We spent a night at beloved Hotel Villa Pagoda.

Many moons ago discovered and a long overdue return. Genoa shows off it’s best crumbling villas, creeping plant life and croaking frogs. Plus the Ligurian puddle!

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The aerial photograph proudly displayed in the lobby of our charming (and only regional) hotel, Le Terrazze, had rectangles of ocean photo-shopped into the pools, which remained empty of all but fog during our stay. The hotel sits next to the cemetery where my honey’s namesake is buried, and the locals and on-duty carabinieri who [...]

We had a few days of (relative) rest in the midst of our race, in Castelnuovo della Daunia (Foggia, Apulia), in the family town of my honey.  Here meals have a three-course minimum (including, yet not limited to: octopus salad, handmade pasta, grilled fish, cheese plates, tiramisu, dusty red wine, family-made walnut liqueur, espresso, basta!).

We [...]

Our four-day, 2600-mile driving odyssey began with a  two-connection flight that left San Francisco and arrived at the rental car desk of Charles de Gaulle airport  20 hours later, at 8am. The next leg of our trip began promptly and extended over twelve hours. It was as though we were in some hair-brained, screwball, cross-continent [...]