Postcards from a solo adventure traveler…
Malta — Beyond Valletta
Long before the Knights took control of Malta, the islands prime Eastern Mediterranean location had attracted successive waves of conquerors who also left their mark on the tiny country.
The Odyssey Revisited – Athens to Delphi
Even before I ever set foot in the country I knew of its myriad islands and endless coastline. Add a plethora of archeological treasures in various stages of restoration, bountiful dinners of taverna fare and soulful rebetika music. I felt I had Greece covered.
The back roads of Tuscany – Casentino
Hard to imagine that any corner of Tuscany could ever escape attention of tourists. But the Casentino Valley, a rural area wedged into the foothills of the Appenine Mountains a mere 50 kilometers east of Florence has managed to remain mainly ignored by visitors.
The back roads of Tuscany – Val d’Orcia
Today I take to the back roads of Tuscany toward the Val d’Orcia. The region abounds with medieval hill towns with their own important cultural heritage. Among them Siena and her Piazza del Campo, one of the greatest medieval squares in Europe.
The Oltrarno – where ancient Florence lives on
No visit to Florence feels complete without a foray into the narrow alleys of the Oltrarno. Located outside the city’s walls, on the oltr’Arno the other side of the Arno), was from the start home to the traditional Florentine craftspeople carried on their trade. Today’s picture framers, gilders, engravers, enamelers and restorers of fine antiques still do.
Everyday life amid Renaissance wonders
To wander around Florence is to walk back in time to the birthplace of modern western culture. The Renaissance began here, in the maze of narrow streets lined with the palazzos and monasteries of the old town. Their façades look like stark fortresses. But step through their foreboding, metal studded gates and a world of serene gardens, elegant cloisters and inexhaustible treasures await.
Florence – Cradle of the Renaissance
Florence, the widely acknowledged cradle of the Renaissance, owes its splendor and unique influence on the development of the western world in great part to the dominant ruling family of the period, the Medici.
The medieval gem in the heart of Belgium
Bruges, just one hour’s drive from the cosmopolitan center of Brussels, is one of these enchanted cities European fairy tales are made of; cities vanished into the sea at the height of their grandeur to reappear untouched by time every 100-years or so. Bruges, however, shines on.
Preserving the Ancestral Land of the Kichwa
The canoe is silently taking us upstream along the narrow channel that connects the Napo River, a major tributary of the Amazon, to Anangucocha Lake. We are in the heart of the ancestral territory of the Kichwa Anangu community in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve regarded by scientists as one of the highest bio-diversity areas on the planet.
Darwin and Me – A Galapagos adventure
In 1831, Charles Darwin boarded the Beagle as a naturalist on a survey expedition along the coasts of South America. His momentous visit to the Galapagos Archipelago has captured the imagination of adventure tourists ever since.
Moorish Palaces and Gypsy Grottos – Granada
The present-day city of Granada was founded in the early eleventh century, three hundred years into the Moors rule over Spain. When a civil war ended in the victory of Berber general Ziri Ibn Manad, he wisely chose to locate the capital of his new kingdom on a high promontory. A millennium later the Alcazar remains one of the wonders of the modern world.
The essence of Andalusia – From Arcos to Ronda and Cordoba
From Arcos de la Frontera, the tiny White Village atop its limestone cliff and Ronda, the city perched at the edge of the El Tajo gorge to La Mezquita, the Great Mosque turned cathedral in the historic center of Cordoba, Moorish Andalusia is a photographer’s paradise.
The essence of Andalusia – Seville
Seville’s origins are shrouded in legend, but from the Romans to the Moors and the Catholic Kings, it is the great cultures of the past two millennia that have left their mark on the capital of modern Spain’s southern-most region of Andalusia.
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Josette King
I was barely in my teens when travel became a driving force in my life. Now as a travel writer and photographer, I have visited over 45 countries in some of the most photogenic corners of the planet, taking tens of thousands of pictures along the way. With my work, I thrive to capture the natural and cultural uniqueness of each area I visit. Get to know me better…
