Posts Tagged: Travel

A red-eye from Los Angeles brought us to San Jose, Costa Rica early on a Friday morning. A driver picked us up at the airport and took us west toward the Pacific Coast. We stopped at a restaurant for gallo pinto, a traditional Costa Rican breakfast of eggs, rice, black beans, and tortillas. Then we pushed on to Crocodile Bridge, spanning the River Tarcoles at a popular hangout for crocodiles. We also stopped at an overlook above Playa Hermosa where saw several scarlet macaws alighting in the trees.

Landing late at night at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, we caught an Uber to our lodgings, a charming apartment in Lisbon’s Baixa neighborhood. Despite the jet lag, it was late enough that we had no trouble sleeping. In the morning, we strolled over to Padaria do Barrio, a tasty bakery. Then we ascended a series of hills, stairs, and elevators to Castelo de Sao Jorge. The hill on which the castle stands shows signs of human occupation dating to at least the 8th century BCE and has been the site of Phoenecian, Carthaginian, Roman, and Moorish fortifications. In 1147, the castle and the city of Lisbon—then held by the Moors—fell to Portugal’s first king, Alfonso I, during the Siege of Lisbon. Today, the castle is an interesting historic site hosting a small museum, but the real highlights are the incredible views of the city.

I hadn’t really thought about it before I visited, but Sicily’s remarkable and consequential history should be obvious. Much of the history of Europe is the history of the Mediterranean Sea. As a large island right in the middle of the Mediterranean, Sicily was strategically vital at least from the time of the ancient Greeks through World War II. Some of the island’s oldest signs of human habitation are cave paintings dating to around 8000 B.C.E. In subsequent millennia, Sicily was settled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Germanic tribes, Byzantines, Arabs, and Normans. Each civilization left its mark, creating unique layers of history that you can still see today.

It was raining heavily when my flight landed Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in Toulouse, France early on a Saturday evening. Ducking through the raindrops, I made my way to the car my wife and in-laws had rented. We drove southeast about an hour to the town of Carcassonne. Carcassonne’s predominant feature is the massive citadel, La Cité, that rings its hilltop. People have lived in the area around Carcassonne since around 3500 B.C.E., and the Romans built an outpost there around 100 B.C.E.

Lying between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, the Shenandoah Valley is a stunning place brimming with natural beauty, historic towns, wineries, and breweries. I visited twice during October 2017, on two different fall weekends.

My first stop was the Purple Wolf Vineyard. The vineyard lies on the White Oak Lavender farm, a delightfully pastoral spot west of Shenandoah National Park off of Highway 81. The vineyard has both indoor and outdoor seating, and sitting outside was perfect on an unseasonably warm October day. We alternately relaxed in the winery’s comfy chairs and explored the farms as we drank our wines.