Category: International Travel

The French Riviera’s Gifts to the World

by  on  in International Travel, Wandering Traveler

Realizing I’m among the privileged who can say I’ve been to the French Riviera three times, the Côte d’Azur is as romantic and dramatic as you’ve imagined. Bustling “big” city Nice is more hectic, while crossing over to the Italian side offers a blessedly more humble, low-key coast — like the chill town of Ventimiglia where I stayed last year — compared to chichi Saint-Tropez or Monaco. Menton is more under-the-radar on the French side, with a fascinating history for thousands of years and impressive architecture on its Mediterranean Sea perch… Read more →

Valley de Guadalupe’s Gifts to the World

by  on  in International Travel

Bruma’s Casa Ocho pool at sunset. Photo by Virginia Miller. Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe is Mexico’s famed wine region, not far from California’s border and less than an hour drive up the mountain from the busy but chill beach town of Ensenada. In Baja California, Mexico’s northwesternmost state, it feels like SoCal’s older sibling, recalling California beach towns and wine… Read more →

Bogota’s Gifts to the World

by  on  in International Travel, Wandering Traveler

Bogota view. Photo by Virginia Miller. In 2018 was my first visit to Bogota, Columbia, an exciting melange of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, a deep dive into then up-and-coming restaurants like the great Leo and then brand-new El Chato (see my current review below). I wrote about Bogota’s burgeoning cocktail bar scene for Gin Magazine. I wrote dining/food… Read more →

Copenhagen’s Gifts to the World

by  on  in International Travel, Wandering Traveler

Nyhavn. Photo by Virginia Miller. Though my largest percentage heritage is Sicilian (specifically Aeolian Islands), my second biggest before my third German, is Scandinavian: split between Danish and Swedish, with one grandparent each having roots in those countries. So it’s no surprise that the earthy, sensual, visionary, free spirited Sicilian-island side of me is tempered with my eldest child, orderly,… Read more →