A lot of people I know have felt a strange sense of familiarity when visiting the Tuscan countryside for the first time.  Was it from a movie, perhaps?  A friend’s photos?

More often than not, you’re probably recognizing Tuscany from iconic Renaissance paintings.

The Medici, who ruled Florence during the Renaissance, were among the greatest art patrons of all time. It’s because of their commissions that the Renaissance was such an explosive period for beautiful art. Their influence spread to other regions, and leaders decided to go beyond just commissioning paintings in curating the surrounding landscape.

From UNESCO, who have deemed it a World Heritage Site:

The landscape of Val d’Orcia is part of the agricultural hinterland of Siena, redrawn and developed when it was integrated in the territory of the city-state in the 14th and 15th centuries to reflect an idealized model of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture.

In other words, they decided, “Let’s make this landscape as beautiful as possible so people will be jealous when they see how beautiful the paintings are.”

And they did.

And today, it looks almost exactly the same!  You can see the trees that were painstakingly planted in the perfect spots to ensure the maximum beauty.

I was visiting the region as part of G Adventures’ Local Living Southern Tuscany tour.  While we were based at our beautiful agriturismo in Chianciano Terme most of the time, this is one of the day trips that’s included in the tour.

Here are the highlights of this lovely day:

Rural Landscapes

Looking for a money shot?  Every shot is a money shot in the Val d’Orcia.  You’ll be constantly stopping to take photos because each view is more beautiful than the last!

How about this one?

Perfectly cultivated lands, tall cypress trees, and farmhouses — this is Italy at its best.

Bagno Vignoni

Bagno Vignoni is famous for its healing waters.  This was one of the hottest spa spots in Italy during Roman times, and today, there are still plenty of spa resorts.

We didn’t stay in Bagno Vignoni for very long, but it looked like a pretty and charming small town.

Montalcino

Next up was Montalcino, most famous for its ruby red Brunello di Montalcino wine.  I climbed the fortress (cost: €4 ($5) for adults, €2 ($2.50) for children) and had a beautiful view of the town, the church on the hill, and the countryside.

The town is built on a hill, then drops off into endless green fields.

Afterward, I wandered a market that felt like a real Italian market — they sold gorgeous fresh produce and local cheeses, but also everything from clothing to cleaning supplies.  I found a black t-shirt emblazoned with “<3 Your Blog” and had to buy it!  (Side note: I am still the worst bargainer ever.  The lady told me eight euros, I counteroffered five euros, she laughed, I fake-laughed, and then I still had no idea what to do, so I paid eight euros.)

I’d recommend allocating two hours to Montalcino, tops.  It’s absolutely lovely, but it’s a tiny place!

Sant’Antimo Abbey

If you time your visit to the Val d’Orcia right, you can witness monks chanting at Sant’Antimo Abbey, right outside Montalcino.  This is an experience you’re unlikely to find open to the public elsewhere, so definitely take the time to witness it if you can fit it.

My take?  It was nice, and I recommend experiencing it…but it wasn’t what I expected.  I imagined several monks performing in the distance to cavernous echoes; this was more like a priest singing “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith” during Mass, only in Latin and stretched out for 12 minutes.

Chanting takes place on most days at 9:00 AM, 12:45 PM, and 2:45 PM.  A complete list of times is posted on the door at the Abbey.  Please resist the temptation to take photos or video during the chanting; the monks ask that you not record during their prayer.

Pienza

Oh, PIENZA.  The best was saved for last because I fell absolutely in love with this beautiful Tuscan town! I had barely heard of it before, and I don’t know why it isn’t more famous than it is now.  (That’s not to say it’s undiscovered.  It has definitely been discovered by the masses — and it’s worth all the attention.)

Pienza is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s technically within the Val d’Orcia, making it a UNESCO within a UNESCO — a meta-UNESCO!  One of the advantages of visiting UNESCO sites is that they are beautifully preserved.  This is one of the best preserved Italian towns I’ve seen.

I loved the streets and the crumbling walls.

I loved how flowers seemed to bloom everywhere.

I loved the alleyways and hidden nooks.  As busy as Pienza was, it felt like there was always something beautiful to discover hidden around a corner.

While in Pienza, we stopped for lunch at Sette di Vino Osteria.  I highly recommend this lovely little restaurant, especially their bean soup and crostini with truffles.  They also serve fried cheese topped with bacon.  Just saying…

And if that isn’t enough food for you, Pienza is crammed with cheese shops.  Pick up some pecorino al tartufo for later!

After a day on the road, we returned to our agriturismo in Chianciano Terme, just in time for a cooking lesson with Stefano.

Italy is a country that I love returning to again and again — between the beauty of the landscapes, the fantastic cuisine, and the wonderful people who call Italy their home, it’s a place that fills me with endless contentment.  Tuscany is a very special place in Italy, and I will reiterate again that every serious traveler should visit Tuscany at least once!

Essential Info: This day trip to the Val d’Orcia is included in G Adventures’ weeklong Local Living: Southern Tuscany tour, which costs £799/$1,299 per person. Also included are six nights at the agriturismo, six breakfasts and five dinners, cooking class, wine tasting, and G Adventures CEO throughout.  Departures are available this year for dates in May, June, July, and September.

Many thanks to G Adventures for hosting me on the Local Living: Southern Tuscany tour.  All opinions, as always, are my own.

My latest South Africa trip was beyond anything I could have imagined.  As much as I loved my first trip back in October, I didn’t expect to be even more impressed than I was the first time.

Forget being impressed — I was blown away.  Staggeringly so.  This trip was so much fun, I actually hurt from smiling too much!

I’ll be writing much more about South Africa in the coming weeks, and editing my best photos.  For now, here’s a taste of some of my favorite moments.

Surfing During a Pink Sunset in Jeffreys Bay

By now, I’m pleased to say that I have surfed on three continents — Asia (Bali), North America (Mexico), and Africa (South Africa)!  Quite badly, but I’ve done it!

Our time in the ocean was brief.  Nadine and I only had time for a 45-minute lesson, but our instructor Tom gave us the basics as quickly as possible and led us into the ocean.  While neither of us was able to actually look like a real surfer, we had a ton of fun.  It was Nadine’s first time ever, and though she was hesitant at first, she was thrilled that she did it.

But the best part was that the sky turned pink around us, making it a colorful surfing experience unlike any I’ve ever had.

Visiting Mama Tofu’s Village in Cintsa

We visited a Xhosa village in Cintsa and were introduced to Mama Tofu, a feisty 93-year-old with a million one-liners and opinions on the sex lives of Xhosas.  I bought some gorgeous necklaces from the ladies in the village, including the one pictured above.

But the moment that really hit me was when one of the women grasped my elbows and held on, her eyes shining.  ”Thank you,” she said emphatically.  ”When you buy from us, you help us.  Thank you.”

This reiterated to me just how important it is to keep your spending as close to the source as possible.  Forget gift shops and department stores — buy directly from the women who make the necklaces and they are the ones who benefit.

Road Tripping the Western and Eastern Cape

The single best aspect of road trips, in my opinion, is stopping anywhere that seems cool or unusual or fun.  We had plenty of time on some days of our road trip — so in addition to stopping at every possible scenic outlook to Instagram the view, we also stopped at cool places like hot springs, weird desert shops like Ronnie’s Sex Shop, pretty towns, cool food places Simon loved, and more.

The Garden Route is such an amazing part of the world to road trip!  It’s beautiful and fascinating.  If you come to South Africa, I highly recommend traveling by car.

Gliding Through Sedgefield’s Lagoon

The moment that I stood up on my first paddleboarding excursion, I was a changed woman.  At that moment, I resolved to move somewhere warm close to the water so I could buy a stand-up paddleboard (SUP) and do it every day!

This sport was made for me.  It was super-easy, yet a good workout involving a lot of balance.  It was solitary, meaning that I could be alone with my thoughts and meditate while slowly paddling through the water.  I couldn’t imagine a better place than Sedgefield’s lagoon, with perfect glassy water and blue mountains in the distance.

This won’t be the last time I paddleboard.  Next up: trying it in the wild waves of the ocean!

Bunny Chow-Palooza in Durban

I had heard that Durban was the Indian part of South Africa and home to extra spicy curries, but I had no idea that I would love them this much!  I’m not too big on them in general, but every single curry I had in Durban was amazing.  Most of them were spicy enough that they made my lips burn, but not so spicy that I hated myself for eating them!

The absolute highlight, though, was bunny chow — curry served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread.  They are dirt cheap on the street or in little shops (10-20 rand, or $1-2) and pretty cheap in restaurants as well.  If I lived in Durban, I’d eat bunny chow every day.

Zipping Through the Tsitsikamma Forest

When passing through Storms River, we decided to check out the nearby Tsitsikamma Forest — but in a different way.  By Segway!  I had never Segwayed before, and I thought they were best confined to urban areas, but it turns out they’re a lot easier than you think.  Soon you catch your balance and start doing some crazy maneuvers.

It was wonderful in the Tsitsikamma Forest.  It smelled so green and lush, and as I rode through, the wind in my face, I wished I could take that moist air around with me forever.

Walking the Wild Beach of Cintsa

Cintsa was a highlight for me — I loved this part of the Wild Coast.  It was rough, rugged, and felt deserted.  (We also had the best view possible at Buccaneers Lodge and Backpackers.)

We got to Cintsa just in time for a visit to a local brewery (run without running water!) and having some beers on the sand dunes at sunset.  As the sun went down, the hostel guys invited us to walk back.  A presumed 30-minute walk turned into an hour and us stripping to our undies so we could cross the river, holding our electronics above our head, and get back to the hostel.  We laughed, we posed, we Instagrammed.

Seeing Dolphins in Plettenberg Bay

I’ve never been one of those girls who idolizes dolphins, wears dolphin jewelry, draws them all over her notebook in school.  Even so, I found seeing dolphins in real life for the first time to be deeply moving. They were beautiful.  They were elegant.  They were dancing.

We watched them for about 10 minutes, dipping again and again above the surface, and it nearly brought me to tears.

Riding Through the Mountains of Swellendam

That morning, we had driven along the coast.  By the afternoon, we were deep in the mountains, rising around us in hundreds of shades of green. My horse, Tequila, led me up the mountain and around, surrounded by bright green mountains in every direction.  Golden hour was upon us and each mountain was bathed in the last delicious moments of sunlight.

It was so simple, but so wonderful.  For the first time in my South African travels, I felt truly connected to the landscape of this beautiful country.

Getting Smooched in Cintsa

Our final morning in Cintsa had been spent with people — Mama Tofu’s village, then Cintsa East, where students were taking classes and learning how to use PowerPoint in The Big Green E-Machine, a mobile solar-powered computer lab.

We had a bit of extra time left, so we went to visit a creche and play with some kids.  At that point, I went over to a swingset where two little boys were jumping around and playing.  They loved my camera and posed hard — then I tried to get them to blow kisses to the camera.  Instead, they started kissing me!  So sweet and so adorable.

Cage Diving with Crocodiles in Oudtshoorn

One of the craziest things I’ve ever done?  Hell yes!  Cango Wildlife Ranch in Oudtshoorn offers several “animal encounters,” and this one was the most extreme one on offer.  It’s only offered in two places in the world: here and Texas.  (Either Texas or Florida would not surprise me.)

Nadine and I jumped into the cage, were lowered into the lagoon, and spent most of the time screaming — first at the coldness of the water, then at the crocodiles themselves.  They were slow-moving, but actually got their noses and mouths into the cage!  We pushed ourselves into the middle and continued screaming as we held onto the ropes.

It was an adrenaline rush and a unique experience I will never forget!

Swimming in the Indian Ocean

My final afternoon in South Africa was spent on the beach in Durban, the warmest city in South Africa, diving through the huge waves of the Indian Ocean.

I swim in the ocean whenever I can — but this was different.  Parents weren’t yelling at their children.  People weren’t being obnoxious.  Surfers weren’t plowing into swimmers.  People of all age and sizes and colors were just throwing themselves into the waves, over and over again, and shrieking as they got knocked over — because no matter who you are, the ocean affects everyone the same way.

Now, if that isn’t a metaphor for humanity, I don’t know what is.

South Africa is a place filled with fantastic memories, and I’ll be reliving this trip for a long, long time.

Essential Info: Island Vibe in Jeffreys Bay offers a variety of surf lessons for different levels and durations — contact them for specifics.

Buccaneers Lodge and Backpackers in Cintsa offers a Xhosa experience visiting Mama Tofu’s village for 250-295 rand ($27-32) per person.  You can also volunteer at the creche for a half day for 200 rand ($22).

AfroVibe Lodge on Myoli Beach in Sedgefield offers half day paddleboard rentals on the lagoon for 300 rand ($32).

Ocean Blue Adventures in Plettenberg Bay offers cruises from 400 rand ($43).  We took the 1.5-2 hour Dolphin Encounter tour for 400 rand ($43) per adult or 200 rand ($22) per child.  In Plett we stayed at Nothando Backpackers.

Swellendam Backpackers Adventure Lodge offers one-hour horseback rides for 200 rand ($22).  You can also have a half-day horseback ride complete with a picnic lunch for 850 rand ($92).

Cango Wildlife Ranch in Oudtshoorn offers crocodile cage diving for 320 rand ($34) with discounts if you book more than one encounter.  This in addition to admission to the ranch: 120 rand ($13) for adults and 80 rand ($9) for children.

This campaign is brought to you by the South African Tourism Board and is supported and managed by iambassador. Adventurous Kate maintains full editorial control of the content published on this site.

This week’s question actually didn’t come in through email — it was asked by a new friend of mine whom I met in New York!  I thought it would be great to elaborate on her question here.

“I need to do an Eat, Pray, Love trip.  Where should I go?”

Ah, Eat, Pray, Love.  Is there any book that has been so simultaneously embraced and reviled?  (Well, besides The Da Vinci Code, that is.  And the Twilight series…)

To those of you unfamiliar with the book, Eat, Pray, Love is the memoir of a woman in her early thirties who was left broken after a terrible divorce.  She decided to spend a year around the world: four months in Italy, where she would rediscover pleasure (EAT); four months in India, where she would meditate in an ashram (PRAY); and four months in Bali, where she would learn how to fuse the two (LOVE).

And without giving too much away, she rebuilt her soul in a beautiful way.

I’m on the side of embracing the book, mostly because Gilbert is an absolutely wonderful writer.  (Though I think her second memoir, Committed, is a far better book and should be required reading for every engaged couple!)

Now — if you’re looking to do a trip to similarly recover from a difficult time in your life, there are lots of destinations that I recommend.  South Africa is a fantastic choice (God, I love it here).  Italy or Spain or Croatia — wonderful choices.  Turkey could be great.  Argentina?  Fantastic.

But there is one country that is a slightly better fit than all the rest:

Thailand.

Because no matter what you seek as your therapy, you will be able to find it in Thailand.  If you’re looking to restart your life and perhaps make a number of changes, Thailand could not be better suited for you.  You will love it: I guarantee it.

It’s a fantastic country, filled with great beauty and delicious food and perfect weather and incredibly kind, smiling people.

I would recommend trying to figure out how you can spend as much time in Thailand as possible — while a two-week trip would be fun, it would take a month or longer for you to make lasting changes in your life.

But Thailand is a perfect place to heal your soul.  Here are some ways:

Healing through spirituality — Thailand is a great place to delve into Buddhism, meditation or general spirituality — there are all kinds of meditation retreats in Thailand, including silent retreats.

Healing through learning — If you’re looking to learn a new skill, Thailand offers the opportunity to lean everything from cooking to massage to yoga.

Healing through volunteering — Working for people less fortunate than yourself is a surefire way to put things into perspective.  Consider caring for abused elephants at Elephant Nature Park or working with the hidden refugee families in Bangkok.

Healing through nature — Friends of mine have told me that they are most at peace when by the ocean; others are at their best in the mountains.  Consider renting a beach bungalow on Koh Chang or a mountain cottage in Pai.

Healing through health — Many people I know came to Thailand to get expensive dental work done for a fraction of the price, or to improve chronic conditions with Eastern medicine.  (Plastic surgery and gender reassignment are also popular procedures in Thailand, but I obviously wouldn’t suggest either until you’ve been in a better place for a long time.)

Healing through partying — If you want to blow off steam with buckets, parties, and nights out with new friends, I suggest you make your way to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party, one of the world’s biggest parties.  Koh Phi Phi is a great party island, too.  And don’t forget Bangkok!

Healing through food — With a street cart on every corner, you’re in the right place. 

More for Less

Probably the biggest selling point of Thailand is that it’s an exceedingly pleasant place to spend time for far less than what you’d pay at home.  You could live on a backpacker’s budget for $15-25 per day in northern Thailand, $30-40 in Bangkok, and $40-50 in the islands in the south.  It will cost less if you rent an apartment long-term.

I wrote about the people I met who were living long-term in Chiang Mai — they found a way to live simple lives filled with limited but fulfilling work, volunteering, good food, and time spent with friends most days of the week.

No matter what you decide, Thailand will have a way of healing you.  I promise you that.  Good luck.

Greetings from South Africa!

I’m very pleased to be back in Cape Town, in South Africa, a country that impresses me to no end!

My trip to South Africa last fall was one of the best trips I have ever taken — because South Africa is the kind of country that WOWS you again and again.  The truth?  Not a lot of countries have that quality. Iceland, Jordan, and Montenegro have it, but South Africa has it the most, I think.

Time to Meet South Africa

I’m honored to be taking part in the #MeetSouthAfrica campaign, the biggest travel blogging campaign ever to take place in Africa. 15 international bloggers will be taking part in four tours crossing the country. Two tours start in Johannesburg and explore westward and southward; two start in Cape Town and go northward and eastward.

Adventure Along the Western and Eastern Cape

Years ago, I dreamily planned out a trip to South Africa that I would take someday.  I’d fly into Cape Town or Johannesburg, buy a ticket on the Baz Bus, stay in cool hostels all over the country, hitting up several towns on the Garden Route, and I would do as many adventure activities as possible.

This trip is almost exactly the trip that I dreamed up all those years ago.

Over the course of six days, we’ll be traveling along much of the Garden Route and then further eastward, staying in top-end hostels with private rooms, and doing as many adventure activities as we can cram in.  Essentially, it’s an awesomel and affordable adventure tour.

Here’s what’s on the schedule:

Gansbaai

Gansbaai, close to the southwest corner of South Africa, is famed for one activity in particular: SHARK CAGE DIVING.  EEEEEE!!  I’m going diving with sharks!!

Swellendam

I rolled through Swellendam on the bus last fall and thought it looked like lovely place.  In Swellendam I have the options of horseback riding, hiking to a waterfall, or exploring the town.

Oudtshoorn

Oudtshoorn is an inland town famous for ostrich ranches and meerkats.  Now, as someone who has an enormous fear of birds, the thought of going to a farm filled with giant birds that can poke your eyes out with their beaks scares me.  Maybe I should ride one.

In Oudtshoorn, I have the options of exploring the Cango caves, visiting an ostrich farm, or going croc diving.  Not joking on that last one.  Croc diving is an option.

Myoli Beach, Sedgefield

I don’t know much about Sedgefield, but that beach looks glorious, doesn’t it?

In Sedgefield, we’ll be staying in a beach lodge and taking a cruise through the lagoon.

Plettenberg Bay

Plett has been the Garden Route town I’ve wanted to visit the most.  It’s one of the most beautiful beach towns in South Africa.  We’ll also be driving through Knysna, where I spent time living in a tree this past fall.

In Plettenberg Bay, I have the options of stand-up paddleboarding (I really want to try that!), paragliding, wakeboarding, canoeing, kiteboarding, or just hanging out on the beach.

Storms River

Storms River is a more wooded location down the coast and it’s home to a terrifyingly rickety-looking bridge as well as the the Tsitsikamma Forest.

In Storms River, I have the options of doing a ziplining canopy tour (I’m leaning toward that), bungee jumping (NOT GONNA HAPPEN.), doing a forest tour by Segway (has GOB moved to South Africa?) or going to a place called Monkey Land.

Jeffreys Bay

Jeffreys Bay is a big surf community.  Part of me wants to try sandboarding; part of me wants to go surfing on my third continent after Asia (Bali) and North America (Mexico)!  If I’m wiped out by this time, I might just hang out on the beach or visit a township (though I’m convinced nothing can top my township experience in Alexandra last fall).

Addo

Addo is home to Addo Elephant Park — a national park filled with lots of elephants.  I’m excited to see elephants on safari (and with a much better set of camera gear, too!).

Hogsback

Finally, we finish our tour in Hogsback, up in the mountains.  We’ll be learning about Lord of the Rings (apparently this landscape inspired Tolkein!) and exploring the mountains.  We’re also staying at a place called Away with the Fairies — I love that name!

That concludes the tour, and all four tours move on to the next location:

Durban

Durban, in the Kwazulu-Natal region, is South Africa’s fourth largest city (third if you count Johannesburg and Soweto as one) and the site of the INDABA travel conference.  It’s been called the Miami of South Africa because it’s a beachy city with excellent weather year-round.

I plan to spend my time in Durban either networking like mad at the conference or relaxing in the sunshine after the nonstop week we’ve had!

Stay in Touch

To follow us on the trip, be sure to check out the #MeetSouthAfrica tag on Twitter.  Also, you’ll get cool photos through Love South Africa on Facebook.

Is there anything in particular that you want me to cover on this trip?  There’s no way you’re getting me on a bungee, but anything else, I’d love to hear your opinion!

Many thanks to South Africa Tourism and iambassador for hosting me in South Africa.  All opinions, as always, are my own.

Has heartbreak ever impacted your travels?  This week’s question has an unorthodox answer.

Hi Kate,

I’ve recently started my around the world trip and had to end my relationship to come out here (my boyfriend was very supportive but we both decided that long term just isn’t for us). However now I’m out here I feel very alone and sad – and am missing him a lot.

I just wondered if you have any advice on how to make the most of this great experience without clinging too much onto the past. Currently I wish I never decided to travel (what an awful thought!)

I know this is more a relationship question than a travel one but I hope you can help.

Thanks.

Step One: Find a hot Scandinavian.

Step Two: Make out with him.

I’m completely serious.  I’ve done it and I’ve found it highly therapeutic.  Sometimes, all you need to lift your spirits is a makeout session with a cute stranger with whom you’re not emotionally invested.

It really sucks when heartbreak impacts your trip, and that’s why you need to be careful about not letting yourself fall too hard for someone who may not return your feelings.  (That’s a hell of a lot easier said than done.)  Breakups are awful, especially breakups with kind people whom you love very much, and it makes me sad that you’re not enjoying the trip of a lifetime.

But trust me — you won’t feel this way forever.  Each day will be easier than the last — it may be by such a small margin that you might not notice it at first, but IT WILL GET BETTER. I promise.

In the meantime, it’s time to get yourself to feel happier.  If you’re not going to take the aforementioned approach, this is what I recommend:

Force yourself to fill your days with people and activities.  If you’re an introvert like me and perfectly content to explore alone, eat alone, and spend the bulk of your time alone, that can be a bit of a challenge.  Resist the urge to stay alone and get yourself out there.

Look for free tours.  Look for cheap activities.  Look for anything that involves a group.  Check into a social hostel, or any hostel with a bar.  Go on Couchsurfing and look for events taking place.  Try something you’ve always dreamed of doing — or have never heard of before!  I particularly recommend trying physical activities — hiking, biking, rafting — because the endorphin rush will make you feel great.

In the meantime, stop communicating with your ex-boyfriend.  Unsubscribe from his Facebook updates (he won’t notice); stop emailing him.  If you’re still in touch regularly, send a kind but firm email saying that you need some time to yourself.

Filling your days with people and activities will serve several purposes: it will distract you from the pain you’re feeling right now, it will get you outside your comfort zone, it will introduce you to new people who could become good or even lifelong friends, it will teach you something new, and it will create wonderful memories for you  – thus confirming that deciding to travel long-term was the best decision of your life.

Keep doing this, little by little, and I promise you that it will get better.  Chin up.

Every time I go to New York, I try to do a few things I haven’t done before, whether it’s checking out a new neighborhood, a new kind of food, or a major tourist attraction.

On this trip, I had Mario with me — not only is New York is his favorite city, but he’s eager to check out anything, cheese factor be damned.  And so we hit up a lot of new spots:

Katz’s Delicatessen

I wrote about Katz a bit previously — but I just have to reiterate that this pastrami was life-changing.  I have never had anything like it.

Mario ordered us both pastrami sandwiches and handed me a plate of fresh-cut pastrami.  I was still a bit skeptical, seeing Katz’s as “that place from When Harry Met Sally” and not for any culinary value.  And then I tasted my first pieces of Katz pastrami.  Oh.  It has VALUE, all right.

Look at that sandwich.  Look at how moist that pastrami is.  It’s no match for the bread.  Not a drop of mustard was used on this sandwich.  And I almost finished the whole thing.

Worth it?  Oh yes.  It’s not cheap, and a pastrami sandwich will set you back $15.95, but you are not going to find another sandwich like this anytime soon.  Eat up and enjoy.

The Courthouse

Not that this is a major New York City attraction, but as a fan of addictive New York-based legal dramas (currently back on Netflix and getting into Damages again!), it was a place that was nice to see in real life.

We also caught a nattily attired wedding party on the front steps.

Worth it?  Eh.  Walk by, take a picture, and you’re done.  You’ll see it on the way to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Brooklyn Bridge

One of the major symbols of New York City, the Brooklyn Bridge is definitely the most iconic way to cross from Manhattan to Brooklyn or vice versa.

The bridge was beautiful, and lots of fun to photograph.  But I wasn’t crazy about the experience itself.  The narrow walkway was clogged with slow-moving walkers, making it tough to get good pictures.  People kept straying into the bike lanes and getting yelled at by the bikers.  And this was on a dark day when it drizzled on and off — I can’t imagine how crazy it is on a sunny day.

Worth it?  I’m glad I did it, and it’s a free experience worth doing, but I have no desire to do it again.

Junior’s Cheesecake

Junior’s Most Fabulous Cheesecakes and Desserts in Brooklyn has been one of the most famous places in New York to get your cheesecake on.  Mario and I, both being cheesecake fiends, set going there as a priority.

The restaurant was warm and decked out with hearts for Mother’s Day.

I tried cheesecake topped with chocolate mousse.  Mario went for the strawberry cheese pie.

The cheesecake was fabulously delicious, and I would love to have more of it, but I thought the chocolate mousse/cheesecake ratio was a little too chocolatey and not cheesecakey enough.  Next time, I’ll go for plain cheesecake.

Worth it?  Oh, yes.  At $6.95 per slice, this is definitely an affordable New York splurge.  And if you don’t want to go to the original in Brooklyn, there are Junior’s in Times Square and Grand Central as well.

The Rockaways

Here is a part of New York that I never thought of visiting — and it ended up being one of the biggest surprises.  Mario’s friends Matt and Nicole have been living here for several months and invited us to come see their neighborhood in Rockaway Beach.

The Rockaways are technically part of Queens and therefore New York City, but it doesn’t look anything like it — it’s quiet and residential, without a lot of stores.  The beach is immense.  It’s right by JFK Airport and you can get here from Manhattan in less than an hour.

The Rockaways were also hit tremendously hard by Superstorm Sandy, and even though it’s been six months, the rebuilding process has been extremely slow.  You see sagging houses in the streets.  Parts of the boardwalk are torn up.  Subway service hasn’t yet been restored, which has made life harder for a lot of people who commute to Manhattan from here.

But if I know the spirit of New Yorkers, this place will absolutely be rebuilt, better than ever before.

Worth it?  Definitely worth the trip, just make sure you know how to get here without the subway running past Howard Beach.  There are express buses from Manhattan.  Then I’d wait until a summery day when you can enjoy the beach to the fullest.

Have you ever been to any of these places in New York?

It’s been a day and a half since I left Tuscany and returned to London.  Since then, I’ve been deeply missing the beauty of the Tuscan countryside, the warmth and friendship that radiated from our agriturismo, and more than anything, the glorious food and wine that defined this trip, from beginning to end.

This trip was exactly what I needed.

I’ve long recommended G Adventures to my readers looking for tour groups.  Between their commitment to sustainable travel, keeping their groups small and manageable, and having wide variety of activities and adventures all over the world, they do a lot of things right.

But to be honest, I’d never wanted to a group tour in Europe, other than something like an island cruise.  Europe is a continent that I’ve traveled extensively solo and a place where I’m very comfortable.  I cringe at the thought of being herded through a major city by a guide with an umbrella.

Local Living trips are different.  Instead of moving from place to place, you spend a week based in one town or city, getting to know it intimately through connection to the land and the people.  Lots of fun activities are planned, and there is also quite a bit of free time so you can do your own thing.

There are lots of Local Living trips in Europe, from a canal boat in Burgundy to a farmhouse in Iceland, or a house on the coast of Crete.  (There are some trips outside Europe, like a beach house in Costa Rica or even a ger in Mongolia!)

My trip, Local Living Southern Tuscany, is one of the most popular Local Living trips — and you stay at an agriturismo, or farm guesthouse, in southern Tuscany, surrounded by vineyards and silvery olive trees.

Agriturismo Life

I had never heard of the Tuscan town of Chianciano Terme (kee-AHN chee-AHN-o TAIR-may) before this trip.  It doesn’t have the famous works of art or memorable sights of other Tuscan towns, but it has THE view for the ages.  This is what I woke up to every morning.

My room was very comfortable — rooms (and beds) can often be hit or miss in Italy, but this was one of the nicer ones where I’ve stayed.  And best of all, I had a balcony overlooking that view!

Our time at the agriturismo was all about our host: a gregarious, bearded man with a deep, booming voice and a passion for organic farming.  Meet Stefano.

Stefano warmly welcomed us and immediately began feeding us.  One minute he’d be telling us about olive oil, teaching us to slurp it up with such velocity that it burned the back of our throats.

The next, he’d be educating us on vin santo, the sweet Tuscan dessert wine.

Cantuccini e vin santo, almond cookies that you dip into the wine, is a popular dessert in Tuscany, but the vin santo that comes with the cookies is not nearly as good as the high quality stuff.  We sampled both the low- and high-quality vin santo.  At first, the two were indistinguishable to me; by the time Stefano’s lesson concluded, I was spitting out the low-quality stuff in disgust.

At one point, Stefano even suggested that we sample the raw ground pork he had been mixing with olive oil and garlic.  I recoiled.  ”No, it’s okay,” he said.  Stefano is so confident of the quality of his pigs that he told us we’d have no problem.

So I tasted the raw pork — and it was delicious.

Organic food makes such a difference, especially in America, where chemicals and unnatural substances fill much of our food.  The next day at breakfast, I ate a clementine stuffed with seeds.  I’ve been used to eating seedless clementines.

Turns out, one of my companions pointed out, seedless clementines are genetically modified.  With that knowledge, I’ll happily go back to the seeded ones.

Passionate Locals, Incredible Food

One thing I love about Italy is that the people are so passionate about what they do.  You’d be hard-pressed to find an ambivalent Italian!

One evening, we took a stroll up the hill into the old town of Chianciano Terme and visited a family-run winery, Agricola Fontanelle.  The three Rosati brothers, Riccardo, Valerio, and Leonardo, are producers of several beautiful wines from the town.

We were invited into the wine cellar — which felt more like a wine closet, as it was on the ground floor — and Riccardo poured us samples of several wines, as our G Adventures CEO, Vivi, translated from Italian to English.

The wines?  Velvety.  Luscious.  Two of them are named RI.VA.LE. after the first two letters of the three brothers’ names.

And then they brought out the meats.  Cured meats are the way to my heart, and these were some of the absolute best I had ever tasted.  The prosciutto was as rich and nutty as the jamon iberico I had in Catalonia last year.  I’ve never had meat that good in Italy before.

One bite and I was obsessed.  I picked up a salami stuffed with fennel to take home with me.  The cost?  A mere €8 ($10).  That would cost double or more in the US or the UK.

It was such a pleasant night, sipping wine and getting to know the brothers and their families.

Exploring the Area

Chianciano Terme is located close to the Val d’Orcia, a truly beautiful region of Italy and a UNESCO site.  During the Renaissance, this landscape of the Val d’Orcia was designed so it would look more beautiful in paintings.  Cypress trees were painstakingly placed in the ideal spots for optimal beauty.  You can see this beauty has lasted to this day.

There was Montalcino, a small but very charming town famous for its wine, the Brunello di Montalcino.  We also visited a church nearby that had monks chanting.

Oh, but PIENZA.  I fell absolutely head over heels in love with this adorable town.

This must be one of the most romantic places in Italy — and not just because it’s so beautiful.  Streets had names like Via dell’Amore (Love), Via de Baci (Kisses) and Via Della Fortuna (Luck).  My friends Dan and Audrey even got married in Pienza!

On another day, we picked up bikes and went for a ride through the countryside, even catching a purple mimosa tree in full bloom.

Cooking, Tuscan-Style

After sampling so many delights of the Tuscan countryside, we tried our own hand at making some of the dishes.  Simone, Stefano’s soft-spoken brother, showed me how to make a beautiful ricotta crostata and a quiche-like appetizer.  Stefano showed us how to make ricotta, walnut and arugula-stuffed ravioli, hand-spun pici pasta, and pork sausage.

Yes, I have now witnessed how sausage is made.  And it’s not as bad as it’s made out to be.

The results of our efforts:  Beautiful.

Of all our meals in Tuscany, this one was the best.  I’m still dreaming of these pastas.

Beyond the Region

On your first time to Tuscany, I suggest you take time to visit some of the major towns and cities in the region.  Lucca, Cortona, and San Gimignano are a few of the most well-known ones.  We went to Siena, one of the most important cities in Tuscany and a place where I had surprisingly never been until now.

And don’t forget beautiful Florence — a place dear to my heart.

I had such a wonderful time in Italy, and I’m looking forward to showing you more photos of the beautiful countryside and more information about Tuscan food.  Tuscany is a place that every traveler should visit once in his or her life.

Essential Info: The Local Living: Southern Tuscany costs £799/$1,299 per person. Included are six nights at the agriturismo, six breakfasts and five dinners, cooking class, wine tasting, and a day trip to the Val d’Orcia and surrounding towns, and G Adventures CEO throughout.  Departures are available this year for dates in May, June, July, and September.

Many thanks to G Adventures for hosting me on the Local Living: Southern Tuscany tour.  All opinions, as always, are my own.

For the longest time, I thought that I just didn’t like New York.  It just seemed so gray, so drab, so…boring.  And generic.  What was it that got people excited about New York, again?

For years, that’s what I thought.  Then on a trip a few years ago, it suddenly hit me — all of my trips had been primarily concentrated in midtown.

So I headed downtown…and quickly fell in love.

THIS was the New York of my dreams — the Village, SoHo, the Lower East Side, and all those lovely neighborhoods bordering the region beneath 14th street.  This is where brightness was restored to Manhattan.  This is where the PEOPLE lived — not people in suits.  I belonged in this neighborhood.

I had actually been downtown on one occasion before having my epiphany.  It was my first semester of college and I went with a group of fellow classmates to buy fake IDs.  It just took a few minutes of standing in the middle of a market in the Village before we were approached and taken into the back of a tattoo parlor.

Our photos were snapped, we each paid $50, and we each received a shoddily constructed Connecticut ID.  I had already carefully selected my alias — “Kate Collins” — but the Connecticut ID listed my address as 1257 Rolling Hills Lane.  ”Are bouncers supposed to believe that there are more than a thousand on a LANE?” I asked the seller.  I got an indignant grunt in reply.

Those IDs were TERRIBLE.  Anyone could tell they were fake.  But they did get us into some of the crappier bars in Fairfield County.  And just a few months later, I got a much better fake ID from New Jersey with a much more realistic address — 145 Summer St.

But anyway, I digress.  My one visit to the Village was spent hoping that we wouldn’t be caught by the cops.  Not exactly an ideal introduction.

On my most recent trip to New York, I was using my new Nikon D5100 and working on getting the hang of shooting in manual.  I’m getting there.  Some of my pictures came out really nice, and I’m starting to recognize where I need to improve my work.

But downtown New York City certainly doesn’t lack for photogenic material.  I love the storefronts here.

I love how the streets looks like ads straight out of a magazine.

I love the sense of humor — like a dangling set of shoes hanging over an electrical wire.

And while the shopping can quickly get expensive in Manhattan, you can always find a cute cheap souvenir downtown — like $3 bracelets.

Or, alternatively, a crazy frog hat.

And on a sunny Saturday, there’s no better place to be in New York City than a park set between busy city blocks, where you can admire the architecture and landscaping and people-watch for the better part of an afternoon.

As for food? Restaurants in the Village and SoHo are some of my favorites. But I headed over to the Lower East Side for a meaty dining experience.

I finally made it to Katz Delicatessen, at Mario’s insistence.  I had always assumed that Katz, home to the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” scene from When Harry Met Sally, was a bit of a tourist trap — but let it be known that IT DESERVES THE HYPE.

Wait until you see how many celebrities have visited — their images literally cover the walls.  And that pastrami sandwich?  THE MOISTEST MEAT I HAVE EVER EATEN.  It fell apart.  I didn’t need to put any mustard on it (and I love my mustard) — it wasn’t just glistening, it was dripping.

The next time I return to New York, you can bet that I will be spending the bulk of my time below 14th street. This is my zone.

And there is always room for surprises.  Like this converted firehouse that I had to photograph.

I took a picture of it because I liked the style of the building.  Turns out it’s Anderson Cooper’s house.

What’s your favorite neighborhood in New York?

In the past two years, I’ve watched the travel industry shift toward a new style of travel — local travel, slow travel, the kind of travel where you experience a single destination deeply rather than several destinations superficially.

This travel takes many forms: renting an apartment instead of staying in a hotel.  Couchsurfing and meeting up with locals.  Perusing farmers’ markets and eating at local restaurants.  Staying in one location for a week or longer instead of splitting your time between two or more destinations.

I’m happy to announce that I am about to leave for one of these trips — to Tuscany, a region that I hold dearly in my heart, with G Adventures, the travel tour operator that I recommend to my readers the most! I’ll be heading out on a four-day version of G’s Local Living Southern Tuscany trip.

The timing couldn’t be better.  After a very scary and stressful week in Boston, I need to get away from 24-hour news channels and live feeds on Boston.com.  Had this trip not been scheduled, I would have been spending all my time outside the house, just staying away from the news.

Italy — Perfect for Slow Travel

Italy is my favorite country in the world (though believe me, places like Thailand, Cambodia, Spain and Croatia give it a run for its money!).  It’s the kind of country where just being there is an experience in itself — Italian culture permeates each moment, from having a caffe while standing at a bar to marveling at a sunset over towers built during the Renaissance.

Italians are very sense-oriented, and their values reflect that.  Italians prioritize things like tasting the freshest, most delicious food possible; taking an hour every evening to stroll around the neighborhood and chat with friends; keeping their towns and homes beautiful; and, I have to admit, they prioritize spending lots of money on designer black clothing and grooming so that they look just as beautiful as their surroundings!

Most first-time visitors to Italy do a city-hopping tour: Rome-Florence-Venice, perhaps with some Pisa or Verona or Sorrento thrown in.  And while that’s a great way to get introduced to Italy, I think there’s so much value in settling in one place in the countryside, far from city noise, and enjoying the charm of rural Italian life.

Trip Plans

The G Adventures Local Living Southern Tuscany trip is set on a beautiful farm outside the tiny town of Chianciano Terme.  The farm is an agriturismo, and you stay there for a full week.  From what I’ve read so far, the host, Stefano, is passionate about organic farming and feeds you more or less nonstop!

Our trip will be for just four days, but we’ve got quite a bit planned — exploring small towns in the area, biking through the countryside, tasting everything from wine to meats to cheeses to olive oil, and learning about the slow food movement in Tuscany and the value of organic farming.

Remember my UNESCO challenge, where I made a goal to get from 52 to 101 sites visited by the end of the year?  On this four-day trip, we’re going to THREE that I haven’t yet visited: the Val d’Orcia, a landscape that was designed for maximum beauty during the Renaissance; the historic center of Pienza, a small and beautiful town near the farm; and the historic center of Siena, a popular Tuscan city that I have somehow overlooked until now.

I’ll be on this trip with some travel, food, and wine bloggers, along with a few G Adventures team members.  Be sure to follow the tag #gLocalLiving as we cover a few days of bliss in southern Tuscany.

Fresh air, fresh caffe, and fresh plates of salume at every meal — I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this trip.

Many thanks to G Adventures for hosting me in Tuscany.  All opinions, as always, are my own.

When you’re a native English speaker, the world is your oyster.  But what happens when people can’t speak your language?

Hi Kate,

Seeing that you’ve been to so many places, and obviously don’t know every language how comfortable are you traveling to these places? Do you just learn some of the necessary phrases and words? How do you fully enjoy the experience?

We really hit the lottery when it comes to being native English speakers.  English is the language of the world and the language of the tourism world.  In most places you visit that are outfitted for Western tourism, you will find that most people speak at least a little bit of English, along with nearly all young people.

First of all, plenty of the world speaks English: of course the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the US, and Canada fall into this category.  But did you know that English is also the national language of countries like Belize, the Philippines, India, and most African and Caribbean nations?  (See the full list here.)

In addition to that, English is widely spoken by most people in Scandinavia and on the backpacker trail in Southeast Asia.  In most of Europe and much of the Middle East, you’ll always find an English speaker in a group.

In several years of travel, I’ve had very few problems with communicating in a language I understand.  I have an advantage because I speak French well, and I also speak a bit of Italian and Spanish.  That covers quite a bit of the world.

But no matter where I go, I pick up a few helpful words no matter where I was: Mai yao, ka is a polite way of saying “No, thank you” in Thai; while ga means chicken and heo means pork in Vietnamese.  Salam alaykum is the universal greeting in the Arabic world, while grüß got works for Bavaria, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Swiss Germany.

The only places where I’ve had major communication issues?  Buenos Aires (while many people there speak English and I speak some Spanish, most did not speak English and the Argentine accent was very difficult for me to understand), and tiny villages on the Bolaven Plateau of Laos, where the only people who spoke English were three little boys I met.

Friends of mine have struggled communicating in places like China, Eastern Europe, Russia, lesser-touristed parts of Latin America, Japan (where people will fall all over themselves to help you even if they can’t speak the language!), and other parts of the world that are either more rural or less touristed.

So what do you do when NOBODY speaks English?  Use body language.  Write things down.  Hold up fingers for numbers.  Nod and smile.

Getting By in Another Country

Before arriving in a country where you don’t speak the local language, I recommend learning the following words:  Hello.  Thank you.  Goodbye.  Delicious.  How much is this?  Do you speak English? Speaking basic words in the local language is a way of showing respect, and most people will appreciate your effort.

Beyond that, I recommend getting two things:

1) A phrasebook or a translation app for your smartphone.  I would recommend buying an app over a phrasebook because it takes up no space in your bag and will cost you no more than a few dollars.  Different apps are better for different languages, so do your research.

2) A wordless dictionary.  This is filled with images you can point to — for example, if you’re in a store in China and you need to buy a toothbrush, you can point to the picture of the toothbrush.  This is the one I have.

And even if you find zero English speakers, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be completely lost.

Shortly after I arrived in Florence, I ended up spending an afternoon with two young Greek guys — one spoke a little English and a little Italian, one spoke no English or Italian.  I was two weeks into my semester abroad and spoke hardly any Italian and zero Greek.  But we had a great time attempting to communicate, laughing, drawing, and shaking our heads at the absurdity of it all.

Don’t worry about being unable to speak the local language.  You’ll be able to get around the world just fine.