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Italy
Gift Idea for Bookish Travellers, Part 2
Good Night and God Bless, A Guide to Convent & Monastery Accommodation In Europe, Volume 1: Austria, Czech Republic, Italy
By Trish Clark
Hidden Spring, a division of Paulist Press; 264 pages; $20
Ever traipse around a city for hours searching in vain for a hotel with vacancy, then exclaim “oh thank God!” when you finally find one?
Trish Clark knows that feeling well. Especially the God part.
In 1970, she was backpacking in Rome and, finding her youth hostel of choice fully booked, reluctantly ended up at a convent near the Spanish Steps.
Would there be rigid rules? Would the sisters be stone-faced? Would fun be banned? Would she be forced to pray?
The questions clanged in her head like church bells.
But Clark’s fears were quickly hushed when she was greeted warmly then led to a former nun’s cell that was both clean and comfortable.
“I was woken by the sound of the nuns singing hymns during morning Mass. I soon learned that when the singing stopped breakfast was ready,” says Australia-based Clark.
At the table, she was joined by other travellers who shared stories and tips as they dined on fresh bread rolls, homemade jam and “delicious, steaming hot milky coffee.”
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Homepage for the Holidays!
Let’s not mince words here: I heart Christmas.
I love the scent of a real tree, the look of lights twinkling against the snow and the possibility of eating sugar plums, even though I don’t have a freakin’ clue what those are.
I even sorta, kinda, maybe like Wham’s Last Christmas - even after the 100 billionth play at the mall. (Pretty much the worst video ever though...I can’t believe the edited out the orgy scene)
To indulge my love of this gloriously excessive holiday, for the month of December I will be dedicating this blog to all things XMAS - cooking, crafting, decorating, obnoxious carolling, movie watching, weight gaining, some travel, gift ideas and general merrymaking! Follow me as I make my way from Toronto back home to Vancouver Island, where I vow to add to the dysfunction by assaulting my family with my camera and compulsive need to blog!
Here are a couple o’ pics from “Last Christmas” - my bros and I giving our mom a human sleigh ride, and my dad simultaneously playing the keys and cutting the turkey.
I love the scent of a real tree, the look of lights twinkling against the snow and the possibility of eating sugar plums, even though I don’t have a freakin’ clue what those are.
I even sorta, kinda, maybe like Wham’s Last Christmas - even after the 100 billionth play at the mall. (Pretty much the worst video ever though...I can’t believe the edited out the orgy scene)
To indulge my love of this gloriously excessive holiday, for the month of December I will be dedicating this blog to all things XMAS - cooking, crafting, decorating, obnoxious carolling, movie watching, weight gaining, some travel, gift ideas and general merrymaking! Follow me as I make my way from Toronto back home to Vancouver Island, where I vow to add to the dysfunction by assaulting my family with my camera and compulsive need to blog!
Here are a couple o’ pics from “Last Christmas” - my bros and I giving our mom a human sleigh ride, and my dad simultaneously playing the keys and cutting the turkey.
Most importantly, I want to hear from you! Got a favourite holiday recipe, craft or tradition you’d like to share? Just email me a photo of yourself with said cake/wreath/game of naked holiday twister along with the instructions and I’ll post it here!
As Emilio Estevez uttered in Young Guns: “I’ll make you famous.”
(Of course, then he shot the person. I wouldn’t do that, not at Christmas.)
To kick things off, I offer you this look at HOLIDAY DESSERTS FROM EUROPE, a little story I penned for aol.ca.
~Hark, what is yon sound? 'Tis the sweet tooth singing "Hallelujah!" For between the sugar plums, the candy canes, the gingerbread and the chocolate oranges, Christmas is a veritable blizzard of granulated sugar. Looking for some new ideas to enliven your table this year? Try some old ones. Check out our gallery of traditional European holiday desserts.~
(Click this link for descriptions and recipes from England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Denmark!)
Their Tragedy, Tourism's Triumph
01/07/09 14:51 Filed in: Europe
Here’s what I wrote:
Why people ignore it: Because it's a departure from the predictable Venice-Florence-Rome track and you have to go through big bad Naples to get there.
Why you shouldn't: Until you experience it for yourself, it's hard to grasp the sheer magnitude of Pompeii, which was frozen in time when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and dumped a lethal storm of hot ash upon the unlucky community. Yearn for time travel? It doesn't get better than this real Roman city, complete with streets, restaurants, baths, an amphitheatre and its own impressive colosseum. The site is so large that you might find yourself alone inside an ancient home, admiring 2,000-year-old
Info: Pompeii is open year-round and entry is $17 for adults. Get there by taking the Circumvesuviana train south from Naples (which isn't that bad. Try their margherita pizza, you'll see). Budget an entire day to see it properly and don't bypass the excellent audioguide or the circular walk around the perimeter. www.pompeiisites.org
