Experiences

Wherever we go, we’re always looking for interesting, different activities — priced appropriately for what you get. We’ve found it’s less about whether the experience is for tourists/visitors then whether it’s well presented and curated, something unexpected, a new insight — a chance to go behind a door that’s normally closed.

So absolutely go see the Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, Coliseum. And then go VaVenturing - into the authentic, unusual, unique and sometimes quirky. 

Here are some of our favorites!

New Orleans - Preservation Hall

Yes — it’s on every tourist itinerary. But, amazingly, the music isn’t touristy at all — it’s intimate and sublime — and perhaps the mot authentic distillation of jazz and blues you may ever hear.

There are usually at least two sets a night — no advance tickets — just line up outside and file in to a space that hold no more then 100 people — you may get a bench seat, otherwise, it’s standing room only. You’ll likely get to hear a a mix of pd timers and new young talent — playing charts handed down directly from the great masters.

Afterwards, wander down to Frenchman’s and drink and dance to the impromptu street brass bands.

Rome - Trastevere

Best neighborhood to walk, wander and get lost in  - across the bridge from Central Rome you already feel like you are in a different space -  an eclectic mix of aroma small streets, narrow alleys (pix) unexpected little piazzas, teeming with bars, restaurants, shops and lovers (pasta making lady). And you must try a Casio e Pepe - 4 ingredients - pecorino cheese, black pepper, pasta and the starchy water its cooked in.

Check out one of our favorite restaurants in Rome - Casa Mia Trastevere — notable not just for the usual pasta but also some of the best steak and rabbit you’ll have anywhere in Italy.

Seattle  - Underground Tour

Many cities are built on top of ruined previous habitations. Who knew you could walk back into 1900s life.  After a fire, Seattle city fathers decided to rebuild the city vertically in stone, but the underground version remains.  Walk around and imagine trying to cross the deep street or climb up into the buildings all in long skirts. The great advanatage - the new city wouldn’t burn and added new height and allowed the first gravity assisted flush toilets to emptied out intl the bay and not back up into the city. It’s a strange but fascinating tour — that will give you a new respect for the degradations and ingenuity of life on the frontier.

Paris  - Canal St. Martin 

When you have had enough of crowded museums and tourist filled sights - give yourself a break and take a barge thru Paris’s Canal St. Martin.  You’ll head down the Seine then make a left turn that will take you into the heart of the 9th and 10th Arrondissments — lovely bustling restaurant and cafe filled neighborhoods where tourists seldom tread.

You’ll pass through working locks (amazing to watch water cascade down the side of your boat and then be levitated), pass under swinging bridges and past real neighborhoods. Altogether tres agreable. 21/2 hour tour. 

Disgorging in Parc de la Villette explore Paris’ post modern dystopian but, of course, chic cultural venue.

Or leisurely walk back along the canal (2.8 miles) and sample some of the storefronts and cafes you spied from the boat.  

London - Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms

Sometimes you just want to lock the door behind you and forget.  That’s exactly what happened 75 years ago at the end of WW2, when someone turned off the lights on a subterranean warren of secret rooms which for 6 years were the center of the British War effort. 

Reopened to some public in 1984 and greatly expanded in 2005; it is now one of the highlights of a trip to London. Part working government, part military HQ; in the War Rooms you get a sense of what it was like to live, sleep and work in these cramped airless quarters, knowing every move you made would affect thousands of lives.   Luckily, visiting today you don’t feel that you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. But you do get immersed.  The powerful audio self guided tour reminds you that, quite literally, the fate of liberty and freedom lay in the decisions made by those working in these rooms.

Quebec — Dog Sledding and Ice Spa

How many times do you get to do this?

On Quebec’s Île d'Orléans, you can spend several hours dog sledding through the Northern woods — fulfilling every Narnia fantasy you ever had.

Bond with gentle sweet Malamutes and enjoy the gorgeous frozen landscape as either the driver or passenger.

Siberian Station Spa

Just 15 minutes outside of the city, in the middle of the borreal forest, this Nordic Scandinavian style outdoor spa offers hot and cold pools, saunas, thermal baths, heat infused yurts, hammocks over looking a babbling brook, fire pit lounge areas all surrounded by beautifully scenery. Cozy, quiet and blissful, tucker away in the woods.

Try it when the air temp is 20 degrees below freezing d e t o x and r e l a x.  You will feel like a different person.

Iceland — Hike a Glacier

On the road between Reykavik and Vik— you can drive up and hike the Solheimajakull Glacier. You’ll be fitted with hard hat and crampons and a guide will take you across the crevices and into ice caverns. You’ll see how quickly the glacier has retreated in the last few years — dramatic evidence of global warming.

Check out Iceland Winter and Iceland Sunmer for everything you need to know about visiting Iceland.

Naples — Go Underground

Naples is a 3000 year old city — rebuilt like a layer cake from the Greeks to the present day.

As a result — the city is riddled with hidden subterranean chambers and tunnels — from Roman plumbing and amphitheaters to 20th Century air raid shelters.

Several companies offer tours each in a different location with a a different mix of tunnels and artifacts. We like Naples Underground — a good mix of classical and modern spaces including a candlelit exploration of an aqueduct and cistern to paraphernalia remaining from the bomb raids of WW2.

Ischia — Poseidon
The tourists go to Capri — but the Italians go to Ischia — a magical island about an hour’s ferry ride from Naples.

One of the glories of the Ischia is the Poseidon Spa. Heated by an underground volcano, the original baths date from Antiquity. Go off season, when the two dozen pools of varying temperature between the mountains and the Mediterranean are half empty. Don’t miss the steam room, inside the mountain directly above volcanic vents.