Author Archives: Shasti Walsh

23 July, 2018: Third hike! This one was my favorite: 9-ish miles of gorgeous mountain scenery and more time spent going downhill than up, thanks to a cable car at the start of the trail. For a step-by-step guide to this excellent hike, check out Earthtrekkers’ chronicle, which we found quite useful. I love aContinue reading “Hiking in the Dolomites, Part 3: Puez-Odle Altopiano”

22 July, 2018: time for our second hiking attempt! After bailing on the last one due to the bugs, we were a little apprehensive, but excited to try again. This time we chose the Herrensteig loop in the Villnöss valley, which is in the Puez Geisler Nature Park. Or, if you prefer Italian, it’s inContinue reading “Hiking in the Dolomites, Part 2: Herrensteig”

Abort, Abort!

Suddenly my German skills are useful in Italy

17 July, 2018: From Florence we hopped a bus to the train station, then a train to La Spezia, where we changed to a small local train to our next destination. Cinque Terre is a long-famous (it inspired Dante, among many others) tourist hotspot on the Italian Riviera; five extraordinarily picturesque villages set among steeplyContinue reading “Cinque Terre”

11 July, 2018: Altogether we were in Florence for about a week, and saw more art than I could count or photograph. “Don’t forget to look up!” became our running refrain, as every building we entered had stunning frescoes and carvings on the ceilings.

07 July, 2018: Florence! I landed fairly late, and took a taxi to the address of my Airbnb. It was a proper Italian taxi ride, complete with wild acceleration, sudden stops and turns, and the driver gesturing wildly from time to time. He was very nice, but he had a little trouble finding the addressContinue reading “Florence, part 1: Welcome to the City of Narrative”