Lara Dunston 
Painting Venice. A notion that appeals to this romantic grand turista. We’ve been seeing artists sketching and painting in Venice and all over Europe this spring, setting up easels and drawing in sketchbooks, everywhere from the cobblestone lanes of the old town of Kotor to the waterfront at Venice’s Rialto markets. And I’ve been thinking … Read more
I first spotted My Local Guide to Venice in June 2009 when we were in town for the opening of the Venice Art Biennale. It was actually our last day of a weeklong stay at the lovely Novecento Hotel and we’d been using another excellent local guide produced by the hotel’s owners, the Romanelli family, … Read more
We’ve become the people we’ve always envied in Venice, sipping glasses of Prosecco at the windows of our Venetian palazzo as we survey the action on the Grand Canal down below. People crammed on the vaporettos that pull up at the wharf in front smile up at us, while tourists cruising by on their gondola … Read more
Train travel. We’ve always loved it – as much for the opportunities it affords us to sit back and simply reflect, as for the chance to people-watch, as well as take in scenery you don’t get to see from the seat of a car, bus or plane. Train travel is our favourite form of travel in Europe. Train … Read more
The trulli of Alberobello, the traditional white conical houses that sprawl across the hills of the town and surrounding countryside, offer a unique opportunity to live like locals in Puglia in Southern Italy. We were doing just that for a week during our month in Italy, so we wanted to learn more about the trulli. We … Read more