Ceridwyn Parr reviews: 100 places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, by Susan van Allen

Susan van Allen fell in love with Italy at a dining table in New Jersey, an Italy of gorgeous food, sumptuous art and bel canto , an Italy which she got to know through her Italian family.

She has been fortunate enough to make countless returntrips : her roccoco passion for Italy is evident in every word. Her delightful book is one to take to bed very night for a month before you leave, with a map alongside, to mark all the places she describes which you simply cannot miss. Read more

Nan Gibbons writes:  My first observation upon arriving at the Cairo airport, after a grueling overnight journey, thousands of miles of travel and enduring the in-flight movie, “Mama Mia,” was, “These curbs look weird.”

Yeah — curbs.

But, I pulled myself together on the shuttle and managed to wrangle up better thoughts. Thoughts like the sky looks dusty, doesn’t anybody heed rules of the road? and Egyptian guys are cute. Read more

What a splendid holiday! I could talk about the food, or the landscape, the culture, the history or the converted mill we stayed in – but in the end, it comes down to you two: your expertise in cooking, devising great itineraries, history…..; your flexibility and good humour. Thank you both so much. Lois Cox

Doesn’t that sound like a great recommendation!  I want to join one of these tours – Lyn and Chris are two New Zealand women who are passionate about Italy, and are also great chefs.  They are based near Akaroa, New Zealand but spend several months a year guiding trips in Italy. You can enjoy a luxurious stay in their historic house on the Banks Peninsula in the South Island of New Zealand -  The Gables Country House, but its these Italy trips which grab me.

In 2012 they are spending three weeks in Tuscany, three in Puglia and three in Piedmont, and they invite up to 6 people each week to join them.  See their latest list of tours are on the Women Travel the World Tour Calendar
What bliss -  if you are in any doubt, read the comments below. Read more

Guest blog by Lorraine Boissoneault, Go Girl Magazine

Traveling around the world inevitably means coming down with some form of illness or another. Whether it’s a simple cold picked up from fellow fliers, or the more uncomfortable experience of the local variation of Montezuma’s curse, having a well-supplied med kit is a must for all foreign adventurers.

My own experiences getting sick in distant lands somehow end up being more dramatic than most people’s, with the result that almost everyone I know thinks I am a walking cesspool. I swear I don’t actually get sick that often! Not with the common cold, anyway. When I get sick, I get sick in style, and require more medical attention than just a visit to the closest pharmacy. I could lament my bad luck, but instead, I try to look at the sicknesses as a chance to assess the health care system in each of the countries. As of now, my list consists of three countries: France, Morocco, and China. Travelers heading to these locales – read on and educate yourself. You never know when you might come down with a bad case of dengue fever (no, I have not had dengue fever – yet). Read more

I love the internet – you meet the most interesting people.  I have just connected with Isabel the owner of Lesbianas Viajeras, (Lesbian Travelers) . She is a young lesbian enterpreneur who has lived for years in different cities such as Paris, Madrid and New York. In her personal experiences around the world, she has realized of the desire of gay women to join and share travelling and friendship, group activities, etc Read more

Our Venus Adventures guide Jennie warns us about the traffic in Saigon – we thought Hanoi was challenging.  Wow!  Motorbikes everywhere all times of the day and night. We are staying at The Spring Hotel, which is close to the historic opera house, Post Office and lots of up market shopping as well as the big Ben Thanh market one of the landmarks in Saigon.  We are here for three nights, to do some sightseeing, some shopping and figure out how to fit everything in our bags to take home. Read more

Only mad dogs and English Women go out in the noon day sun!

It is 1pm on a hot and sticky afternoon by the time  we are ready to ride near Ben Tre. VERY HOT AND STICKY!

We are covered in sunscreen and insect repellent, have the lightest possible clothes on that cover us, a bottle of water and we are ready to go.  Our guide decides to go the scenic route to avoid the sun, but it turns out to be longer.  We cycle mostly on narrow tracks that you could not find without a guide (its worth getting a local guide!), past houses with people calling out friendly hellos, and not much traffic apart from us.  Bananas and coconut trees overhand the track and provide some shade. This land is bountiful, a veritable food bowl – mango trees,  jackfruit the size of a chubby family cat,  rice fields yielding their 3rd harvest of the year.  But it is HOT – 30 degrees and humid. Read more

Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site, what used to be a thriving port, is now a quieter tourist town with heaps of opportunities to explore the older history of the area.  We are taken out to My Son, centre of the old Champa Kingdom, a visit to a traditional pottery making village, a Cooking School on  a boat for lunch and a visit to LifeStart Workshop.  The next day I am desperate to see the sea, but we are running out of time to cycle there, so Jenny and I hop on a moto for the trip $5US each, including time to walk on the beach.  The surf looked messy and dangerous, but I could see how you could easily spend a day here swimming, eating and walking. Read more

Our womens Tour Company Venus Advenutures said that we could get some clothes made in Hoi An – or even a whole new wardrobe, and between the 6 of us I think we pretty much have made it a whole wardrobe!

Hoi An used to be a great trading port, now Da Nang has taken over that role, and left Hoi An to be a beautiful small tourist town which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and we have three days to explore the heritage, the clothes and the beaches. Our base – another fantastic boutique hotel called Ha An. Read more

Vietnam – Day 10, Hue

We are slowly moving down Vietnam, North to South, we are going to get off our feet and into the traffic on wheels to explore. After settling in to the Orchid Hotel, we head off for a cyclo ride, and prepare for tomorrows motorcyle ride with a dinner at La Carambole.  Hue is the old royal capital of Vietnam and has some great old museums and pagodas, and the Forbidden Purple City.  Unfortunately much of it was destroyed in the heavy fighting in the 1968 Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War – unfortunately we are discovering this to be sadly true in many parts of Vietnam. Read more