Category: Travel

  • A Prayerful Lead-Up

    COVID may not be over but this girl is hitting the road again. I am just days away from a first in my life: a Pilgrimage. I will be traveling with dozens of Catholic men and women, led by the very best that America Magazine has to offer. We will be walking in the steps…

  • Vlad the Curious

    Vlad the Curious

    Second day – Romania. This six-day voyage on the Orient Express is really three nights on the train. And a couple of days on the ground. For showering, refueling, and such. The train has no showers – so “modern” conveniences are built into the trip. Five-star, mind you. Our first such break is in Bucharest.…

  • Vienna: In the Park

    Vienna: In the Park

    All summer, Vienna holds a free Film Festival in the Park behind its city hall (“Rathaus”). Dozens of food stands snake around the park – in the center high, and low, tables where people eat their dinners. On plates with real silverware. And beverages in glasses. Filmgoers leave their dishes and cutlery when they’re done.…

  • The Kindness of Strangers

    The Kindness of Strangers

    Day Two in Vienna, 2019. The kindness and sheer delight of strangers is becoming a theme on this trip to Europe. It started with my flight overseas. Even though it took me 8 hours longer to get here than scheduled – the voyage was good. Bad weather was the culprit. T’storms forced a series of…

  • Social-izing

    Social-izing

    I have travelled a fair amount – much of it abroad. Even lived in Rome for three months. Go to my Archives, if interested. rulingwoman.com began as a tool to let friends know about my adventures. Primitive social media when you think about it. In “those days” Instagram (October 2010) and Twitter (March, 2006) didn’t…

  • Tic Toc

    Tic Toc

    Over one year ago, I booked the train trip of my wildest dreams: Istanbul to Paris on the Orient Express. Today a Travel Journal came in the mail – 8 days before my departure to Europe. Plus a couple of luggage tags. It is essentially my ticket. Wow!!!

  • Another Year: Two New Countries

    Heading out on a much-deserved summer vacation, mainly to hear my friend sing the Brahms Requiem with a chorale group in Budapest. Then, we shall take a quickie jaunt to Vienna.  I have neither travelled in the deep heat of summer to (Central) Europe. Nor, for such a short time: just a week.  Many adventures…

  • Still Moving

    Still Moving

    I am on vacation and I have yet to stop moving.  24 hours door to door with a 7-hour layover in Bruxelles – turns out there is a cost to a $500 round trip to and from Roma. Oh, did I mention, I had a center seat to BRU and no seat – in fact…

  • An Afternoon with Signora Maria

    An Afternoon with Signora Maria

    Visiting the cugini in Bologna, I had two missions: to enjoy the company of family, and to get my very own Signora Maria! Anyone who calls Signora Maria a terra cotta figure has clearly not met this delightful, whimsical character. Her creator is Anna Tazzari, an exquisitely talented artist in Bagnacavallo (outside Bologna).   My first…

  • Little Tiles of Ravenna

    Little Tiles of Ravenna

    What a lovely little Italian town is Ravenna. My Italian friends say “oh, che belli mosaici!!” (pronounced moh-ZAI-ih-chee). And yes, the mosaics here are unbelievably beautiful.  The little tiles of Ravenna are abundant and extant. Colorful and glimmering – golden little chips festooning the ceilings, the walls. Beautiful, indeed. Ravenna has it – and it knows it.…