cheese. Then it was topped with a fried egg. Not bad!

Before I made my way down, I went back to the viewing platform one more time. I snapped this photo of the tower next to the platform. This must be why the cell signal is so great.

On the way down, I exited at the last gondola station so I could take the walking path back to town. I had maybe 1,000ft of descent left, and this path looked nice on the way up. I’m very glad I did, because I think this was one of the most beautiful walks in my life.

And then, a final reward, one more incredible view of the Matterhorn.

Finally, pasted the gondola station where my ascent began.

Today has been amazing. Zermatt is an incredible place. It’s certainly one of the most scenic places I’ve ever traveled to.

Tomorrow I depart to St. Moritz on the Glacier Express! If this train is even a fraction of its reputation, I think it will be incredible.

Goodnight!

Hello from Zermatt, Switzerland!

Today was one of the most complicated days of travel as I had multiple connections. But everything went smoothly and felt rather relaxed overall.

First up, my train from Lyon to Geneva, Switzerland. It’s a regional train that made multiple stops along the way.

My first class cabin.

After about 2 hours, I arrived in Geneva! Switzerland is not in the EU, so there’s technically a border crossing between France and here. I did see the border/customs while exiting the platform, but they weren’t stopping anyone to check passports or scan bags.

I had about an hour here, which was more than enough time to have lunch and coffee and do a small bit of sightseeing just outside the station.

Gotta love the bike parking!

Next was a Swiss regional train headed to Brig, but I’d be transferring at Visp.

Another first class cabin. Nothing too special, but totally comfortable.

As we rose further into the Alps, the landscapes became more dramatic. There’s some very beautiful looking towns on the way from Geneva to Visp. Looking at the map, I realized I’m following the Rhône river all the way from Lyon to Visp. The river valley in the Alps makes for some great scenery.

At Visp, I had a short stop to transfer to the train destined for Zermatt, which is the end of the line.

It’s steep enough in sections that there are cogs between the tracks. I have no idea if my train uses these, but interesting to see nonetheless.

In about an hour, I’ve arrived in Zermatt and, wow, is it beautiful! It’s a million chalets, sporting shops, a river, and mountains. Zermatt is essentially car free. Tourists must park in one town lower in the valley and take the train up.

At 5,276 ft (1,608 m) of elevation, we are certainly up in the mountains!

Just steps from where I’m staying.

The view from the small balcony on my room, incredible!

That’s all from me today. I’m hoping to have an early dinner and an early night so I can clock a full 8 hours. Tomorrow, I’ve booked a gondola to take me up to one of the highest gondola accessible points in Europe. There should be views of the Matterhorn and many other peaks.

Goodnight!

Here’s how I spent my lazy Sunday in Lyon.

A late breakfast at the hotel (I tend to really love European breakfast buffets and this one was no exception) then I headed back to Vieux Lyon to see a movie and miniatures museum I noticed yesterday.

Soon after walking in the door, I was greeted with this and knew it’d be a place I’d enjoy:

They had a whole room of Ghostbusters paraphernalia. This is a childhood favorite franchise of mine. They had a case of vintage toys and I spotted a few I had as a kid.

One of my favorite exhibits was on movie posters by the artist Drew Struzan. I was definitely familiar with his work, but never knew about the artist behind these posters.

The miniature displays were something to see. So many small, painstaking details. I really liked the interior of this vintage New York subway car.

Next, I decided to take a river boat cruise along the Saône river.

It was very relaxing. One aspect I enjoyed was seeing the contrasting architecture of the Renaissance era buildings of Vieux Lyon with the modern architecture of the Confluence district (so called because it’s the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers).

After the boat, I had an ice cream Sunday for lunch. There was a place that every time I’ve walked past it’s had a giant line. Today was no exception. But I saw they had an area with some tables and waiter service that somehow had no wait. So that’s where I went.

After this, I rented an e-bike. I’ve seen so many people on bikes both in Paris and here, I definitely wanted to experience it for myself. Speaking of the Confluence, I decided to head back to that area on bike and explore the bike paths along the rivers a little more.

A quick break at the hotel and I ventured back into Vieux Lyon for dinner. I keep returning to this neighborhood for a few reasons. One, it’s super charming and I love the Renaissance era streets and buildings. Two, it’s a short (and beautiful) walk from my hotel. I learned on the boat tour that Vieux Lyon is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the largest remaining districts of Renaissance buildings.

Another quick aside on language. I’m surprised how many little bits of French I understand. (When written! Spoken, I have no clue.) It’s mostly food related terms that I’ve learned from restaurants in the US. Sometimes, the French description of food is more illuminating to me than the English description. For instance, my meal last night was described as sausage, but in French it was boudin noir (which I know to be a type of blood sausage). Tonight, I had steak with “pepper sauce”. In French, it was sauce au poivre, which I’ve even cooked myself sonI knew exactly what to expect. There’s also other non-food related terms that have entered the English language from French, so there’s no translation needed. Like “confluence”!

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get some sleep. It’s another early day tomorrow. I’m headed to Zermatt, Switzerland via Geneva. It’ll be a long day on multiple trains, but it should be fairly relaxed, so I’m looking forward to it.

Goodnight!

Hello from Lyon!

Today’s train was Ouigo Grande Vitesse train No 7885 operating on the high speed line between Paris and Lyon.

This is my second high speed line after the Eurostar to Paris. I only wish this train was in an orange livery like the original TGVs. Instead I got this…interesting color choice. Nonetheless, I’ve fulfilled the goal of riding the high speed line that caught my attention as a child!

What was exciting, new, and futuristic around 40 years ago now just seems ordinary here. The train lives up to its high speed lineage. The cars themselves were nothing special, I’d say. Double decker, luggage racks, bathrooms, a mix of seats with tables and without. Roughly similar to what I’m familiar with in the northeast of the US. Definitely comfortable and roomy compared to a plane. But Eurostar is taking the cake in terms of fit and finish and service. Of course, I chose this leg based on schedule and speed. I could have taken an earlier or later train that had more amenities. But honestly, it’s such a short trip I didn’t really miss them.

Plus, the scenery passing by was beautiful. It felt like an animated Windows XP wallpaper, only better looking.

Pretty quickly we were pulling in to Lyon. My train went on to other stops beyond this, so it was only in the station for a few minutes. This particular route stopped at the station near the Lyon airport. And wow, I really loved the architecture of the station.

Because I was at the airport, I needed to take light rail into the city center.

After this, I took a street tram further into the city toward my hotel. A short walk later and I’m at my hotel. I’m staying at Hotel Globe et Cecil which is charming and centrally located.

Because of the length of my trip and the limited packing space I have (if you have interest in how I packed for this trip, let me know and I can post about it!), I needed to get some laundry done. I thought my hotel had laundry service, but turns out they do, just not on weekends. So I decided to try a coin op. Can you believe this is my walk to the laundromat, which is in Vieux Lyon (the old city):

I returned later to Vieux Lyon for dinner at a bouchon (a restaurant serving classic French dishes). I had a boudin noir and apple pie which I really enjoyed. Dessert was a dish called île flottante which means floating island. I needed to look this one up before ordering, I’ve never heard of the dish in English or French. It’s a block of meringue floating in a pool of crème anglaise. It’s really great!

After dinner, I walked a little out of the way around Vieux Lyon to take in the scenery at night.

Tomorrow, another day in Lyon. Goodnight!

Hello! A shorter update tonight because it’s late and I have an earlyish day tomorrow.

The main event of today was visiting the Louvre. It was incredible! I knew it was supposed to be great, but I really had no idea how great. What an amazing museum. I could probably write for an hour about what I saw and I barely scratched the surface of what the museum has on display.

And I the then building itself is art, I mean look at this place!

Of course, the art on display is amazing as well.

I bought the self guided audio tour and was amused the device is a Nintendo 3DS. I have many questions about how this came to be. But it worked surprisingly well!

After the Louvre, I strolled along the Seine until I reached the Eiffel Tower.

After that, I took the metro–a quaint older tram/train/not sure what to call it with rubber wheels that ran along an elevated track–to the Montmartre neighborhood for dinner.

The views on the way back from dinner were great.

Tomorrow, we take the TGV to Lyon! Goodnight!

Welcome back to another update from my Europe Train Adventure.

Today was the first high speed rail leg of my trip, starting at St. Pancras International station in London and arriving at Gare du Nord in Paris.

I enjoyed the architecture of St. Pancras station as I headed to board Eurostar 9022 to Paris.

My car for the journey. It was clean, comfortable, and spacious. I also appreciated how low key the boarding experience was. I was relaxing in my seat and without any fanfare we slowly started to depart the station.

The high speed rail lived up to its name! That’s about 182 mph.

The trip felt quick too. We were practically to Paris by the time I was able to upload a photo and make a short post. My seat included food, which was served before we even entered the Chunnel.

The platform in Gare du Nord station.

The station exterior from the street.

My hotel is only a short walk from Gare du Nord. After checking in to my room, I decided to stroll around and I ended up walking along Canal Saint Martin.

Something I noticed while walking around Paris is how many bikes there are and the numerous bike lanes and associated bike infrastructure. Many lanes on busier streets seemed protected from car traffic, which is great. Other European cities, such as Amsterdam, are famous for their biking, but I didn’t realize Paris was this far along. I wish US cities would adopt this kind of bike infrastructure. There’s an increasing number of people riding bikes in Atlanta, but we are especially far behind when it comes to bike infra!

Tomorrow, I’ll do some sightseeing around Paris. Goodnight!

Today was spent mostly at the Tower of London, which I really enjoyed. It’s incredible to see the structures built over the ages, including nearly 2000 year old remains from the Romans as well as many towers and keeps from the 1200s to relatively recent Tudor era timber framed buildings.

Here, the White Tower is the central keep of the fortress and is nearly 1000 years old!

The Queen’s house (note the royal guard) is an example of the Tudor style.

The Tower of London also serves as a reminder of England’s often brutal past, as this location served as a prison, torture dungeon, and a place for executions.

Here a memorial marks the site of several executions, most famously that of Anne Boleyn.

One thing that struck me in several of the keeps used as prisons was the inscriptions left in the walls by prisoners over the years. They were numerous and, at times, elaborate.

Here you can see Traitor’s Gate which was a water entrance off of the River Thames, so called because it was a commonly used entrance for prisoner barges.

The Tower is also home to the Crown Jewels (no photos allowed in here, folks!), including the current crown worn by King Charles. Curious that they are kept in a place with such a dark history.

The Tower grounds are also home to several ravens which are tended to by the official Ravenmaster. (Best title ever?) The legend goes, the kingdom and Tower of London will fall if the ravens ever leave.

Next, I walked over the Tower Bridge and headed along the Thames towards Borough Market.

I ended my day out taking the train back to the Bull and Last. You’ve heard of the London Underground, but did you know there’s an Overground?

Since the weather cleared, I took the long way back through Hampstead Heath and enjoyed the moody sunset.

Tomorrow, it’s the Eurostar to Paris! Goodnight!

My flight touched down at Heathrow airport early this morning (before 7am).

I didn’t check a bag, so getting through the border and exiting the airport was a breeze.

I decided to take the train to get from the airport to the neighborhood where I’d be staying (how could I not??). I took the Elizabeth line from the airport and transferred to the northern line on the Tube.

I’m staying in London at The Bull and Last a pub and inn right next to Hampstead Heath park in the NW5. A real pub is something I wanted to experience while in London, so why not stay at one! But seriously, I think it’s great how they’ve remodeled this old pub and brought it back as an active inn.

My limited touring around today (lack of sleep on the plane got me–the flight was comfortable, a 5pm departure was just too early for me to fall asleep) involved walking through part of Hampstead Heath. I quickly learned this part of London is very dog friendly (which makes me like it even more). There were tons of dogs in the park, many off leash. Even better, there were lots of dogs in the cafe I visited this morning and in the pub.

Another creature that’s abundant here: snails. Not sure if all of London is like this or it’s just this neighborhood. 🐌

Before dinner, I wanted to try and see a little more, so I headed out toward the Barbican where I hoped to see the conservatory. Unfortunately that was closed but I checked out a gallery and the surrounding area.

Then back to The Bull and Last for dinner, which was good. I ordered a tomato salad and the BBQ cod which I really enjoyed.

Tomorrow is more sightseeing before I take the Eurostar to Paris on Thursday.

Goodnight!