Main Street Malone, NY had been my hometown since 1980. It has a world class golf course headed by PGA president Derrick Sprague, a beautiful ski resort and masses of wilderness. Little else except wonderful people I love to pieces. Few people knew of its existence until the recent manhunt for convicted killers Richard Matt and David …[ read more ]

Look closely at the gondola to the back. The prow shows the Venetian flag. Venice. The city of romance. And the city of those gondoliers. How does one get to be a gondolier ? It’s not as easy as donning a black and white stripped shirt and building up your bi & triceps. First of all, …[ read more ]

English: Venice: Italy: 1913 map of city center (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I wouldn’t leave Italy without achieving three tickets on my bucket list. The first: a gondola ride on the Grand Canal . And what a grand time we had. The Grand Canal is Venice ‘s major waterway and it divides the city in two. It looks like …[ read more ]

Not the San Marco Lion–but a gorgeous model The most famous section of Venice is St. Mark’s Square . For me, Canaletto made it familiar. His exquisite oil paintings capture the beautiful and mood of this quintessential Venetian square. We traveled there on a water bus–a fifteen minute cruise to glory and the splendor of Piazza San Marco. A hint …[ read more ]

Venice . Hardly a city in Italy is more romantic than Venice. Kevin Costner thought he had an original script with the Hollywood name of Water World. Venice trumped him by thousands of years. Taxi acquei–from airport to Villa Mabapa We landed in Marco Polo Airport –can you think of a more appropriate name for the watery world of …[ read more ]