This post is part of a series called Charleston 2013 A day of substantial rain. Surprising how poorly the city seems to deal with rain, given that they get, you know, actual hurricanes from time to time. This wasn’t a torrential event, yet many streets still managed to have a few inches of standing water….
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Charleston 2013 I’m a bit of a contradiction when it comes to pedestrian issues. I’m an avid walker, and hardly drive on a routine basis. I’ve been involved in pedestrian safety issues at a neighborhood and city levels, and consider myself pretty well versed in the research….
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This post is part of a series called Charleston 2013 Today was a “walk and gorge” sort of day. The basic plan was a walk to Sullivan’s Island via the brunch at Gullah Cuisine, then back. When all was said and done, it ended up being about 27 miles – not a bad day’s work….
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This post is part of a series called Charleston 2013 As a child, I was fortunate enough to get to experience a fair amount of travel. On occasion, this included travel to parts of the country or nearby islands with distinctive accents. On these trips, my father had (and I suspect, still has) the habit…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Charleston 2013 Let’s not beat around the bush. I’m an left-coast-wannabee pretentious liberal yuppie snob, deeply entrenched in hipster foodie asshole culture. A pro-gays, anti-gun eurocentric peacenik. I do not have a high opinion of the south. But I’ve never really been there either. Time to change…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 I’ll save fabricated emotional rambling for my 8 hour layover in schiphol tomorrow. Today was another day without a plan. I hit the central market one last time, to get a few more gifts, plus fruit and supplies for one more sandwich. It was really toasty…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Haven’t posted as much from Florence, as I’m not doing as much – I’m just taking a few days to chill out, sit around, people watch. Saturday, I checked out the Sant’Ambrogio market. It’s an indoor/outdoor market, with lots more produce than the Mercato Centrale,…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 The trek from Madonna di Campiglio to Florence went smoothly – drive to Milan MXP, subway to Garibaldi, fancy new Italo train to Firenze. I’ve got to say – being in Madonna di Campiglio in the off season was kind of interesting. I don’t normally…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Down from the mountains now, and catching up on the world. The last couple days of climbing / hiking have been pretty incredible. The via ferrata concept is an amazing way to gain a perspective on a landscape that would otherwise be impossible without serious…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Italy 2012 I’ll do a post on the last couple days of climbing later today. For now, I thought I’d write up some of the Via Ferrata basics that I wasn’t able to discover before heading out, in case Google helps someone else find this info in…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 First real day of via ferrata. It’s kind of unreal! Kicked things off with breakfast at the rifugio, then set out for what’s called a “definitive” ferrata route. First, another half kilometer climb. Then you hit the first ladder and start to get nervous. In…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Only have the iPhone for the next few days, so I’ll hold big thoughts for later. Driving was amazing today. Madonna Di campiglio is very nice and Italian. Hiking wasn’t terrible. The views are ok. More later!
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Italy 2012 This post is going to be heavy on things related to automobiles. If this offends you, I recommend you reconsider what you get offended about. First off, an introduction. Spend the time to watch this video from Top Gear, where the boys go in search…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Today, I hopped the train up to Lake Como to do the Dorsale del Triangolo Lariano – the walk from Como to Bellagio, along the mountain tops. This may not have been a wise move. There isn’t a lot of English-language information about this hike, but…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 (covert photo, to prove I was there) As much as it was fun to make Last Supper jokes on twitter this morning (trust me, I had *so* many that went unused), it was pretty remarkable to see in person. Far more powerful than I was…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Getting a better feel for Milan. Turns out, they do have lots of cool “culture-y” things, they’re just a little more hidden away. The city also has a long history of incorporating old parts of the city into new parts – Roman towers reused in…
View MoreThis post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Today was the only fully unscheduled day on my Milan itinerary. (Tomorrow being La Scala and Thursday being the Last Supper, and perhaps a day trip) After dropping my mercato purchases at the hotel, I set out to visit the top sights. Milan doesn’t have…
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This post is part of a series called Italy 2012 Somewhere along the way today, I believe my brain broke just a little bit. I forgot that I’ll be in Italy for the next couple weeks, and instead tried to cram a lifetime of Italian food into a very short period of time. Not that…
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