Category: Blogs

A Successful “Bleisure” Trip to Italy

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Italy

A relatively recent phenomenon that is becoming increasingly popular has been dubbed, “Bleisure Travel”: the combining of a business trip with leisure travel. Business travelers who have a few days of meetings or a conference to attend may schedule a few days of pleasure travel before or after having fulfilled their professional responsibilities. A couple of days in New York for meetings may be followed by a weekend to explore the city; a conference in Hawaii might provide the chance to spend a few leisurely days on Maui before heading home.

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A rainy night at Piazza Navona in Rome, my “bleisure” destination.
Read on!

North to Alaska: The Mother of All Roadtrips

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Alaska, Blogs, U.S.A.

I’m truly the king of road trips, having first driven cross country when I was 18. Since then I’ve made at least 30 round-trips from coast to coast. But by far my most ambitious journey was in summer of 2005 when I drove east from San Francisco to Boston via Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia. On the westward return trip, I drove as far west as Montana, took a sharp right turn and drove to Alaska before working my way back down the coast to California. During the trip I kept a detailed journal of my experience, and so ride along with me on an adventure to our most remote and northern state.

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A study in blue and green… en route to Alaska
Follow the north star and read on!

The Road Back Home: A Little Bumpy and Leading to an Unexpected Detour

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, U.S.A., USA Roadtrips

After a wonderful Christmas holiday in New England, it was time to head back across country. It is always hard for me to say goodbye to so many friends there and return to the routine of another semester of teaching, but when I saw that a huge winter storm was barreling up the coast… not just ANY storm, mind you, but something called a “bomb cyclone”!

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Sometimes life takes us a little off-course…

-Let’s hit the road!>

No Place Like Home for the Holidays

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, U.S.A., USA Roadtrips

The popular song, “No Place Like Home For the Holidays” was published in 1954 and was made famous by singer Perry Como in 1959.  The lyrics talk about our desire to be home for the holidays, especially at Christmas time:

I met a man who lives in Tennessee, and he was headin’ for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie.
From Pennsylvania folks are travelin’ down to Dixie’s sunny shore…
From Atlantic to Pacific…Gee, the traffic is terrific!
Oh there’s no place like home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam,
If you want to be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays – you can’t beat home, sweet home…

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An impromptu hockey game in New Hampshire

Read on!

Northern Ireland: Land of the Giants

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, British Isles, Europe

One of my dearest friends in the world is Maggi, an 86-year old woman I met back in 1976 in my Freshman English class at college. A housewife and mother of two, Maggi was born in Belfast, Northern Island and moved to Massachusetts when she married an American in the 1950s. Maggi is a rather famous storyteller who shares traditional folk tales, sentimental and thought-provoking reminiscences of her childhood in Belfast, and traditional folk songs and rhymes. She has performed all across the U.S. and in Britain, has won many prestigious awards in the folk world and recently published a book of her stories, Belfast Girl.

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The Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland
Don’t be a

Corsica: Land of Pristine Beaches and Pristine Rental Cars

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Europe, France: Corsica

For years I’ve wanted to visit the French island of Corsica, intrigued by stories of its incredible natural beauty. I’ve been to 10 of the Greek islands and to Sicily and Sardinia in Italy, and have loved the scenery and amazing beaches to be found on all of them, but people assured me that Corsica trumps them all. Corsican culture is a mixture of Italian and French influences and so I assumed that I would feel right at home there, so I was eagerly anticipating my 5 day visit to this Mediterranean paradise.

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The Amazing Beaches of Corsica’s West Coast

Read on!

Where the Pappardelle Fly and It’s Hard to Say “GUDABYE”: Italy, Summer, 2017

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Italy

As I do almost year, as soon as my semester is over and I am free for the summer, I head for Europe and while I frequently visit other countries, my main target is Italy. This year, after a few days on the Greek island of Mykonos, I flew into Venice, picked up a rental car, and began a three week visit to my adopted home.

Handmade Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragout
Read more:

Mykonos with Italian Book-ends

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Greece

Every year, within hours of the final graduation ceremony at my university, I’m usually Europe-bound, sometimes with a group of students for a study abroad trip, sometimes solo. I always try to leave before May 15, because after that magical date, air prices increase by $700 or so. This year I used frequent flier miles for the trip, and because I booked in December, I could leave any damn day I chose to! I opted to have a week at home after school ended and it was really a nice change, as I felt a lot more together by the time I was ready to leave on the 22nd. I’d made dozens of plane, hotel, car rental and airport shuttle reservations over the last months, and everything was perfectly planned. Or so I thought…

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Mykonos, Greece
Read on!

Wildflower “Superblooms” and an Unpredictable Earthquake Fault: Exploring the Heart of California

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in California, U.S.A.

When I was young and growing up in Massachusetts, I had an almost scary obsession with California. Perhaps it was the influence of TV, beaming images of the “Golden State” into my living room on a daily basis, but to me, California seemed like the Promised Land, and from an early age I dreamed of going west.

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The Golden State is even more golden this week with a wildflower “Superbloom”

Explore the heart of California… read more:

Spring Break in Italy: A Lot More Fun Than a Run to the Grocery Store

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Italy

Years ago I studied Italian at the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco. We had a great class of 12 people who all got along famously and shared a love for Italy, the Italian language and our phenomenal teacher, Diletta. We were also a group of avid travelers. One night in class, a student named Andrew shared that he’d be missing the class the following week as he was off to Rome for a week. A couple of weeks down the road, it was my turn to announce that I would be away in Italy and would have to miss class for the following two weeks. Then our classmate Judy volunteered that she and her husband would be in Venice at the end of the month and that she too would be missing class. Diletta, shaking her head in a mix of disbelief and envy muttered, “You people run off to Italy the way I run to the grocery store!”

Let’s run off to Italy! Read more!