Clients are taking Ravello and the Amalfi Coast all to themselves
on these beautiful winter days!
Our last day in Spain today finishes with the training school of the Spanish Arabian horses. Appealing due to their noble look and lively character. What Beauties!
Clients comments are "Another Fantastic Day!"
Turn your volume up.
Now this is a "room with a view", and a great way to celebrate a birthday! Tonight, the Eiffel tower is magnificent under a warm autumn sky.
We try to please you with wonderful and comfortable sleeping arrangements and thoughtful room selections.
Barrel making. Something you don't see often and always interesting. Laser cutting the BRAND into the barrel.
My clients, enjoying their cooking class in Tuscany today. They said it will be a great memory to carry home! Followed by a Michelin star lunch with...of course, the champagne.
So long Venice. It is always a pleasure.
Heading to the airport on a beautiful sunny morning.
After leaving the grand canal, the quiet side canals offer a look into a typical morning, people going to work and getting ready for the day.
Today in Spain, (yes, that's our group holding the camera) we do the spontaneous. If there's a village that has a running-of-the-bulls, then we veer off course! My colleague Angel, knows how to entertain you and show you the best of Spain. We seek out the secret spots. Don't travel with us and plan on being ordinary tourists.
We still have one couple space left in September. The 26th - October 6th. Jump on board and make good memories.
Rides over....dang it!
Sliding in for a landing on Shotover Canyon.
Queenstown, New Zealand.
What you'll need to properly skin a fish.
Practice and a very sharp knife.
Serving up some Ice cold glacial salmon in New Zealand.
Letting her rip in Auckland (Waitemata) Harbor at full heel.
NZL41
PUTTING UP THE SAILS!
Built and raced by Japan this vessel came second to Team New Zealand in the 1995 Louis Vuitton Challenge. It competed in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup alongside, Team New Zealand, One Australia and Tag Heuer. The yacht was then bought by the GBR Challenge and used as a training boat and was raced at the 150th America's Cup Jubilee 2001 in Cowes.
NZL41 remains in almost the same configuration as when she was raced ensuring an authentic race experience, while minor alterations including hand rails ensure comfort and safety of those on board. She has even had the honour of having Prince William sail her in 2014 during the Royal tour.
Adrenaline rush for us youngsters in beautiful Skippers Canyon! Queenstown, New Zealand's South Island.
Beautiful aerial view of Ravello and Scala and many other little villages we know so well, spilling down the mountainside. The snaking little roads are intriguing from the air.
Photo taken by my friend Roberto Mansi.
Twilight in Florence.
Even the swallows are celebrating.
The farmers are all friendly. None speak English, but they take a liking to us, curious about us, and why we are there.
Every October, starting late in the month, and continuing through December, you'll find the farmers out at the mill pressing the olives into vibrant green, fresh oil.
Say hello to Salvatore, all of my past lemon grove visitors.
The history of lemons on the Amalfi Coast dates back over a thousand years (900 AD), when trade with the Middle East first introduced the fruit to the village of Amalfi, one of the leading maritime centers of commerce at the time.
Amalfi’s merchants were notoriously savvy, but no doubt they could have ever imagined the immensely positive impact the acquisition of these lemons would have on the local agriculture, economy, landscape and gastronomy for centuries to come.
The Aceto family migrated to Italy from Europe’s north way back in 1835, when they decided to buy a small plot of land in Ravello and begin a new life as lemon farmers on the Amalfi Coast. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the purchase of this land would mark the humble beginning to a long-lasting and successful family business in the lemon trade. The challenges they faced through the years were met with strength and true resilience, and by the end of the second world war, over a century later, the Aceto family had established themselves as the largest producers of lemons on the Amalfi Coast.
From high in the lemon nest, overlooking the lemon groves, with church bells calling Saturday night Mass, we felt like we had found a little bit of peace, and reached a little piece of heaven.
