ONE: LECCE For whatever reason they call it Florence of the South, but Lecce is a different kind of magic. Lecce is pure Baroque excess: hot, theatrical, playful, sensual. The local pietra leccese stone is so soft it practically begs to be carved, and architects went wild: cherubs tumble, columns twist, saints float mid-air, facades ripple like stage curtains. Santa Croce is the delirium of it all, Piazza Duomo the perfect backdrop – you simply cannot be a saint here. And when the sun goes down, the city doesn’t dim, it glows. On a stage as big as your ego and as daring as your secret desires, you are the…
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#SINEQUANON LUBERON: THE ULTIMATE LAVANDER ESCAPE
From the excess of the Riviera to the wilderness of Camargue or the big ego of the historical cities, Provence is great from the highest mountain to the serene sea. But at the heart of it all you will find the Luberon - and that is a coup de coeur to last a lifetime.
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SINEQUANON Sardegna: Probably The Most Beautiful Beaches in The World
ONE: South of Olbia & Tavolara It’s hard to pick a number one sight in a realm that already has the most beautiful sea ever; but if you must, there can only be one with Tavolara in it. With Tavolara guarding the surreal beauty of the shores of Costa Dorata like an immense, white-scaled fantastic creature, the views are showstopping. Sardinia’s typical beauty, the marriage between lush vegetation, sculpted rocks and epic beaches, is at its best here. From Capo Cerato to Capo Coda Cavallo, absolutely every inch of Costa Dorata is a postcard, with the fantastic creature as a backdrop. Explore the beaches and go on top of Capo…
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Les Calanques de Cassis and the Route des Crêtes have made it on my must-see-once-in-life list
Two big reveals This is the most dramatic coastline nobody talks about, inches away from one of the best clifftop drives in Europe, equally unheard of. The Calanques of Cassis The Calanques are deep limestone fingers cut into the coast between Marseille and Cassis. The Mediterranean fjords. The geology here is dramatic: ancient tropical limestone pushed up from the ocean floor over millions of years, carved out by ice-age rivers, then drowned by the rising sea. Because the rock is nearly pure calcium carbonate, it acts like a giant mirror — and the water turns a color that needs a name. Neon-blue, as if light is iradiating from deep within. I…
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As happy as you’re meant to be in Capri
I won’t do Capri as a race. I have no interest in the 6:00 AM scramble for the ferry or the frantic efficacy of the day-trip. To go to Capri is to embrace the overdose—the cliché, the excess, and the unapologetic pursuit of the Good Life. If you have been several times and have no “musts,” the arrogance of a day trip is acceptable—just to walk the most beautiful path in the world, buy a bottle of scent, have a cone of Capri lemon gelato and leave. But for the rest, the strategically lazy, the island is best handled with a posh collector’s mind. You are here for the once-in-a-lifetime…
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Campi Phlegrei and the sunken super-spa
You’ve been to Naples. You went to Pompeii. Yet you missed the adventure. Pompeii gets all the attention. But less than 30 kilometres from Naples, in the other direction, there is another Roman city just as extraordinary — that almost nobody knows exists and even fewer have seen. Because it’s underwater.Baia didn’t die in a flash of fire like Pompeii. It sank. One breath at a time, over centuries, until the most decadent resort of the Roman Empire became a silent kingdom of fish and seaweed.The science behind it is called bradyseism — from the Greek for slow movement. The Phlegraean Fields — the vast active volcanic caldera stretching west…
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Coasta Amalfi, valea dragonului si starea de gratie
Exista un drum de-a lungul coastei in Campania pe care am condus poate de zece ori. Ca toate marile frumuseți, e infricosator — stanci abrupte, curbe in ac de par, autobuze venind din sens opus pe drumuri initial construite pentru magari, privelisti extravagante, provocare la tot pasul. Da, despre faimoasa Coasta Amalfitana zic. O iubesc total – desigur, în afara sezonului. Îmi place chiar si parcarea in panta cand ma opresc pentru un aperitivo in Praiano. Dar voi, voi ar trebui sa luati autobuzul, serios. Soferii SITA (compania locala de autobuze) sunt nennfricati si nebuni, ca toti italienii, dar orarul este bun si de incredere.Ideea este ca mergi pe coasta…
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The sea, the dragon and cloud nine
There is a road along the Campania coast that I have driven perhaps ten times. Like all great beauties, it has no mercy — plunging cliffs, hairpin turns, oncoming buses on roads built for donkeys, views so extravagant they feel like provocation. Yes, it’s the infamous Amalfi Coast. I love it completely. I do it off-season, of course. I even enjoy tight slope parking when I stop for aperitivo in Praiano. But you, you should take the bus, really. The SITA drivers (local bus company) are fearless and the timing is surprisingly good. But here is the catch: the coast is not (entirely) the point. The coast is the way…
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THE BEST TRAVEL ADVICE IN THE WORLD
ONE: Travel to wonderland Use the rabbit hole. Go where the magic is: visit Disneyland or the Harry Potter Studios or Il Giardino dei Tarocchi, fly a kite on the beach, spend a week in an old mill in the middle of nowhere, camp in the desert and bathe in the Milky Way at night. Travel back to yourself. Recapture the world as it looked before you grew up and started being reasonable about things. TWO: Return to your happy place You must have one. A cabin, a lake, a farmhouse in a vineyard, a specific city in a specific season, a table with a particular view, maybe a person.…
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SICILY #SINEQUANON: THE 7 WONDERS YOU MUST SEE
ONE: TAORMINA & CASTELMOLA Taormina is iconic for good reason and is one of those places worth braving the crowds. Down in Taormina Mare, the coastline puts Isola Bella on display as if an artist had envisioned the perfect ornament for the coast. Then ride the funicular or drive up the hill and the town itself unfolds: alleys that feel like discoveries, terraces that surprise at every turn, a piazza that is essentially a sublime balcony over the Ionian, and above all, the Greek Theatre. One of the most fabulous concert halls in the world, with its stage opening onto Etna’s smoking peak and the endless coastline, it is the…
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CHIANTI CLASSICO: LEGENDA COCOSULUI NEGRU
In vechile tinuturi ale Toscanei, intre orasele rivale Siena si Florenta, se intinde glorioasa regiune Chianti – un trofeu ravnit intr-o disputa teritoriala veche de secole. Generatie dupa generatie, dusmania dintre cele doua orase mari a mocnit sub soarele arzator al Toscanei. Un cocos alb, un cocos negru si o cursa de cai Disperati sa gaseasca o cale de a hotari, o data pentru totdeauna, cui avea sa-i revina teritoriul Chianti – ceea ce azi numim Chianti Classico -, conducatorii celor doua orase au convenit asupra unei solutii neobisnuite: o cursa de cai. Regulile erau simple, dar fara precedent – doi calareti urmau sa porneasca la drum la primul cantat…
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ACQUA ALTA IN VENETIA
Ca toate marile frumuseti, e plina de contraste: La Serenissima este incredibila, irezistibila, fragila si dramatica, toate la un loc. Destinul Venetiei de a fi un taram al minunilor vesnic in pericol are o frumusete tragica, iar nimic nu o face mai evident decat zilele de acqua alta.Pe 29 octombrie 2018, o maree exceptionala a inundat Venetia. A fost a patra cea mai mare inregistrata vreodata si cea mai dramatica din ultimul deceniu. Apoi, in 2020, a aparut sistemul de baraje MOSE, iar toata lumea a devenit mai relaxata. DESCOPERIREA Cand apele inunda strazile si creeaza o oglinda spectaculoasa, orasul se transforma. Ceea ce pentru turisti e un impediment, pentru…
