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Two days in Palermo
We admit that we had reservations the first time we came to Palermo. Everyone seems to have heard about the Mafia connections and its...
Gloria and Mark
Oct 11, 20192 min read
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Cefalu - beach paradise with a past
Cefalu, once a fishing village and now a vacation paradise, has a historical past dating to the 1100s which makes it an ideal stopping...
Gloria and Mark
Sep 29, 20191 min read
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Erice - settled by Trojan expats
As our tour guide acknowledged, much of what is taken for fact in the remote mountaintop village of Erice is actually a mix of history...
Gloria and Mark
Sep 24, 20192 min read
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Segesta's Greek and Roman remains
Legend says that the ancient city of Segesta was settled on Mount Barbaro in Western Sicily by the Elimi people, the survivors who fled...
Gloria and Mark
Sep 23, 20191 min read
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Agrigento - Greece in Italy
The Temple of Concordia is one of the best-preserved Greek buildings in the world. Like most of Sicily, Agrigento has seen its share of...
Gloria and Mark
Sep 21, 20192 min read
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Castellammare del Golfo, a Mafia town transformed
The sleepy nature of Castellamare del Golfo belies its Mafia past. Fishing boats line the harbor. Some offer excursions to learn about...
Gloria and Mark
Sep 19, 20192 min read
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Ravenna's most dazzling mosaics
Sant' Apollinare in Classe is the largest early Christian basilica in Ravenna. Ravenna, just a 2-hour train ride from Venice is where...
Mark and Gloria
Aug 26, 20192 min read
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Jumping into Van Gogh's art
On this last short visit to Paris we decided to skip the Louvre and try an immersive Van Gogh show at the Atelier des Lumieres in the...
Gloria and Mark
Jul 1, 20191 min read
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10 Reasons to Book a Yacht Cabin
If yachting in the Mediterranean is one of your pipe dreams, we're here to say that it is a dream you can make happen. We just took our...
Gloria and Mark
Jun 25, 20193 min read
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Paris: Hip Eats & Backstreets Tour
Our food tour in Paris with Eating Europe was full of surprises from the moment we met our Las Vegas-born guide, Dakota. Even though her...
Gloria and Mark
Jun 18, 20194 min read
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Finding Napoleon's roots in Corsica
The Citadel overlooks the blue-green Mediterranean of Corsica. Napoleon was born in the town of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica and the...
Gloria and Mark
Jun 11, 20193 min read
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Marseille in two days
We hadn’t expected to fall in love with Marseille, but we did. Marseille was supposed to have been a two-night stopover after touring...
Gloria and Mark
Jun 9, 20192 min read
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Carcassonne - Medieval Magic
Carcassonne, France is the medieval city that Hollywood would have invented if it didn't already exist. The iconic fortress and palace...
Gloria and Mark
May 30, 20192 min read
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Top 7 things to do in Avignon, France
Number 1 - Pont d'Avignon Most people who have been to nursery school associate Avignon with the famous children's song, "Sur le Pont de...
Gloria and Mark
May 28, 20193 min read
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Diving with whale sharks
We had a few reservations about diving with the "gentle giants" at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. Their four whale sharks are between...
Gloria and Mark
May 17, 20193 min read
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Overcome your top fears about Advanced Open Water Diving
Once you’ve completed the PADI Open Water Diver certification course, you are eligible to take the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course....
Marissa - guest writer
May 14, 20199 min read
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Top scariest scuba skills
1. Removing your mask underwater 2. Sharing air with your buddy 3. Having your air shut off by the instructor 4. Rolling into the ocean...
Gloria and Mark
May 12, 20192 min read
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Learning to Scuba Dive - Day 1
We learned to dive years ago when Mark was earning a master's degree in Underwater Archaeology from Texas A&M, but hadn't tried the sport...
Gloria and Mark
May 10, 20193 min read
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Bologna is lots more than baloney
We've visited Italy some 20 times in the past 10 years so it's somewhat surprising that this was our first time in Bologna. After the big...
Gloria and Mark
Apr 1, 20193 min read
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Easy pilgrimage to St. Anthony's Basilica
We've thought of taking the famed pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain like many believers and non-believers before us, but we haven't done it...
Gloria and Mark
Mar 21, 20192 min read
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