Planes, Trains and Orthotics: A Middle-Age Woman's Guide to Travel

 My sister and I decided to seize the day and spend a weekend with the girls in our lives and go to a spa.  This is not a luxury that we are accustomed but as we move through our COVID lives, being together has taken on a higher level of importance. And so I packed the car and picked up my daughter-in-law, my daughter and my niece (1/3 of my driving time took place before I even left New Jersey) and headed four hours north to the Finger Lakes to an Inn on Cayuga Lake. My sister, who lives outside of Rochester, NY, met us at our home for two nights, the Inns at Aurora. It took me until the next morning to realize how lovely the setting was because the last 30 miles of the trip was to say the least, harrowing. First, it is clear that whatever county we were driving through did not see the need to spring for street lights. I recognize that we were on a rural (very) road but there were so many hills and curves,  I doubt it would have killed the county budget to erect a couple...

 For those who followed our October travels through Sicily, I am sure you were either sick of me writing about the incredible food at every stop along the way or your mouth was watering as you read each paragraph. I thought I would catch everyone up on my near-obsession with Sicilian cuisine, in between my stressing about COVID, booster-shots and the crazy state of the world.  First, I got a pasta maker.  Fortunately, my birthday is in November and while I never know what to suggest to my husband to get me for my birthday, this year I had a request—and he didn’t disappoint.  Unfortunately, I haven’t used it because of my stressing about COVID, booster-shots and the crazy state of the world-and then add in a very COVID Christmas.   Second, I found a recipe that nearly replicated the exquisite pasta I ate on our first night in Palermo called,  Pasta Fresca con Sarde  or Fresh Pasta with Sardines.  (Don’t make a snooty face unless you’ve tried it) Ob...

  I love Rome.   You can come here 1000 times and see something new every time, particularly since there are more than 900 churches, 1000 fountains and much to my chagrin, about a million gelaterias.   When we drove into the city however, I thought of two things: I didn’t bring any scarves.  In Sicily, I really didn’t feel too badly looking like I did…middle-aged.  While the Sicilians are known for their food, they will never be considered slaves to fashion.  Even with my various shades of grey and green Eddie Bauer attire, I more or less didn’t look any worst than the average Sicilian woman.  Not here in Rome.  Every Roman woman, and frankly, most of the Roman men, know how to put together an outfit.  With a simple jacket, a sweater intricately wrapped around one or both shoulders, and yes, a scarf, all look fabulous.  Even the older women wear sensible but beautiful shoes, tasteful ensembles and seem to have the ability to work a sc...

  Understandably, international airline travel, post 9/11, has not been for the faint of heart. Adding recent COVID restrictions into the mix has been nothing short of exhausting.   I am a worrier ny nature, and my anxieties—often without reason—are reflected in the type of airline traveler I have become. For example, I like to check every three to four minutes as to whether my passport is still in the location I stored it.  I know in my mind that it can’t jump out of my purse and walk away….but you never know.  Now add the COVID factor.  First, there is the testing.  Right now, regardless of whether or not you are vaccinated, a traveler must have had a negative COVID test 72 hours before an international flight. I had had a false positive COVID test prior to leaving for Sicily, and for the last few days I have been very anxious about taking the test to return to the United States. What if it’s positive?  I have a lunch-time presentation and a dinn...

  We are having a wonderful time in Sicily.   The people on our Backroads trip and our two guides couldn’t be better. We have seen all types of beauty this land has to offer, from the sea, to forests and even “Mama Etna,” the beloved nickname of the island’s main volcano! But the mountains, are killing me.   I don’t know if it’s because I’m two years older than our last hiking trip or we didn’t pay attention to the difficulty of the daily climbs, but I’ve spent a lot of the last four days sucking wind.   It could be the language difference. When our guide says “gentle incline,” I’m thinking it’s like walking up a small ramp into a store. To date, this has not been the case. I have now learned that “gentle incline,” at least in Sicily, means that I will be walking up a steep hill with my head down for an extended period of time…and most of that time, breathing in a way that sounds like it could be part of an obscene phone call.  Plus, there are a lot of rocks...

  For the last two days, I have been thinking two things: I have to stop eating and I have to buy a pasta machine as soon as I get home. There is so much history and culture on this island, but when I think back on our time in Sicily, I think it will be be about the sure magic of the food.   I am no slouch when it comes to Italian cuisine. My Italian grandmothers and my mother were wonderful cooks and since having my own family, I have tried to continue those traditions in my own kitchen. We have also visited Italy’s mainland many times and frankly, never had a bad meal.  But in Sicily, food preparation and its  consumption seem to be part of every native’s DNA.   We have been on the island for five days, and I still can’t stop thinking about my first dinner here, “Pasta Fresca con Sarde.  The simple sauce ladled on fresh pasta included sardines (cooked down so you couldn’t see them), fennel, including the leaves, garlic, onion, pine nuts, parsley, brea...

I  am exhausted.   We started Day 1 of our hiking trip by driving east along the Tyrrhenian Sea to a small coastal town called Cefalu, which is known for its beauty and a very big rock a.k.a. “La Rocca,” located within its borders. There are seven other Americans with us, along with our Backroads guides Giovanni  (no relations to yesterday’s driver) and Ania.  While the town is absolutely gorgeous, our first hike could not be described as a “warm-up.” Besides the town’s beauty, we apparently came for the big rock.  The hike descriptions we receive each day always look good on paper. Today, we had three hiking options, with the longest being about eight miles which promised at the end, beautiful views of the town and the sea. Since we had walked 11 miles on our first day in Palermo, we thought, “How hard could it be?”  We clearly didn’t look close enough at the height of that rock because too big a chunk of that eight miles was uphill with too many small...