Holidays
How I wish I had visited the Middle East when it was a safe place to go. India, Australia and New Zealand also call to me, and I miss my friends and family in America, but I so love Italy and Switzerland that I can hardly bear to go anywhere else - except of course Jane McAdoo's wonderful French School in the Loire Valley.
My favourite trip is to fly to Milan and spend a couple of nights at the Hotel Berni - which has the most wonderful breakfasts and the most welcoming staff. Then I take a train to Lugano and visit my friends the Bartolinis - who I first met in 1969 when I was 21, broke and broken-hearted. They are the kind of people from whom goodness flows and I am so happy that Daniela and Sandro came for a visit before Christmas 2009. In September 2009 we also went to Venice - a beautiful city and we had a wonderful time - thanks to Giampietro, an old friend of Dani's and our excellent guide.
In 2010 I did a lot of travelling in Italy - Florence, Venice again, Vincenza, and Siena, and in early summer of 2011 I had a lovely visit with the Bartonlinis in Lugano and then a week at the Dante Alighieri School in Siena, staying at the lovely Villa Peragnola B&B.
There are photographs on my Flickr pages. Enjoy!