Secrets of the Cathars & Mysteries of the Magdalene Tour June 2015 October 2014 and a friend mentions a book, ‘The Book of Love.’ This book is an ancient tome hidden somewhere in a small Tuscan village, a gospel according to Jesus Christ. History and reading, my two loves…I jump on the Internet and […]
Sabi Sands Game Reserve Flying from Cape Town we arrived in Skukuza Airport at 12:30 pm. Skukuza is in Sabi Sands Game Reserve, Kruger Park. We were staying at Dulini Lodge www.dulini.com for the next four days. Skukuza airport was recently reopened after extensive renovations. With beautiful timber floors and ceiling, the terminal is a […]
‘As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.’ Leonardo de Vinci Her eyes are closed allowing her ruminations to wander unfettered…unchallenged by the light of day. Some days her thoughts are succinct others they wander aimlessly through her ninety years. Days spent on the farm with her Papa, days […]
Monday morning dawned wet cold and miserable. Great claps of thunder reverberated through the house. Forked lightning cracked and tore the sky in half. But weather or no weather, school was still on. Jill said a silent prayer to Thor the thunder God, asking him to desist, at least while she was out. She […]
‘Frances you’re turn,’ James said. Grey-haired, elegant…her green eyes twinkled. The group waited expectantly. ‘He was a politician, his honesty questionable,’ she declared. Blank faces stared back. ‘I will not compromise my artistic principles by changing the plot of my story.’ ‘Very cryptic,’ James said. The group huddled. ‘Goodness is about character…a person’s kindness, moral […]
She lay on the grass, looking up, her camera clicking with precision and measured thought. She rolled to the left, more photos, then too the right, keeping low to the ground, out of sight. People didn’t understand her passion. She liked to be close, to hear them, to feel their power. She loved the […]
His message, while in the public domain, was clear…she got it…he would be there. She remembered his words…spoken long ago, ‘Don’t second guess yourself. Use your intuition.’ She listened to her heart and booked herself a spot. The day of the conference arrived. She paced. She stood. She felt unhinged. Breathless she sat. Through the […]
Saturday and Home Saturday, our last day in Florence. Tomorrow we catch the train back to Rome and fly home…one Virginia to Australia and the other to Munich. We have had a wonderful week. Done all we wanted. Seen all we wanted. We have breathed in Florence and its wonderful history. We have experienced Alessandro […]
Friday Today we were touring with Sense Umbria, Narelle and Troy Hindley, two Australians now living in Umbria. See www.senseumbria.com for details of their tours. We were meeting outside Firenze Santa Maria Novella at 8am. Up early we walked to the station. We had a photo of Narelle hopefully we would recognize her. It was […]
Thursday Today we visit the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti. The Boboli Gardens is the home to sculptures dating from the 16th and 18th century and was the main seat of the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany. The architecturally designed gardens are behind Palazzo Pitti on eleven acres…an open-air museum. Ancient stone steps lead us […]
Wednesday Today we are going to Pisa and Lucca, a private tour. We are supposed to meet our driver on Via Por Santa. It seems I have given the wrong address to the tour company. I call to see where he is. We are told to walk to Ponte Vecchio he will be there in […]
I love train travel, anytime, anywhere in the world–Africa, Europe, USA, Japan and Central Australia. One day I will board the Orient Express and travel across Europe…Venice, Budapest, Paris and London…for now we travel two hours on Italia Rail and arrive in Florence early afternoon. We cab it to Santo Stefano Piazza, a little square […]
