Montepulciano (Italy) - Coming to Town

Montepulciano is a charming Tuscan small town which with its dramatic setting on the ridge of the high hill dominates the valleys of Val di Chiana (on the west) and Val D'Orcia (on the east). In this town you can find many masterpieces of such artists as Antonio da Sangallo Il Vecchio, Andrea Pozzo, Vignola, Michelozzo, Taddeo di Bartolo, Ippolito Scalza. In addition to its medieval architecture and art, Montepulciano is known for the wine called Vino Nobile. Wine tasting and wine tours through many vineyards surrounding Montepulciano are activities attracting many wine lovers.
Montepulciano (Italy) - Coming to Town
Montepulciano (Italy) - Churches
Montepulciano (Italy) - Some Places to Eat Feb. 3, 2011

La Locanda di San Francesco (Montepulciano, Italy)

To stay three nights in Montepulciano, amall, cute and ancient Italian town in the heart of Tuscany, we chose La Locanda di San Francesco hotel. With only four guests' suites, located in the center of the town and family owned, La Locanda seemed to have everything to meet our expectations of a quiet, well maintained place. Dec. 14, 2010

San Gimignano Walking Tour - Part II: Piazza Duomo and Rocca di Montestaffoli

We continue the exploration of San Gimignano, a charming Tuscan medieval hill town. In Part I we started our walking tour with entering the town through its northern gate, porta San Matteo, and gradually getting to piazza Duomo. Several very popular attractions are located on the square. However, in Part II of the tour, we limit our exploration of piazza Duomo by looking at surrounding palaces and their architecture. Then, we turn left and continue walking around Collegiata up the hill to visit the town's fortress.
Part I: Via San Matteo
Part II: Piazza Duomo and Rocca di Montestaffoli
Part III: Museo Civico
Part IV: Piazza della Cisterna and via San Giovanni
Dec. 5, 2010

San Gimignano Walking Tour - Part III: Museo Civico

The third part of our tour is dedicated entirely to Palazzo Comunale (Municipal Palace or, simply, Town Hall). It does not involve a lot of walking, but I would allocate a couple of hours to this place. Its main attraction is the Museo Civico and Torre Grossa (Civic Museum and Big Tower).
Part I: Via San Matteo
Part II: Piazza Duomo and Rocca di Montestaffoli
Part III: Museo Civico
Part IV: Piazza della Cisterna and via San Giovanni
Dec. 5, 2010

San Gimignano Walking Tour - Part I: Via San Matteo

I invite you for a walking tour in San Gimignano, a charming Tuscan medieval hill town. If you need a tourist trivia related to San Gimignano, please see its description and useful tips on our travel ideas section of the site. Same way, if you are interested to learn more about places to eat, visit our page Restaurants in San Gimignano. For this article however my plan is to show you San Gimignano as it is - its main tourist destinations as well as scenes of everyday life on its streets.
Part I: Via San Matteo
Part II: Piazza Duomo and Rocca di Montestaffoli
Part III: Museo Civico
Part IV: Piazza della Cisterna and via San Giovanni
Dec. 5, 2010

San Gimignano Walking Tour - Part IV: Piazza della Cisterna and via San Giovanni.

If you remember, we started our tour with entering the historic (walled) center of San Gimignano through its northern gate, Porta San Matteo, and continued south on nd around via San Matteo. We gradually reached piazza del Duomo, explored La Rocca (small fortress) and, upon returning back to piazza del Duomo, visited museum located in Palazzo Comunale as well as Torre Grossa and Collegiata. Our next stop is on piazza della Cisterna which is literally two steps from piazza Duomo.
Part I: Via San Matteo
Part II: Piazza Duomo and Rocca di Montestaffoli
Part III: Museo Civico
Part IV: Piazza della Cisterna and via San Giovanni
Dec. 5, 2010

Restaurants in San Gimignano, Italy

After spending rather significant time in finding good places to eat in San Gimignano, Italy, I thought that sharing my experience can be useful for other travelers visiting this wonderful Tuscan hill town. I do not pretend to provide full reviews of various places - these are just my notes and observations regarding various options to eat in San Gimignano. Nov. 23, 2010

Hotel Cavaliere, Spoleto (Italy)

While travelling in Tuscany this year we decided to stop and explore Spoleto. The town is located in Umbria but it happened to be on our way back from Tuscany to Rome. Cavaliere Palace Hotel was our choice for lodging. There were several reasons for our decision. One of them was our preference for quiet places. Another one was the location of the hotel in the historic center of the city. Nov. 11, 2010

Hotel L'Antico Pozzo, San Gimignano (Italy)

To stay for tree days in the small and charming medieval Tuscan town of San Gimignano we chose hotel L'Antico Pozzo. It is located in via San Matteo 87 - the street which starts from one of the gates in medieval defensive wall surrounding the historic center of the town. Despite some minuses, we believe that anybody traveling and staying in San Gimignano should consider it. After all there are few hotels located within the town's historic center. Nov. 8, 2010

Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Second Floor: American Lives and American Ideas

Exhibitions on the second floor of the American History Museum are focused on social aspects of American history - American lives and ideas. Here you will find interesting exhibitions "Within These Walls..." and "Communities in a Changing Nation: The Promise of 19th-century America." There are several collections dedicated to African-Americans and exhibition related to Jewish immigration. But again, no matter how interesting current collections are, there are significant gaps in museum's presentations related to some even very important historic events.

- National Museum of American History: About the Museum
- National Museum of American History, First Floor: Science, Innovation, Technology and Transportation.
- National Museum of American History, Second Floor: American Lives and American Ideas
- National Museum of American History, Third Floor: American Wars and Politics

July 23, 2010

Smithsonian National Museum of American History, About the Museum

The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a very good place for kids and adults to start learning or to improve knowledge about American history. I also think that this museum can be interesting for visitors from other countries. American History museum is located on the National Mall, at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. The Museum is open daily except December 25. Regular hours are 10:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. with extended hours until 7:30 pm during summer time. Admission is free and no tickets are required.

- National Museum of American History: About the Museum
- National Museum of American History, First Floor: Science, Innovation, Technology and Transportation.
- National Museum of American History, Second Floor: American Lives and American Ideas
- National Museum of American History, Third Floor: American Wars and Politics

July 23, 2010

Smithsonian National Museum of American History, First Floor: Science, Innovation, Technology and Transportation.

When you plan your visit to the American History Museum, you should be aware that it is organized by thematic collections. Although they are structured to represent important aspects of the American heritage, museum's exhibitions do not represent a consistent timeline in the history of the United States from the time when first settlements were founded up to the most recent historic events. It seems that the reason behind this approach is simple: it's much easier to narrate about separate aspects of the American history rather than present in one place the whole history of such big country as the United States.

- National Museum of American History: About the Museum
- National Museum of American History, First Floor: Science, Innovation, Technology and Transportation.
- National Museum of American History, Second Floor: American Lives and American Ideas
- National Museum of American History, Third Floor: American Wars and Politics

July 23, 2010

Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Third Floor: American Wars and Politics

Did you pay attention to those gray areas on maps with National American History Museum floor layouts? It seems like these are areas closed to public with displays not setup yet for public viewing. Just looking at maps, I would say that about 40-45% of the total floor space at the museum is not used currently for exhibitions. If this is true, I hope that there is an effort in progress to show visitors much more than what is shown now. I am talking about this, because currently only half of the third floor is used for it direct purpose - to promote understanding of the American history and in particular, such things as American wars and politics.

- National Museum of American History: About the Museum
- National Museum of American History, First Floor: Science, Innovation, Technology and Transportation.
- National Museum of American History, Second Floor: American Lives and American Ideas
- National Museum of American History, Third Floor: American Wars and Politics

July 23, 2010

Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center - Part 2: Dining and Accommodations

The second part of the article dedicated to Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center: let's now move on to things that are closer to more practical issues related to any traveling - food and accommodations. The most important observation in these areas is that Orlando World Center Marriott is self-sufficient in almost any life related aspect. I mean literally, everything you may practically want or need during your several days of staying at this place can be found without leaving it.
Part 1: Common Areas and Convention Center
Part 2: Dining and Accommodations May 10, 2010

Orlando World Center Marriott Resort - Part 1: Common Areas and Convention Center

Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center is a large complex well known among both, leisure and business travelers from all over the world. Its popularity is well deserved due to its prime location and proximity to Walt Disney World Resort (about 5 miles - World Center Drive continues as Epcot Center Drive on the other side of I-4) as well as large event space occupying a total of 450,000 square feet. Add to this Orlando World Center accommodations facilities with about 2000 rooms and 80 suites, several restaurants, bars and lounges, its own golf course, plus a complex with 6 pools, waterfalls, water ride and whirlpools in a lagoon-like setting, and you will understand why this piece of real estate located on more than 200 prime acres is so much appreciated by many visitors.
Part 1: Common Areas and Convention Center
Part 2: Dining and Accommodations May 10, 2010

Harrods Food Court in London

I could never suspect that one day I would write about a department store as if it were a museum or a historic landmark. Yet, here we are - allow me to present you Harrods, a luxury department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, UK established in 1834. By American standards, Harrods is not that big. It has over one million square feet (90,000 sq m) of selling space in over 330 departments (see our side bar below with some trivia regarding world's largest stores and malls). But for Europe, it is huge. March 9, 2010

London Pubs for Dummies, Part 3: Pubs Mentioned in Article

This part is the list of pubs (with addresses and my brief and biased notes) that I kept in mind as reference points while drafting my biased article about London's pubs. In my selection, there is no special meaning; it's mostly a random collection of some of places we visited while walking the streets of London, and where I took my time to pull out my camera and take a few shots.
London Pubs for Dummies, Part 1: A Biased Opinion
London Pubs for Dummies, Part 2: Vocabulary and Tips
London Pubs for Dummies, Part 3: Pubs Mentioned in Article Feb. 24, 2010

Vieux Nice (Old Nice), France: Part 1 - Adjacent Areas and Cours Saleya

The original idea behind this photo gallery had much larger scope. I wanted to create a comprehensive photo guide to Vieux Nice (a.k.a Vieille Ville or Old Town Nice). However, the lack of time and proper organization of my effort resulted in something more modest. Still, I believe with the material I have it is possible to convey the atmosphere and environment of the Vieux Nice - area where the city of Nice (Nicaea) was probably founded around 350 BC by Greeks. See also Vieux Nice (Old Nice), France: Part 2 - The Heart of Old Town Feb. 16, 2010

Vieux Nice (Old Nice), France: Part 2 - The Heart of Old Town

We have just finished the first part of the Vieux Nice (Old Nice) tour at the end of Cours Saleya, a vibrant and touristy area with various markets and numerous restaurants and shops. We were moving from west to east towards a rocky hill with ruins of the castle and, nowadays, Parc du Château. Now, we are turning to the left to follow the labyrinth of narrow streets with terracotta color buildings until we reach place Rossetti, the heart of old Nice. See also Vieux Nice (Old Nice), France: Part 1 - Adjacent Areas and Cours Saleya Feb. 16, 2010

A Stroll around Buckingham Palace and Its Garden, London

No doubt, Buckingham Palace is one of the most interesting things in London to explore. State rooms, Royal Mews, The Queen's Gallery are usual tourist destinations. However, just walking around Buckingham Palace and Its Garden can be as interesting as visiting places mentioned above. Walking tours give a chance to get familiar with real life and its pulse with streets, people, buildings, parks, traffic, restaurants and bars, shops and their windows... You walk at your own pace observing and watching things that you will miss in museums and formal exhibitions. So, why not to spend several hours and explore what's outside Buckingham Palace - it's free, and you are not constrained by Buckingham Palace's rules and schedule. Feb. 11, 2010