In celebration of Columbus Day, today’s post harkens back to my summer vacation in Italy.
Lake Maggiore, with its low key atmosphere, has an extensive network of ferry service around and across the lake.  In fact, ferries have landing stages in nearly every town along the lake, making it quite easy to get most places by boat.  In addition to the traditional (and slower) ferry, there is also hydrofoil service.  Not only is it a faster boat, but it has more direct service, rather than stopping at all the smaller towns.  The boats generally operate between 7 am – 8 …read more

About ten minutes east of downtown Denver are 23 acres of gardens and plants that will make you feel like your much further away from the concrete of the city.  The Denver Botanic Gardens (1005 York Street, Denver) contain 45 gardens and over 32,000 plants.  (I discovered the York Street gardens while on a shopping expedition; they are very near the Cherry Creek Mall.)
The gardens represent a wide range of gardening styles and plant collections, covering diverse parts of the world.  It’s an interesting blend or culture with flora and fauna.  And, because this is the mile high …read more