European Mountain Destinations

Bicycling and hiking are two of my three favorite sports activities. (The third is Nordic skiing.) These are two destinations that I adore:

When hiking the Dolomites, you almost feel like you can touch the clouds.

The Lofoten Islands in Norway are ideal for cycling. Here, the mountains meet the sea. 

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Stunning Hiking Venues

 Wherever I travel, I include outdoor activities, whether cycling, hiking, walking or cross-country skiing. These are three venues that offer phenomenal hiking opportunities. 

Hut-to-hut hiking in the Dolomites is a rigorous but enchanting experience.

To truly experience the drama and beauty of the Grand Canyon, I hiked all the way down to Phantom Ranch, stayed overnight and then hiked back up the next day. (Going down is definitely harder on your legs.)

All my many trips to Norway involved outdoor adventures, including hiking in Jotunheimen National Park.

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Europe's Five Best Bicycle Routes

Bicycling, one of my favorite means of traveling, isn't just a mode of transportation. More importantly, it's a way to get in touch with the land and its people. It's the ultimate way to stop and smell the roses, to use a cliche. I recently wrote about five great bicycle routes in Europe for National Geographic Traveler - Intelligent Travel.

These are just a few of my endearing and surprising finds along those routes: 

• In Norway's Lofoten Islands, guests can overnight in the sometimes Spartan rorbuer or fishermans' cottages, and even cast a line through a hole punctured in the floor.

• A shock of pink may sweep across the Sinis Peninsula on Sardinia's West Coast as flocks of flamingos congregate.

• Those who island hop with their bicycle along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia will find that a large expanse of bucolic Mljet Island is taken up by a national park with a unique feature: a pair of saltwater lakes encircled by pines (a 12th century Benedictine monastery sits on an islet in the larger of the two.)

• When cycling in the northern Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, it's not unusual to zip down steep sections where a symphony of bells herald herds of goats and sheep crossing the road.

• Even novice cyclists can happily ride through the fairy-tale world of Germany's Black Forest because the southern route eliminates the heart-pounding ascents this sylvan landscape -- it includes some Ice Age-remnants and verdant nature reserves --  is noted for.

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Radio Show: Why I Love Sardinia + More

When I travel slowly, whether its peddling on old farm roads in northern Spain or walking on cliff top paths mostly used by fishermen in Portugal's Alentejo region, I have the time to sense minute changes in the landscape.  The different species of wildflowers or nesting birds. The changes in geologic formations. The shifting sands along the dunes where the sands mingle with wild roses or lavender. I truly believe that this mode of travel is the way to connect with the land and its people.

I bring this up because Anthony Capozzoli recently interviewed me for his show: How To Tour Italy.  We discussed how I chose to bicycle the entire West Coast of Sardinia, an more unexpected way to traverse this country where many vacations seek the overdeveloped East Coast.

Listen to the spot and you'll also find out:

1. how I went from scientist to travel writer
2. my favorite dish in Sardinia
3. how I manage to never check luggage
4. my top security tip when staying at a hotel
5. how to find hidden treasures in your own backyard

Listen to internet radio with How to Tour Italy on Blog Talk Radio

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A Gem of a Portuguese Sandwich Shop in New York

I'm one of those few Americans who's not in love with sandwiches. Whatever is layered between two pieces of bread had better be pretty interesting or downright tasty before I would ever give two thumbs up to a sandwich choice. I find most sandwich options boring, tasteless, laden with greasy mayonnaise or stacked high with fatty meats and cheeses. But my skeptical view on sandwiches was turned on its head when I bit into one of several sandwiches over a few days at the new New York City eatery, City Sandwich.


Chef Michael Guerrieri who has an eclectic background -- he was born in Naples, grew up in New York City and lived in and opened up an upmarket restaurant, Mezzaluna, in Lisbon -- presides over this wee Mediterranean shop that easily transports me to Portugal, a country I visit at least once a year.

The idea behind his new venture, which melds the Italian with the Portuguese, is all about simplicity and remaining true to traditional flavors and ingredients. When I spoke with him recently, I felt his passion for Portugal and for the cuisine he serves. "I'm putting my Italian-Portuguese upbringing on bread," he said.


Sardines are imported from Portugal and he's also tapped into New Jersey's Portuguese community. The breads are made in New Jersey by a Portuguese baker -- it arrives at the shop twice a day. They'll also be bringing in Portuguese wines. And don't expect to see any mayonnaise on your bread; instead, it's yogurt or olive oil.



Even the color scheme of the menu, with red representing meat sandwiches, green for veggies/fish and yellow for those that are egg based, are in keeping with the hues of the Portuguese flag. But the restaurant also has a New York sensibility. After all, melted mozzarella is not something you'd expect to find in either Portugal or Italy. (It's a New York City Italian phenomenon.)

My favorite sandwiches included the Auntie that combines pickled sardines with onions and cilantro. Even if you're not a sardine lover give it a try because the cilantro offsets any intense fishy flavor you might expect when sardines are on the plate. The Todd, my other fave, is constructed with smoked Portuguese pancetta and a honey-Dijon sauce. Given that I'm what I call a conditional vegetarian -- I only eat meat if it's a specialty or something that's a notable local delight and then I'll consume only small portions -- it's especially noteworthy that I finished the entire sandwich and found it exceedingly flavorful. (The size of these sandwiches -- hero-quality -- means you are getting very good value for the money, as well.)

Some customers may be hesitant in ordering the codfish; the alheira, a sausage of pork and sausage; and especially the morcella, a Portuguese blood sausage, sandwiches but I say give any of these a try or split them with a friend or colleague. Anything Michael touches turns to gold, cuisine wise. He is extremely skillful with his flavor combinations. I intend to return one evening and sip a fine Portuguese wine while nibbling maybe the Portuguese alheira with collards, not a combination that initially attracts aficionados. But in Michael's hands, I'm confident it'll have a blending of flavors that'll keep me coming back for more.

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Travel Tips for Island Escapes + Healthy Travel

Over the past four weeks I've been unusually busy, not only traveling in Malta (I've blogged about my adventures on the island of Comino and will be posting about my travels on the big island of Malta in a couple of weeks) but also writing guest posts for some fellow bloggers. Each one of these posts, like my own blog, deals with either hidden treasures or key travel tips. I want to share these with you:

1. I'm a big fan of island travel, especially when I can find lands that radiate authenticity. In this guest post you'll find out why I especially adore Sardinia, Corsica, the Azores, Bozcaada and the Lofotens. Because I believe in checking out the landscape slowly, on some, I bicycled past vineyards, sandy beaches or small fishing villages while on others I hiked and walked through a lush, wild landscape.


2. So much of the Caribbean is hardly off the beaten track, especially the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, when I visit my favorite island, St. John, instead of sunning on a stretch of golden sand, I take to the hiking trails far from the madding crowds. Here's what I found along these dirt paths that network this island that's mostly preserved as a national park.



3. A trip just isn't enjoyable when you're sick or in pain. Which is why I carry a very organized and extremely complete first-aid kit. Because I also have a medical background, I've devised a first-aid kit that takes care of just about any malady that might hit you on the road, whether you're doing a weekend at the beach or traveling far afield. In this post, I've described in details everything I carry in my first-aid kit. Some may think it's overkill, yet my kit packs small. And, it fits along with my "always be prepared for anything" mentality.

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My Three Best Kept Travel Secrets

TripBase, a very popular travel blog, recently started a tag-you’re-it game across the travel blogosphere. The idea is to collect a cool list of across-the-globe travel secrets from as many travel bloggers as possible. At some point, this list will be a Creative Commons roundup that I’ll be able to share with you once it's available.

I’ve just been tagged by two of my favorite travel bloggers, Melanie of TravelswithTwo and Robin of MyMelange to contribute my top three travel secrets.

Here they are:

1. Florida's Panhandle sometimes gets a bad rap, often because overdeveloped Panama City gets so much attention as a haven for spring break revelers. But there's that other Florida Panhandle, the authentic one that presents so many opportunities to explore some pristine beaches you might have difficulty choosing which ones to lay down your beach towel. In fact, over the past many years, some of these beaches have made it on to Dr. Beach's Best Beaches in America list -- a list with some 50 key criteria, including water color, scenery, urban development, sand quality and more.

Here are some of my favorite picks where blinding white sandy beaches are the rule and where, depending on the time of the year, I've found sections with more shorebird tracks than footprints.
Nine miles of dunes make St. Joseph Peninsula State Park particularly appealing. Shallow waters make also make it ideal for novice kayakers and a haven for migratory song birds, though it's also possible to spy hawks soaring overhead. St. George Island State Park is blessed with miles of sugar-white sands bordered by salt marches and oak and pine forests. Off the beach there's also good fishing for red snapper, mackerel and pompano. At Grayton Beach State Park, you can swim in emerald green water, gaze at sea-oat covered dunes, and hike through a lovely pine forest. St. Andrews State Park gives you the choice of swimming in the gulf or in a quiet tidal pool. From the beach, snorkelers are treated to multi-colored fish among the granite boulders of the jetty.


2. Surrounded on three sides by the sea and ringed by defensive Genoese watchtowers, Alghero makes for a picturesque town, especially given its fortified ancient quarter. Yet, many of those who visit Alghero with its fortified quarter never seem to leave their beach blanket. Set along the less developed west coast, Alghero has so much more to offer than swaths of sand and aquamarine waters that are perfect for boating. A sense of history pervades the old quarter that's still surrounded by Genoese watchtowers. On a self-guided audio tour, I climbed to the 20-meter-high terrace of the 16th century Porto Terra Tower for the panoramic views.
Though the beaches lining the coast of this resort town as well as those in nearby Fertilia get all the tourist attention, there are an array of day trips (many within cycling distance) sure to delight those who care little about sunning on Sardinia's sands. For example, I picked up an audio-guide at the Palmavera Nuraghe and meandered these ruins in this prehistoric village, one of the most complete of these Bronze Age complexes. Drive or bicycle through the little-visited Regional Forest of Porto Conte and you'll quickly understand why the protected land of oaks and pines is dubbed Noah's Ark. Unique white donkeys, small horses and Tibetan goats are just a few of the curious creatures wandering about. Though most visitors sign up for a boat tour to reach the famous Grotto di Nettuno with its cave network, a more memorable journey is to take the 654 steps of the Goat's Stairway down the cliff face. Not far away at Porto Ferro, three Genoese watchtowers guard Sardinia's longest beach where surfers flock to take on the crashing waves. Bird watchers often drive or bike to nearby pine-fringed Lake Baratz, Sardinia's only natural lake, where you may spot grebes and mallards.


3. Barcelona, Madrid and Andalusia get so much tourist traffic but it's the little visited Extremadura region -- one of Spain's least visited regions and the birthplace of Cortez, Pizarro and other Spanish conquistadors that provides so much inspiration for me with its rural landscapes of olive trees and Holm oaks, craggy mountainsides coated with pines and chestnuts trees and historic towns, Guadalupe, Merida, Trujillo, Zafra and Caceres, laced with labyrinthine streets. Each has a distinct character and is worth a visit: Trujillo http://www.spain.info/ven/otros-destinos/reportaje/trujillo.html?l=en for its palaces bearing the coats of arms of prominent families; Guadalupe for its massive monastery that's a UNESCO World Heritage site and one that houses a wealth of museums with elaborate embroidered vestments, reliquaries, ancient books of Gregorian chants; Merida that has some of the most complete set of Roman ruins around - so much so that I was able to jog along the periphery of the Roman Circus where chariot rides once took place; and, every June in Caceres, the capital of the province and another UNESCO World Heritage site, hosts the Classic Theater Festival where the works of the gold age artists can be experienced.
In whitewashed Zafra, though I didn't stay in one of Spain's most impressive paradors that's housed in a 15th century fortress-palace, I enjoyed the property's best feature: it's white marble Renaissance patio where I dined one evening on guinea hen in puff pastry. Instead, I stayed at Hotel Huerta Honda, the next-door property that was once the site of the castle's farm. In fact, the hotel's restaurant retains the original brick archway that was part of the fortress in the late 1400s. I also was lucky enough to visit during an annual event, De La Luna Al Fuego, when I took a historic tour of the fortress' impressive ramparts. I would've hung around longer to watch the sun set when an unexpected lightening storm cut our explorations short.


Now, I'm tagging 5 other travel blogs to share their top 3 best-kept travel secrets:

EllenBarone: Ellen's website and blogs have something for everyone. I've had the pleasure to travel with her and find that she's a real Renaissance woman who always gives me great tips and something new to think about.

JourneyWoman: Evelyn is a supreme resource for all things any woman will need when she's on the road, whether it's staying well or wondering what's appropriate to wear in different international destinations.

CiaoBambino: Ami provides a wealth of family-friendly travel advice. I don't have kids but, if I did, this would be one serious resource.

EuropeUpClose: Terri's just got so many fab tips, deals, news items and advice on so many European destinations. I'm in Europe frequently and I always find something here I didn't know.

Italylogue: Jessica rounds up an amazing array of everything you need to know about traveling to and enjoying Italy.

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An Idyllic Italian Isle

Sardinia's Costa Smeralda on the east coast may get all the celebrity attention, but I found that bicycling the island's west coast with locally based Dolcevita Bike Tours is the way to experience the real Sardinia. For one week, I pedaled alongside Italians and native English speakers sharing mandatory and frequent espresso stops and picnicking on sheep's milk cheese, prosciutto and cantaloupe, or brochette bread with olive paste. We ventured through some of the most remote and wildest parts of Sardinia, sampling eucalyptus honey, wild boar sausage and wines made from indigenous grapes. Rolling past olive groves, vineyards and Genoese watchtowers perched on promontories, we rested on strikingly white sand beaches and parked our bikes near ancient Roman ruins. Instead of simply visiting one beachside resort after another, traveling with a local company brought us myriad intimate surprises. For example, while biking the Costa Verde with its rocky gorges and uncrowded beaches, we found giant foliage-draped sand dunes that are the highest in all of Europe.

Another day in the hamlet of San Salvatore, once a site of many a spaghetti western, the locals offered us wine that they produced for a much-celebrated religious feast where villagers race barefoot from town to town carrying the saint's statue. In the town of Arbus that's snuggled on a hillside, we met Paolo Pusceddu, the infamous knife maker who presides over the town's Knife Museum. (There we examined his 650-pound folding knife that's considered the world's heaviest.) And, given that Sardinia is dotted with thousands of nuraghi, we had plenty of opportunities to inspect these curious truncated cone-shaped stone structures dating to the Bronze Age.

I always prefer traveling with local groups rather than a U.S.-based company as a way to get a real perspective of the land and its people. And Dolcevita was everything I had hoped for and more. The guides were attentive, always available to answer questions on everything from history to cuisine. The other cyclists, particularly the Italians, were a delight. Not only were they amazing cyclists -- there were more than a few steep hills to climb on this journey that they navigated with aplomb; considering one had raced professionally and three others did regularly high-speed, heavy-duty cycling, I picked up plenty of biking tips -- but they were personable, funny and ever so stylish. In fact, I joked with them that they were the most fashionable cyclists I'd ever traveled with. As one might expect from the Italians, for our seven-day trek, many wore a different bike outfit every day. And, amazingly, everything matched, from the jersey to the tights to the gloves and socks. Overall, an unforgettable adventure with people that will remain my friends.

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