I recently had the opportunity to explore San Miguel de Allende, a small preserved colonial town that has become a haven for artists.  Following is some pictures I took during one of my days there.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., San Miguel de Allende

My favorite piazza in Rome is Campo dei Fiori.  It lived up to all my preconceived ideas of what a piazza should have.  Open market featuring fresh and colorful produce, flowers, cafes, gelato, boutiques, outside tables, musicians, the smell of cappuccino…. a fountain… I could go on and on.

Piazza Campo de’ Fiori is where we found ourselves several times.  The food just kept bringing us back.  And I don’t mean the sit down at a fancy restaurant type of food either.  I’m talking food you hold in your hand.  No need for utensils.  Food where you are delicately peeling of the wrapper its encased in… carefully balancing it between bites so as not to drop any yummy bits and pieces on the ground.  Food that doesn’t cost a lot but tastes like a million bucks. And food – that you can only get in that one place and never ever get anywhere else.  The thrill of the chase.  The zing of the flavors.

Which brings me to the point of my story…. Aristocampo.  A little sandwich shop on one of the corners in the piazza.  Small.  Unassuming.  But a whole lot of flavor.  When you enter you will see all of the best and freshest ingredients on display for you to choose from.   I was a fan of their various types of mushrooms.  I love fungi.  Also try the porchetta, the whole roasted pig flavored with rosemary and garlic that you will see laid out on the counter.  Was consistently succulent and delicious.  I promise you that your eyes will roll into the back of your head when you experience the porchetta… (say it with me…porrrr-cheh-tah… I love ya).

After you make your choices – they pile it between thick slices of fresh bread and press it into the best panini you will ever have in your life.   I would go to Rome again – just for these sandwiches.  Yes.  I truly would.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., The best sandwiches at Campo dei Fiori

We had spent the whole day at the Pergamon Museum which is on Museum Island in Berlin.  World class.  After we were done we strolled down the street and bumped into Kunsthaus Tacheles.  The polar opposite of the prim and proper Pergamon.  Grungy, counter-culture, free flowing outdoor art space and indoor gallery.

A collective of artists have taken over this former department store that was built in 1907.   It was going to be demolished in 1990 – when a group of artists had it declared as a historic building – and then took it over.  Today it is a art center and a night club.  Part BM, part Space Island, part festival.

Entrance to Kunsthaus Tacheles

Glass and metal artist

One of the many galleries

There are 5 floors. The stairways smell like urine and are covered in graffiti

Every part of the stairs has some sort of urban art on it.

View from the 5th floor

Hansel and Gretel?

Inside Kunsthaus Tacheles

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Kunsthaus Tacheles

It was a wet day in Rome.  First we stood in line at the Vatican but when the rain started pouring we decided to get out of the line.  We didn’t have our umbrellas.  We got so lost or… momentarily lost – trying to figure out the right train to take…in search of the Trevi Fountain.  As the rain fell – we dashed in and out of doorways and arches.  When the rain abated we stumbled onto the Trevi Fountain.

I threw a coin – my bracelet wanted to go with – and came off in the toss.  Oh sigh.  I’ll have to come back another trip and look for it.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Trevi Fountain – after the rain

Big Sur holds a special place in my heart.

Truly majestic and powerful.  Why?  Maybe… it’s how the ocean in all his glory, so softly met her cliffs.  Two opposite forces of nature, ocean and land, just meeting.  As if for the first time.  Over a cup of tea.  In all their original glory.

To be there and feel it is beyond explanation.  Visit Big Sur and feel this how inspiring Big Sur Is!

The whales… the dolphins… the sea otters frolic in and out of the kelp forests.

At night… the only light you need is that from the stars.  And when they have finished their show…. they give way to the milky way.  Her skirts shimmer against the sky and lead you to dream of unicorns and galaxies.

One of my favorite moments in Big Sur (and there were many) was early in the morning.

We would make breakfast….and though it was quiet… the team effort was a dance…with each other…. with nature… with the birds… and the soft breeze….with the sunrays that peaked through the clouds… the clouds that graced us with our blanket kissing our shoulders and cheeks keeping us cool until she went to play on the open ocean.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Big Sur is Majestic

Catalina is a boater’s paradise.

Few places anywhere offer the tranquility or the peaceful atmosphere that exists on Santa Catalina Island.  From year to year Catalina remains one of my favorite jewels of the sea.

It’s close enough to Los Angeles and San Diego to make this a very quick trip.  It’s only 20 miles or so away.  And by the time you get to this recreational escape  you’ve left all your cares behind.

This past July 4th weekend I found myself on a 38 foot Catamaran with my closest friends.  We anchored in Avalon with the casino on our right, other sailboats on our left… and fireworks in the sky.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Catalina via Catamaran

For the record, they spelled Hana Highway wrong.  It should have been “Hannah” (my name) Highway.

What is Hana Highway:  A road on the rural east side of the island that has 600 curves and 54 bridges.

What you see: Lush tropical landscape with waterfalls and more waterfalls and ocean seascapes around every corner.

What it feels like: I love to zig… and zag.  I love to drive.  I drive a stick shift so I do love to drive.  So…let me ask you a question.  What is better than a 4 wheel drive?  Answer:  A… RENTAL… 4 wheel drive.  That’s what I got.  A Jeep Wrangler which is SO much fun to drive.  I had the top down (of course) but then it would sprinkle and I would say…. oh it’s just sprinkling… but on Hana Highway you will have 12 seasons the whole drive so there I was driving and it would sprinkle… and then I’d wait.. and then my glasses were so wet I’d have to actually stop… and put the top up… and then the rain would break and then I’d put the top down.

To drive:… was fun.  I love hairpin turns.  I had the my ipod with, and I’d lean with my body and turn left….and then right… and then left…. yummmmm.

Every now and then stop… and pick some fruit off the tree.  Picture this.  I’m all of 5 feet tall and I’m jumping up and down to try to reach the fruit.  I did get enough to satisfy my curiosity.  Some made me gag and some were delicious which I ate at until I was content.  Finally after an hour on the highway I encountered a fruit stand.  How awesome was that.  I ate some very unique fruit.  I basically ate everything that I could not recognize.  Totally recommend you do the same.

Coming back…. there were some random younger adults that needed a ride to town.  There’s a lot of hitch hiking on the island.  I figured… why not.  I picked them up and then dropped them off at a surf stop 2 miles down the road.  Made for fun conversation about their adventures for a few moments.

I didn’t take as much pictures as I like but that’s only because I totally plan on going back.  Here’s the official site – copy and paste this to check it out.  Aloha.  http://www.gohawaii.com/maui/plan/things_to_do_on_maui/attractions/points_of_interest/hana

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Hana Highway, Maui

Hello ~ I’m currently having some temporary technical difficulties with my site.  Please pardon the bugs until I can find a friend to help me figure out why some of the links do not work as they should  My posts also don’t want to expand when they are found through archives or through the categories in the nav bar.

In the meantime, I’ve set all the posts to show up on one page as indexing seems to be buggy.  Also my images in my slide show are in hiding…. trying to find them.  hehe.

Thanks for your patience.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., A blogger not a programmer

Cape Cod is so picturesque.  It’s lush.  And the houses are quaintly adorned with flower box windows.  The trees hug the road and every now and then you’ll see a bridge.  I saw the ferries to Martha’s Island (though I didn’t get on).   I ate steamers.  Which are like clams still in the shell with a mullusk looking think hanging out.  It was tasty and gritty.  I didn’t much like working for my food.

The lighthouses made me think of fishermen and clam chowder.  Yum.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Cape Cod Makes Me Crave Clam Chowder

I love beaches.  Every one is different.  Daytona’s shimmery.  It’s like a big bottle of glitter got sprinkled up and down the beach.

You can see the reflection of the sky on the sand.

And speaking of which… the sand in Daytona feels like powdered sugar.  Sof soft and powdery.  Almost like talc.

I had fun on that beach that day.

Magically Delicious Travel - Sharing my travel photos and stories., Shimmering Sands of Daytona Beach