Italy bubbles with emotion, corruption, traffic jams, strikes, religious holidays and crowds. Irate ranters shake their fists at each other one minute and walk arm-in-arm the next. It's bella chaos, and if you're up-to-date on your sightseeing and transit info, you'll love it. Here's the latest, gleaned from research done for the 2018 edition of my Italy guidebook, to help you enjoy Europe's richest, craziest culture.
I'm really into "second cities" these days. For generations, Industrial Age powerhouses in Europe turned into what we would call "the rust belt," while their elegant "first city" counterparts enjoyed the luster of the Information Age. But over the last decade or so, the rust has become a trendy accessory and industrial ruins have turned bohemian chic.
Once, while traveling in the '70s, the youth hostel where I had planned to stay was full, and the staff directed me to a nearby convent instead. As I walked there, I wondered if I was signing myself up for draconian curfews, spartan accommodations, and Mass at dawn.
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, in 1999, became the first three former Warsaw Pact countries to join NATO.
I don’t give much thought to petty crime when I travel abroad. I’m well aware that it happens; I’ve been preaching about the importance of wearing a money belt for decades. And for decades — probably about a total of 4,000 days of travel — I’ve never been hit by a thief. Well, my happy streak finally ended. I was pickpocketed in Paris last summer.
Am I having a stroke?
“My right hand is numb,” my wife, Flory, mumbled while we were watching a show in the lounge of the ms Prinsendam.
As her face became paler, she started to slide down in her seat. I tried to talk to her, but she had no idea what I was saying.
A woman nearby called 911. The doctor arrived promptly.
Was she having a stroke or perhaps a mini-stroke? I worried.
TIAs, or mini-strokes
Located between Sicily and North Africa, Malta is an archipelago in the Mediterranean that has been influenced by the cultures of a variety of peoples, including the Romans, Moors, French and British.
While visiting Malta in October 2016, my husband, John, and I stayed at the luxurious Corinthia Palace Hotel & Spa (de Paule Avenue, San Anton, Malta; phone +356 21 440301, www.corinthia.com/en/hotels/palace-hotel-and-spa), where we paid $133 per night, including taxes.
Though it has long been stated that the Great Wall of China is visible from the moon, this myth was debunked in 1969 by American astronaut Alan Bean, who reported that when his spacecraft was only a few thousand miles from Earth (the moon is about 230,000 miles distant), no trace of human building was visible. The Great Wall is not even visible from the International Space Station, orbiting 205 to 270 miles out, though the pyramids at Giza can be discerned.
Dear Globetrotter:
