Trips posted in
Alfred O’Neill
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Five Days on Henrietta Street, London.
London had changed. As it always does. London has the best and widest variety of boutique hotels. The Henrietta, by the Experimental Group, was a delightful surprise. I took a chance, especially since my significant other had never been to London and a good hotel room is crucial. I had not been since 2019. The…
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New Years in Vienna: The luxurious 9-day rail trip through Central Europe
New Years in Vienna: The Golden EagleDanube Express. A tour unlike any other. Having loved trains of all sorts all our lives, this 9-day tour of the Central Europe capitals and countryside, was like some surreal dream carved from the early 20th century. While there are several in-depth postings on the Destinations page, here we…
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The Golden Eagle Express private train. Vienna, New Years, and a tour unlike any other.
A classic A 7-day trip on a private train; the epitome of luxurious travel, civilized company, and of another era. Except you can have it now. New Year’s in Vienna: The Golden EagleDanube Express. A tour unlike any other. Unique is a poor choice of words — classic is overused but perhaps better because the…
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Knossos, the 3900 year-old labyrinth of ancient legend.(No Minotaur sightings.)
The Palace of Knossos, on the Mediterranean isle of Crete, presents a daunting task that broaches mere tourism: how does one really take it all in? As a site of such massive size and complexity, ruined earthquakes, tidal waves, toppled empires…clouding the eyes of history with the dust of legend of Midas and the Minotaur,…
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Castelo de San Jorge: Start your visit to Lisbon here! From here, the city is yours!
Lisbon is an amazing city — but not so much for the sites, but more for the place and atmosphere, people and food. One exception is the Castelo de S. Jorge. This highly intact castle sits atop the highest hill overlooking the city and the mighty Tejo river. The walk to the castle is fun,…
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Lisbon, Clube de Jornalistas: The great disconnect! Amazing interior but disappointing food!
Newly arrived in Lisbon, the concierge recommended the Clube; and after a short sunset stroll, we arrived to a welcoming host with an interior beautifully dedicated to journalism — old typewriters, displayed newspapers, on and on; it was like a museum and so fascinating we kept hesitating on the way to our table to take…
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More of the magnificent Abruzzo, Italy: Days 4-6 of moments, images, observations.
Day 4: a long drive to one of Italy’s great caves, Grotto Di Stiffe; descending down from the foothills and farms and onto SP50 highway — not a long ride, but a bit hard to locate due to lack of signage and the fact that the cave is in the mountains, which is a bit…
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Isle of Rhodes and Temple of Lindos: a view worthy of 3,000 years of conquests and worship.
Humankind has always, throughout time, sought the high ground; this was always, and still is, considered a strategy for both war and peace. A most ancient example of this is on the Isle of Rhodes, in the cross section of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Atop a natural bluff and rocky outcropping, sits the wide…
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Abruzzo, Italy: Melodies born of the eye. Days 1-3 of momentary visual observations.
Day 1: the drive from Rome to Abruzzo takes around 5 hours, (great highways); pass through the majestic Gran Sasso mountains; maneuver the confusing outskirts of Civiello Casanova outskirts; hills smoothing to tumbled flatland fields, the Google GPS going bonkers, being so off the beaten track, but the paper map, cumbersome and incredibly accurate; The…
Outspoken Traveler 