LIGURIA  Though arguably most associated with France, the Riviera - as concept, aspiration, and actuality - originates in Liguria, in northwestern Italy. The word itself is Italian for “coastline,” and was first applied to the...

3 Fonteinen Oude Kriekenlambik This month I was able to get my hands on something pretty special. Finding a traditional Belgian lambic within the beer club budget, especially from the renowned Drie Fonteinen, was a...

Imagine the following scenario: you are surrounded by a group of the most convincingly French people you’ve ever met - each hailing from a different region of the country,  wielding a bottle of their childhood...

Every April 25th in Portugal is Dia da Liberdade (Freedom Day), a national holiday commemorating the overthrow of the Estato Novo (New State) regime, after nearly half a century of increasingly moribund but still lethal...

ABRUZZO We spent last month  in Trentino- Alto Adige, adjusting to the altitude and confusing appellations. So April seems like a good time to continue our climb in the likewise alpine Abruzzo, about 700 kilometers...