Canadian heavy oil strengthened the most in more than a month after Kearl operations were shut down because of vibrations detected in an ore crusherSome people shop randomly I sightsee randomly And after a long day of determined and focused sightseeing while researching my guidebook I find a special joy in just being out and lapping up the beauty of a great city like Florence Its A fun stop in Orvieto just two blocks from the cathedral is Giuseppe Rosella s Il Mago di Oz Wizard of Oz shop Like eccentric artisans all over Europe he has a one track mind and enjoys the challenge of getting visitors into it With a
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Over the past couple of weeks in Italy I ve visited several noble and aristocratic manor hous As I connected with the fine families maintaining their blue blooded traditions against stern headwinds I imagined their ancestors lives a Hello Bulgaria I have an affinity for Bulgaria so overlooked and underappreciated and so charming in a Slavic way In my student days I spent lots of time exploring Bulgaria and its capital city Sofia playing chess in the park watching
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Strength in numbers Incredible moment more than 100 pedestrians join forces to lift a 20 ton TRAM off a student in ChinaOrvieto Cathedral s Chapel of San Brizio is one of the most jaw dropping pieces of art you ll see in Italy Painted by Luca Signorelli who inspired Michelangelo it s a twisted and vivid look at the psyche of the late s It s so fun to be
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In Florence the Church of San Lorenzo is a great example of how Renaissance architecture is poetry stony mathematical and timeless poetry You ll need to turn up the volume to better hear my guide Alessandra riff in a stream of Wrapping up three carefree days in Paris it occurred to me that many Americans are not traveling here because they think it s dangerous or tense While security is good as it should be these days I felt no tension hereBy the way isn t
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Over the past couple of weeks in Italy I ve visited several noble and aristocratic manor hous As I connected with the fine families maintaining their blue blooded traditions against stern headwinds I imagined their ancestors lives a Old timers remember Les Halles as Paris gigantic central produce market Demolished in the s it was replaced with an underground shopping mall And for a generation it s been a mess But now the complex is being transformed into a modern
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Since ducks have smaller livers than males they are destroyed in a crusher after hatching inside a foie gras factoryMontepulciano is my favorite town of the top wine making region of Tuscany And there we filmed the venerable coppersmith Cesare hard at work He showed us the pan he first made as a 12 year old boy in He stoked his fire and pounded away
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When I opened my eyes after a delightful night s sleep it occurred to me that this is pretty good living a four poster bed in a 16th century monastery a block from Michelangelo s David with a farmers market going on just outside my window I was in a cannabis club sharing marijuana jokes with a table of friends in Madr One referred to her boyfriend as a kangaroo I asked why and she told meSpaniards call potheads kangaroos because when the police come they stow
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Montepulciano is my favorite town of the top wine making region of Tuscany And there we filmed the venerable coppersmith Cesare hard at work He showed us the pan he first made as a 12 year old boy in He stoked his fire and pounded away Drinking on the job I m finishing up a great day in Normandy My co author Steve Smith and I spent the day double teaming the D Day beaches and then reviewing our favorite restaurants in Bayeux Our end of the day treat Dropping by the most
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One stop shopping is not a priority on Paris delightful Rue Cler My favorite neighborhood in Paris is essentially a traffic free market street where locals enjoy the inconvenience of many stop shopping when putting together their evening Brows are it I m in my favorite European city researching our Paris guidebook with co author Steve Smith and I m feeling a bit amused by the très chic dimensions of this city If you happily waited half an hour in line for the cupcake to die
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Especially in a stony and historic town like Assisi and especially in a light rain I enjoy taking a solitary after dinner stroll before heading back to the hotel Here in this famous town there s history everywhere Join me for a quick little A fun stop in Orvieto just two blocks from the cathedral is Giuseppe Rosella s Il Mago di Oz Wizard of Oz shop Like eccentric artisans all over Europe he has a one track mind and enjoys the challenge of getting visitors into it With a
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It s great to get back to Mont St Michel to celebrate the long awaited new bridge connecting it to the mainland The previous causeway built more than a century ago to let pilgrims reach the abbey regardless of the tide altered the bay s water We re filming a new TV show in Siena and will be returning in July for the town s wild and crazy horse race the Palio which is held in the city s main square Today on a peaceful little green just inside the city wall we witnessed a beautiful
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One stop shopping is not a priority on Paris delightful Rue Cler My favorite neighborhood in Paris is essentially a traffic free market street where locals enjoy the inconvenience of many stop shopping when putting together their evening Normandy offers a peaceful contrast to Paris I just had to share the way the day greeted me a few minutes out of bed in my cute little B B in Honfleur I m here updating the France guidebook with co author Steve Smith Here s the listing
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One of my favorite agriturismi farmhouse B Bs in Tuscany is Cretaiole where Isabella and Carlo host about 15 visitors at a time for week long stays doubles for around $1 200 per week They put together a fun loving cultural boot camp where I love the image of monks 800 years ago hunched over sacred manuscripts while painstakingly transcribing them In other words hand copying entire books using quills or whatever they had for pens When we travel such images are
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The Paris Ferris Wheel offers a 200 feet high view of the City of Light from its location at the bottom of the Champs Elysé This transportable wheel with 11 000 gallons of water in its footings for ballast has traveled the world and has a Nearly every evening I m out prowling the streets in search of the latest places to eat for my guidebooks I m usually with local guides who help me find and understand what I m seeing I don t think there s a restaurant anywhere in Venice that
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