Hello, again, Blogonauts! I had a secret priority for this Italian itinerary: To visit the Dolomites (or as they are known in Italian, Dolomiti), a range of mountains in the eastern Italian Alps. The Dolomiti are comprised of light-colored (almost white) limestone, and so they're also known as the pale mountains. Limestone erodes erratically over time, and this has left the Dolomiti with jagged peaks, towers, and sheer cliffs. Among these are the Cinque Torri ...

Hello, again, Blogonauts! We (that is, my four favorite fellow vagabonds and I) have managed to plop ourselves into the land of canals and cannoli. Venice opened both its arms and its clouds to us as we arrived Monday for a brief stay, before we head off for visits further afield from the local lagoon. Our current domicile is a lovely 4-bedroom apartment located near the Ca' d'Oro vaporetto stop. (The vaporetti are essentially the city buses of Venice, althou...

Hello, again, Blogonauts! Today we'll talk of seaside trails trekked vertically. The U.S. is a continent-wide country, and our coastlands involve long, flat, often sandy stretches. Perhaps a dune or a rocky pillar breaks up the terrain, but with a few exceptions, the land gently slopes toward the water, and then disappears beneath the waves. In contrast, Italy (crudely put) is a craggy, hundred-mile-wide peninsula dangling from the belly of Europe. (Think of hu...