Lucca a relatively small Tuscan town nestled into the heart of Italy.

The town (to the first time tourist) feels like a maze at first, and if your sense of direction isn’t strong you’ll easily find yourself right back where you started – just a few hours later. Or worse, at precisely the opposite end of town than you had intended.

With all that said, it’s hard to be hot, frustrated or mad when in Lucca. As long as no schedule binds you, you’ll always feel you’re on an adventure – every moment of every day. (more…)

Lucille Kyle lives just outside of Bancroft, Ontario and she’s one of the most effective people I’ve ever met.

What do I mean by ‘effective’? Well, when Lucille gets her eyes and mind set on a mission, she doesn’t give up until the goal is achieved. (more…)

Lucca, Italy is one of those towns in the Tuscan region that you probably never heard of, and no words can adequately describe. This is an extremely old city built behind 20′ (or so) walls that make a lovely walking tour or morning bicycle ride. The top of the wall hosts trees to provide ample shade on the hottest of days, a foot path, sidewalks, stairs down into the city (or out of) and benches along the way if you get tired. (more…)

Excited to see all the souvenirs in the Casablanca and surroundings market? Here are a few photos of what you can expect to see on the way and buy once you get there! Be sure to check out the other post on Casablanca (and the warning about women in Agadir, Morocco) before you fly over or get off the cruise ship though!

(more…)

Our ship was scheduled to port in Casablanca and I have to say I was more than a little excited to be visiting this culture-rich city. I had told Veronica all about it before we left for our trip and even considered renting the old Bogart movie. (more…)

Sharing this first, because it was Veronica’s least favorite place to visit…

First of all we were very excited to be going to Agadir. It was a known ‘international’ city, the shopping deals were said to be fabulous, and we thought we could get a taste of Moroccan life while buying some souvenirs for our friends and family.

(more…)

In May of 2007 I took my daughter for a trip to Europe.

We actually started our journey from home (in rural Ontario) at 3 am, headed down to Syracuse, NY airport (the fares were less than 1/2 the cost than flying out of Toronto or Ottawa and only added 2 hours of driving to our trip).

From Syracuse we flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico where we spent 1 and a half days – shopping, sleeping and a little swimming in the hotel pool.

(more…)