• escape to wonderland,  Uncategorized

    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…

  • #SINEQUANON

    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…