Ciaotraveler

During my last trip to Italy, I had the opportunity to fly first class....yes, I'd never flown it before but had the chance to upgrade through my mileage plan.  Wow, it was well worth it.  I had no idea the airport lounge would offer  more than a little comfort while waiting for my flight.  They are providing a culinary feast and mostly free to boot.  For your next trip, you don't have to necessarily fly first class to access the lounges.... sometimes for a small fee  you can use them.  Look it up on line for your particular airport.  Just be sure to do this ahead of your travel. Here's one example...the lounge I used at the Rome Fiumicino Airport ... .

                         Tea Time Mag photo                                               Twinings'  tiny  white shoppe in London.  There are fabulous walking tours in Europe for a great way to see something very unique in the nooks and crannies of an old city.  This walk sounded like a fun leisurely day as well.  When in London consider doing a Tea Walk with Twinings, the popular tea producer (since 1706).   See the walking route...

This cute commercial is about the  Fiat 500 (thus, the 500 Immigrants) coming to America (NY) via the ocean.  Controversy may be brewing about the potential negative inferences to Italian immigration.   Having grandparents who immigrated from Italy, I don't think they'd give this a second thought.  I posted this because,  according to the articles I've read, it was filmed on the Amalfi Coast of Sorrento and Positano both beautiful locations featured on my blog . See the video here What do you think about it?  Please comment below.

Getting ready for a special two weeks in Lon don, the Brits introduced a newer version of the original style double decker buses...I like the old ones yet the enclosed top is much more conducive to their many rainy days.  More photos...

  Canterbury Cathedral  in a quaint village In honor of the Olympics, here is my previous England post... Great Britain has so many charming villages and destinations to visit however, it would take you a long time to see everything.  We've been several times and like to see the same sites so it's been hard to discover new areas.  But it's worth a trip outside London to see small villages, castles or spots of interest.  More...

To Rome With Love , a comedy about celebrity and romance, was previewing in the native Italian language in Rome when we were there in April.  Its now in the USA and looks to be another hit for Allen.  His other movies filmed in Europe were Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Midnight in Paris.  Many scenes were filmed in the historical parts of the Eternal City such as Trevi Fountain above and the Trastevere District.  They visit the Piazza del Repubblica and the  Spanish Steps among other places.   See the Architectural Digest movie set articles here  ,  here , here See my Rome post here

The textiles in Europe are beautiful and plentiful.  It's worth checking out the flea markets to purchase fabrics for your future sewing projects.  I came back and made some throw pillows for a guest bedroom plus painted old picture frames to match, look... My found Fabrics

Capri, Italy photos from my iPhone;  Collage made in Frametastic I've always loved design and photo editing so its been a fun challenge--publishing posts using my photos from my Europe travels and other Euro things.   I'm self-taught like most bloggers I presume, who create posts for their blogs.      It takes  experimentation with various iPhone apps and computer software programs to get the desired outcomes.  Be sure to read the end of this post about phone apps .  Here are a few tips using photos for new bloggers like me. I use Google Chrome and Blogger for my blog web hosting.   Picassa Web Albums are used to upload photos to my actual blog.  All of the apps I use are free to users. If the photo has been taken on my 16 megapixel Nikon, I use Microsoft Picture It! program on my desktop computer to edit my photos.  However, I've discovered a few steps that make it very easy to produce professional lo...

Gwyneth Paltrow has become quite the chef and now has a beautiful new kitchen in Los Angeles (among many including London)...more on her beautiful home at Hooked on Houses here .

I recently saw this exquisite gown on Princess Kate and thought about making a summer wedding post.  The gown above is by Jenny Packham who creates many wedding dresses of similar graceful, elegant style.  Some of her gowns were recently featured in Santa Barbara Magazine for the summer wedding edition.  See more...

Staples has teamed up with Martha Stewart (who hasn't?) to sell her line of storage items, notebooks and all sorts of labels.  I love labels and use them to  print photos or logos on like those above.   Here are just some of the items and ideas for labels.  Keep reading...

Left: Tuscany village, right: Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy Positano, Italy One thing is for certain there are ancient destinations to explore if you're willing to hike up stairways and walkways.  These landings and stairs in Europe add character and so much charm to the structures, most dating back to medieval times.  These are just some of my favorites I've photographed along the way...