One of my resolutions for 2020 was to visit all “seven” Canary Islands. With a four-year delay, I finally managed to complete the tour of the Spanish archipelago, discovering in the meantime that there are actually eight islands! Today, I will try to help you choose the “best” amongst these islands for a perfect vacation in the Canaries. Despite all being volcanic islands, fairly close to each other and sharing a common history, these islands in the Atlantic Ocean are incredibly diverse. From the lush La Palma to the desert-like Fuerteventura. Or from the rural Gomera to the urban capital of G ..read more

With this post, I’d like to offer practical tips to help you organize a trip to visit the Nile region in the south of Egypt. I couldn’t find a title that contained everything I’m going to talk about, so I’ll give it a subtitle: Practical advice for organizing a trip to discover the Nile, in the south-west region of Egypt: travel agencies and guides, what to visit, Nile cruises, tips and annoying street vendors, where to book a hotel in Luxor and Aswan, and excellent Egyptian cuisine restaurants. I’ll address the topics in this order as if we’re planning our holidays. Let’s start by deciding wh ..read more

The Canary Islands were seven until a few years ago. In 2018 La Graciosa was officially recognized as the eighth island even though it’s still heavily dependent on Lanzarote, to which it previously belonged. With 29 km2, La Graciosa, the smallest of the Canary Islands, is a very pretty little island which deserves at least a day trip visit from Lanzarote. The golden sand of La Graciosa beachesLa Graciosa: the new island without asphalt All the inhabitants of La Graciosa, about 700 souls, live in the only two villages on the island: Caleta del Sebo, the capital overlooking Lanzarote, and the ev ..read more

Canary Islands were seven until a few years ago. In 2018 La Graciosa was officially recognized as the eighth island even though it’s still heavily dependent on Lanzarote, to which it previously belonged. With its 29 kmq, La Graciosa, the smallest of the Canary Islands, is a very pretty little island which deserve at least a day trip visit from Lanzarote. The golden sand of La Graciosa beachesLa Graciosa: the new island without asphalt All the inhabitants of La Graciosa, about 700 souls, live in the only two villages on the island: Caleta del Sebo, the capital overlooking Lanzarote, and the eve ..read more

A sudden desire to ski during summer time made me discover Tyrol, a region in the austrian Alps I’ve never been before. The Ziller valley hosts the access to the Hintertux Glacier. And its beauty made me feel like a little girl again, when I thought I would have loved to live in a house of stone and bricks lost in the mountains. I’ve found a beautiful valley surrounded by even more beautiful mountains, rich of activities for all legs and ages. I was truly fascinated by it. I kept photographing everything around me, especially the hundreds of cows lying lazily in wide meadows full of flowers, c ..read more

Maasai are well known to tourists visiting the main safari parks in Tanzania. They are easily recognized by colourful clothes and abundant jewellery. People can sport them on the roadside or outside their houses in the villages. Some of these villages welcome visitors for a few hours of “cultural immersion”. But what else do we really know about this tribe? Today I will talk about the Maasai I met during my trip to Tanzania a few years ago. Women and children in Maasai traditional clothesWho are the Masai Maasai are an ethnic group in the north of Tanzania and South Sudan. They have been livin ..read more

On the second floor of an elegant Milanese building from the 1920s hosts an incredible collection of 20th century art. It’s the Boschi Di Stefano museum, that with a free entrance, it has been open to the public for the past twenty years not far for the city center of Milan. Music room, with a piano and some De Chirico paintingsHistory of the Boschi Di Stefano art collection Antonio Boschi and Marieda Di Stefano lived in their apartment in Via Jan in Milan since the early 1930s. They were a curious couple, an engineer and a sculptor, both passionate about contemporary art. Boschi worked for th ..read more

Tombs and temples in Luxor are, in my opinion, the most beautiful things to visit in Egypt. Not even the world-famous pyramids of Giza can compare with the beauty of these monuments in the south of the country and the wonder they arouse when visiting them. The hieroglyphs, still in their original colours, cover every wall, door and column. They make the monuments in Luxor a visual feast for the tourists’ eyes. Seeing in first person all this richness of detail is something truly magical. If you’re travelling to Egypt, you can’t miss this beauty: it’s fascinating beyond belief! Luxor: the ancie ..read more

Taxis and private drivers can be found everywhere in Jordan. You just need to know how to hire them without getting overly scammed. I found Jordan’s road system to be quite well maintained and easy to navigate. Renting a car is definitely possible and it shouldn’t be too complicated to get around the country on your own. GoggleMap is also quite reliable around here. I would make one exception: the roads of the capital. Driving in Amman, in my opinion, is for the brave, it takes courage and good luck! Stenographic secondary road (picture by Logga Wiggler)Taxis There’s really no need to look for ..read more

The life of Hatshepsut is the story of a feminist ante litteram, a queen who proclaims herself pharaoh, one of the very few female rulers of ancient Egypt. Her story fascinated me, especially since she was a woman of good taste, as well as of great power. Hatshepsut left us incredible temples, tombs, statues and obelisks, although unfortunately not all of them have survived up to today. Hatshepsut mortuary temple in LuxorWho is Hatshepsut: the queen who proclaims herself pharaoh Hatshepsut was born around 1500 BC, as part of the XVIII Egyptian dynasty, therefore we speak of the New Kingdom. Sh ..read more