adventure travel Archives

Solo Travel in Italy

May 31, 2026May 12, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, history, Italy, Travel, writingTagged blogging, food, history, Italy, Local food, solo travel, travelLeave a comment

Life for me now has changed as our tour group heads home and I stay on as a solo traveler. My goal is to spend time on the eastern coast of Italy. Now to see the Adriatic Sea from another view!

Visiting Trieste, Italy first….

I am only here for 2 nights so I immediately headed toward the Grand Canal. Plenty of cafes along the canal, jellyfish in the water, and musicians playing.

I stepped into churches: Saint Antonio Taumaturgo and a Serbian Orthodox one. Each beautiful. Then I walked to the huge Piazza Unità d’Italia where a “Maker Faire” was happening. Tons of people at booths checking out puzzles, 3-D printing, robotics and I return here the next day too. So many displays! Really fascinating, but I wanted to walk the Molo Audace, a long pier out into the water. People are walking or sitting and enjoying the simple rock pier. After walking the waterfront and back by side streets and seeing numerous statues, I decided to eat. My pizza with eggplant at Barattalo restaurant was delicious!

The next day I considered going to Miramare Castle. It was built in 1856 -60 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian. I figured it and the gardens would be beautiful. I was too early to catch the Delfino Verde ferry for the 50 minute ride, so I decided to visit other places I had in mind. (BTW… ferry to and bus 6 back was the recommendation to me for Miramare, in case you want to easily get there from Trieste.)

I headed to San Giusto, a healthy uphill hike from the waterfront. I worked my way past a couple of old churches to the Cathedral of San Giusto and attended mass. Interesting listening to the Italian language spoken and sung by a choir. Of course the “peace be with you” handshake was clearly understood as I shook my neighbor’s hands.

Walking down a rocky hill isn’t the easiest. I stopped at some ruins, such as the Arch of Riccardo and the Roman Theater and was glad to be on level ground at the “Maker Faire” again. I loved seeing people of all ages engaged in the activities.

My late lunch was at La Caprese Trattoria and there I had spaghetti with eggplant and clams. I have been drinking small Moretti beers with my meals.

Then hours were spent at the Revotella Palace and Gallery of Modern Art. Baron Pasquale Revoltella, in 1872, left his artwork, books and furniture…. his house to the city! I walked through the modern art museum first and then this historic house! Amazing paintings, sculptures and some info in English, but all easy enough to follow. The house is opulent!

Can pasta-making be this much fun? I’ve given it a try in Croatia and will again Bologna. Wow, that’s how she makes that shape!?!

As I was winding down my day, I decided to try an aperitif which is typically a pre-dinner drink. My late lunch was already enough food, but I decided to try an Aperol spritz. If I like it, maybe in the upcoming weeks I’ll enjoy it as a pre-dinner drink … like it is meant to be!

So the drink has aperol: a blend of bitter orange, rhubarb, cinchona, and gentian with Prosecco and soda water. A fresh orange slice is a garnish. (I researched cinchona – comes from an evergreen tree in South America and the bark contains quinine. Cinchona is used to treat malaria and possibly irregular heartbeats. I see it is used as a pre-dinner drink to increase appetite.) Okay now knowing all that, I can decide if it will continue to be my drink of choice! I’m still wrapping my head around eating dinner after 7pm. So far I like a late lunch. But one also has to eat before 3:30pm as many places close till 7pm.

I walked 10 miles in 2 days and still have more to see plus Miramare Castle. I’ll have to return another time. Off to Bologna… I’ll post again in a couple of days.

Istrian Peninsula: Part 4 of 4, Bale, Croatia

May 27, 2026May 8, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, history, Travel, writingTagged bicycling, birding, blogging, food, travel2 Comments

Our day began with a visit to a 5th generation olive oil production, a small family operation, Grubic, producing quality olive oil. They are recognized in a 2026 competition within the top 500 olive oil producers in the world!

After an explanation of their harvesting process and seeing the centrifuges they use, we did have a tasting. Interestingly centrifuges are now used rather than the old press method! The equipment is very expensive. They do have a cooperative spirit here in providing local olive growers to pay for the use of their equipment.

We had 3 tastings each of a monoculture and the 4th was a blend. We were to warm the cup holding our olive oil and then slowly sip it with some air. That is to be the correct way to taste the oil. Also, the tasters at competitions receive each oil tasting in a blue glass as the color of olive oil has nothing to do with its quality. The first tasting has a fresh grass sort of taste and the last did not.

After our tasting we had some snacks with the olive oil drizzled on it. The biggest surprise though was vanilla ice cream with fig and plum fruit on it and a drizzle of olive oil!

We walked through the small, very quiet town of Bale. Of course, had a coffee. Everything is quite relaxed! I met a couple on their honeymoon and enjoyed talking with them. They are from northern area of Croatia.

See the barn swallow that flew in and has nest on ceiling.

I did see bicyclists throughout this trip. This day they were part of VBT tour. While many towns in the Balkan area have very bicycle-friendly lanes/paths, the roads between the towns have no bike lanes or shoulders. The cyclists with front and rear lights and colorful clothing and helmets were easier to see. Motorists also seemed to provide some distance between their vehicle and cyclists which I was happy to see!

On our way back to Poreč, we stopped at Lim Fjord. Mussels and oysters are grown in the brackish water, but very beautiful area! Water was a bit cool so no swimmers! The area does look like a fjord.

Where we are staying in Poreč does have a place for bicycle storage:

Farewell dinner is tonight and I am off to Trieste, Italy tomorrow. Here is a map of the travel so far with the Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) group I have been with these past weeks! Tomorrow I am a solo traveler for a few weeks in Italy and Greece.

Istrian Peninsula: Part 1 of 4: Poreč, Croatia

May 24, 2026May 6, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, environment, history, Travel, writingTagged family prosciutteria, Istrian Peninsula, PorecLeave a comment

On a tip of the Istrian Peninsula you’ll find the town of Poreč where we stay 5 nights and visit different areas from this point. The luxury of 5 nights in one location! Love it; unpacking and stay!

As we traveled from Ljubljana, Slovenia to here, past road construction and traffic, olive trees, vineyards and countryside, we stopped at a small, family prosciutteria. It was fascinating to learn about the male pig’s hind legs being prepared and cured, plus the use of a horse’s fibula to check the meat. With the expertise of our host at this family, she can smell the fibula that is inserted and pulled out from the aged leg to know if it is a good product or not. This family ages their pork naturally with windows opened and closed as they determine the specific temperature, wind, and humidity needed in the rooms where the meat hangs. Industrial places using modern technology and air conditioning is different than their process.

We walked in a nearby hill town, Stanjel, Croatia. I really loved the gardens and views from here.

Interestingly, while we waited for our ride, I noticed this electric charging station, actually it is for 6 e-bikes. There are many bicyclists and with the hills in this country I am not surprised that many are e-bikes. How fantastic to have a charging station for them!

Charging station for e-bikes. It extends for 6 bikes.

Dinner and a walk to enjoy the sunset.

Perfect ending to this day. See you tomorrow!

Green Slovenia!

May 20, 2026May 5, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, environment, Travel, wildlife, writingTagged Ecuador, environment, international travel, Nature, travelLeave a comment

While we drove toward Postojna Cave in Slovenia, I thought I was in upstate New York! The rolling hillsides with varied shades of green remind me of upstate NY’s countryside. But in the distance the treeless, sharp-edged 8K to 9,000 foot rock of the Julian Alps is seen and I realize I am in Slovenia!

Postojna Cave is a must see! I have been in many caves and this one is huge and beautiful in its own way. It is the only one I have ever entered by railway. The small railcar takes you on a 15 minute, 3.7km ride through the cave; duck your head if you are tall person! Then you walk 1.2km through the cave looking at a variety of cave formations. There is an audio guide that explains the karst formations you are looking at which is very helpful. This cave is huge and all I could wonder about is who discovered this and what a find!!

At the start of rail car ride… soon to enter cave. Staff are very well organized at this popular site. It is not a UNESCO site, but a nearby one of 4 other caves is. This cave may be a future UNESCO site.

Plus in the cave, there is a sightless, whitish with red tufts amphibian only found here called an olm. They can go without food for 10 years, live for 100 years and is the largest animal in the cave. Legends abound about this “baby dragon”. They had a few in an aquarium while we were in the cave so we could see them. However, no photos could be taken to protect them. This photo is of a video display the info board provided.

An olm is a cave salamander about 8-12 inches long.

No photos really capture the cave, but here are some. I’ll continue with Slovenia tomorrow.

Best to visit!

Zagreb, Croatia … The Capital

May 15, 2026April 29, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, environment, history, Travel, writingTagged blogging, environment, history, travel2 Comments

We walked the Lower and Upper Towns in this city which now has 800,000 people and close to a million people, if you consider the outskirts. The Upper Town has the cathedral and Lower Town was merchant area. The funicular, shortest in Europe, was not operating … maybe because it was Monday? Many museums were not open on Mondays too; however, I found time to enjoy a cup of cappuccino after one museum visit. There is definitely an Austrian-Hungarian influence here. I almost feel like I am in Vienna. If I had a piece of strudel with my cappuccino I would believe I was!

I stopped in at the Museum of Naïve Art. Sort of a strange name. “Peasant artists” were called “naïve artists” at one time when collection of their work, paintings and sculptures, began in 1952. These individuals had no formal art education/instruction but their work had a recognizable style and were collected. Eventually the museum’s name changed to what it is now.

Fellow travelers said the Museum of Cartoons was very good. Also the Museum of Broken Relationships was interesting. One story I heard is a broken relationship with gluten! See, relationships of all sorts are presented. Apparently the NYTimes wrote an article about that museum and there are people sending something and their broken relationship story to this museum.

Much reconstruction is happening in the city since the March 2020 earthquake. They are still working on the cathedral’s spires. The bells survived and are safely inside the cathedral at the moment.

We took a bus out to the city’s public cemetery and walked around. It is very expensive to be buried here, plus with an annual fee. It is huge but I loved being among the trees.

Back to the city where the red umbrellas are you will find an outdoor market. Underground is the market for all foods needing refrigeration. There I saw plenty of meats and cheeses!

Walk in crosswalk, bicyclists on red path.

Tomorrow we are at Plitvice Lakes. I am looking forward to our hiking time and hopefully to see some birds!

Montenegro: Our Day Trip

April 30, 2026April 30, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, environment, history, Travel, writingTagged blogging, environment, history, international travel, travelLeave a comment

Montenegro is a small Balkan country surrounded by the Adriatic Sea and all these countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania! (Montenegro is the size of Connecticut, for my USA readers to have a sense of its size.) We drove along the coastline during our pre-trip days of adventure in Albania to Dubrovnik, Croatia to meet our main trip fellow travelers. The Adriatic Sea has so many beautiful and different blues!

We returned to Montenegro now to spend a day in the towns of Perast and Kotor. I’ll leave the photos to show how the landscape climbs up from the water’s edge to mountaintops! Loved every view! There were clouds and rain throughout this day, but we saw great views when the sun shined!

We took a boat ride from Perast, around Our Lady of the Rocks, to Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Lady of the Rocks is a man-made island. A fisherman, according to legend, found an icon of the Holy Mother of God after a shipwreck. As seamen passed by on their big boats they dropped stones and eventually built a church in 1630. As we went by the island, each of us threw in a small stone.

Old Town Kotor is a medieval walled town at the end of the Bay of Kotor surrounded by mountains. We could see how it was not destroyed as were other towns, such as Dubrovnik. A local guide pointed out a few of the remaining numerous churches. People do live still within these walls.

Only 2 cruise ships per day allowed. I first thought it a building!

I’ll be back in a few days with posts. Till then, traveling on!

Exploring the Adriatic Sea Coastlines!

April 21, 2026April 17, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, history, Travel, writingTagged birding, blogging, food, history, Local food, solo travel, travelLeave a comment

The Adriatic Sea is rarely mentioned in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea, yet the Adriatic Sea is a northern arm of the Mediterranean Sea. My travels for the next few months will be to explore the Balkan Peninsula, not really a peninsula, and Italian Peninsula separated by this 500 mile long body of water.

For those of you who love water, I learned, the Adriatic Sea is relatively shallow, has clear, turquoise water and over 1,000 islands. Wonder if island hopping is a thing people do?

My time will be split: group tour and solo time. The entire travel involves places I have never visited, so this will be a true exploration! My blog posts are usually twice a week, however, if writing time is available, I’ll post more often.

Looking at a map, I’ll visit Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and some locations on the eastern coast of Italy. If you have visited any of these areas, let me know what I should not miss! Thanks!

My sketch below is to orient myself to the locations of the countries I’ll eventually be visiting. I’ll start on the Southeastern European side. Can you name the countries labeled B thru F? Then I’ll visit eastern coast of country labeled A. Will not visit country labeled “?”, but needed to include it for my sense of the area.

Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. Can you name the countries?

Here are the answers:

A= Italy

B= Slovenia

C= Croatia

D= Bosnia and Herzegovina

E= Montenegro

F= Albania

How did you do? What about upper right corner with question mark? Answer: Serbia

Time to travel … and explore foods, birds, history with eyes wide open and to meet people from all over the world!

Packing Method: 3-3-3 or 5-5-5 or 5-4-3-2-1 or Something Else?carry-on

April 19, 2026April 12, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, Travel, writingTagged carry-on luggage, international travel, luggage, travelLeave a comment

Packing for a trip can be a chore, especially when planning to pack all your needs for a 60 day trip in carry-on luggage.

I thought it a bright idea to search the Internet for any packing hints. It became a slight nightmare as I discovered there is way too much information! I’m not a newbie to this carry-on packing idea, I just thought it might be interesting to see what others do!

I previously knew about the 3-3-3 plan of 3 tops, 3 bottoms and 3 shoes. But, did you know …

there’s a 5-5-5 plan of 5 tops, 5 bottoms and 5 outerwear… hmmm.

New to me was the 5-4-3-2-1 plan of 5 tops, 4 bottoms, 3 shoes, 2 layers such as jacket/cardigan and 1 = week of undergarments.

Just as I was about to call an end to this Internet craziness, I saw a 1-2-3-4-5-6. Of course I had to check it out. This plan: 1 hat, 2 shoes, 3 bottoms, 4 tops, 5 socks and 6 underwear.

Am I any further ahead with my packing list? No. But I’ve checked the temperature in each area I am visiting … good start. Next, thinking about colors that coordinate nicely. Then making a list of must-have items: raincoat, clothing and shoes for one day, and items needed at morning/night: headlamp, toothbrush/paste, comb. Plus travel needs: passport, phone & charger, reading glasses, sunglasses, money/cards, water bottle, universal adapter, and hat. Now I’ll build from here. Wonder what the overall weight will be? Actually, I don’t care!

My goal is to have clothing I can layer for the varying air temperatures. Clothing I can easily wash on the road. Must keep my carry-on bag light as I schlep it on airplanes, trains and taxis. I’ll also have a smaller bag carried on the front of my body for daily activity use.

The reality about packing: keep it simple! I’m not in the middle of wilderness on this trip; therefore, a store will be within reach if I truly need something I forgot or need more of during my trip. Yes, simply simple and ready for fun! Most important: the carry-on bag needs to fit in the airline “cage” to assure airline personnel all the dimensions for the piece have been met … so don’t stuff the bag … meet their required dimensions.

Next post I’ll let you know where I am going for a few of months!

Here are my final bags: 22 pounds in Osprey and 13 pounds in black PacSafe bag due to batteries and power bank needing to be close to you and not above in cabinet on airplane.

Trek to Everest Base Camp Memories

April 9, 2026March 19, 2026Posted in adventure travel, blogging, environment, Mountains, Travel, writingTagged Everest Base Camp, memories, Nepal, travel, trekking4 Comments

Twenty-five years ago I trekked to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. It was an opportunity of my lifetime then and I think back to those days with fond memories! I had a school and local community in upstate New York, Lansing, supporting my efforts. I took months to train for the trek, prepare lesson plans for each middle school subject area for teachers to use in their classroom while I was gone, and presented pre and post community presentations so all knew where I would be for a month while away from the school. My faculty generously took charge while their principal was on a mountain!

As I think back on the trekking experience, it was a turning point in my life. Then I realized there is a whole world to see and thus began my travel world-wide and not just the USA as I had been doing. I backpacked for decades and this trek was a stepping stone to more physical demands upon my body. Hiking for miles and miles and at altitude was a never-ending learning experience! Understanding the Nepali culture, how to navigate air travel to arrive at remote places, and to cooperate with trekking partners to carry everything we needed to Everest Base Camp as we were supported by Sherpas and the mighty beasts, yaks, to do so!

Little things still stick in my mind. A Sherpa who ran back miles to collect a fellow travelers eyeglasses left on a stone wall. My tent mate who almost fell over the side of a trail since she did not stay on the mountainside of the trail as a yak went by her. She clung to a tree root to save herself. Washing up in a very small tent with about 4 gallons of hot water after a week of no showering, etc. Eating new foods that were deliciously made by our Sherpas who also delivered a cup of hot tea to our tent each morning! Attending the required medical session about altitude concerns. Seeing Mount Everest the first time … since you do not see the mountain when at base camp… and thinking how beautiful it is! Receiving a khata scarf from a monk at one of our monastery visits. Standing at Everest Base Camp and seeing and hearing a distant avalanche! So many wonderful memories! Simply appreciating the experience today and always. Thank you always to those who supported by effort. I will never forget you!

Some bridges were not as well built then as I have seen in more recent treks.

Up the icefall if I was to take the next step to summit the mountain … will never happen by me!

My school sent a package to this school … that is a whole other story!

Sherpas carry everything to the mountain villages!

Rob Hall was admired by me and so I hung a prayer flag at his memorial.

I would go back to Nepal in a heartbeat. Mountains are my first love and nothing beats the Himalayan Mountains! If you have never been to Nepal, check it out. Tourism has truly grown since 2001 when I was there. Lodges are more abundant whereas we had tented quite often. I’m sure the food is just as delicious and the people are lovely!

Travel Sketches Once Home

February 1, 2026January 9, 2026Posted in adventure travel, Artwork, blogging, environment, Mountains, Travel, writingTagged environment, Nature, travel, wildlife2 Comments

Travel involves so much energy that at the end of the day I never seem to accomplish all I wish. Sketching happened to be one of the activities not done while on the road during this last trip. However, after each trip or major event, I like to sketch in my “events book”. So I did that for this trip. Plus I loved the look of the “boina” or “Gaucho hat” on the guys; I’ll sketch them too! At Rapa Nui, we had our trip guide and a local guide, so they are included in my sketch book too. Not the best sketches, but a way to keep memories and a final look at my Argentina and Chile trip. Now to travel on in 2026!