by Bill Marsano | Oct 11, 2017 | Travel, Travel blog
I wouldn’t want to say that French trains and I don’t get along, but certainly our relationship has had something of the hit-or-miss about it. The first miss occurred before I even boarded a train. A Rail Europe agent had crowed about the ease of using an...
by Bill Marsano | Dec 8, 2016 | Travel, Travel blog
The absence of tourists unsettled by the recent terrorist attacks makes this an excellent time to visit to the City of Light. ‘They must be right,’ I said. ‘The official word is that tourism’s down twenty percent, and it certainly looks it.’ I was talking to Valerie...
by Bill Marsano | Apr 15, 2016 | Food, Food blog
Ever been to a trade show? If so, you know they’re oppressive: they reek of relentless deal-making; of order forms, checkbooks, credit cards and PayPal, with Apple Pay soon to join. Buyers and sellers seem to have few interests beyond prices and delivery dates,...
by Bill Marsano | Mar 4, 2016 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
The truism “you can’t get a bad meal in Italy” takes a beating in Venice, sad to say. Venice scores low in fine dining, and it’s inevitable. Ninety-nine percent of visitors have one meal and never return, and that doesn’t inspire restaurateurs to always do their best....
by Bill Marsano | Sep 30, 2015 | Travel, Travel blog
© 2015 by Bill Marsano photos by Scott Clemens This is, I imagine, telling tales out of school, but tell I must. It’s a good tale, which is the best of all possible reasons, and its star, my friend K., is too shy to write it herself, although I have pestered her to do...
by Bill Marsano | Apr 26, 2015 | Travel, Travel blog
In which our Far-Flung Correspondent heads for Venice for the world’s greatest muscle-powered nautical event: the Vogalonga. Four decades ago in a galaxy far, far away—that is to say, Venice, which is, yes, in Italy, but no, not of this world—Toni Rosa Salva...
by Bill Marsano | Nov 11, 2014 | Travel, Travel blog
Alliteration conjures treasures in the Veneto. Venice, Verona, Vicenza come readily to mind, and a fourth joins them in an old folkloric rhyme: Veneziani, gran signori; Padovani, gran dottori; Vicentini, mangia gatti; Veronesi, tutti matti. Freely...
by Bill Marsano | Nov 11, 2014 | Travel, Travel blog
text and photos ©2011 by Bill Marsano Languedoc-Roussillon is almost invariably short-changed. It’s blessed by lovely, lively Nîmes and dramatically walled Carcassone, but Provence just across the Rhone gleams with Avignon, Arles and Aix, with gritty Marseille and...
