Travel Tips

Mark is one of the first VTers I met... turns out he lives in the same town as most of my family, so whenever I visit I am fortunate enough to meet up with Mark for drinks or dinner. And my work has taken me to NC a lot this year as well, so I think we're up to 4 or 5 encounters.

I first met Mark over Christmas, a year after my father died. I wasn't in the holiday spirit, as you can well imagine, but sharing a bottle of wine and blathering about Florence made my misery disappear, if even only for an evening.

If you ever find yourself heading to Charlotte, make sure you let Mark know... he's a great tour guide and one of the nicest people I know. Over the last two years (this Christmas will be 3!) we've gotten to be good friends and have talked about traveling together, either to my beloved Italy, his beloved Spain, or perhaps discovering Paris together.

He's a great writer and a bit modest about his talent for photography (he says I'm better, but I disagree). An avid reader, wine taster, and lover of great food and conversation. I'm truly blessed to have found a dear friend thru VT!

Miguel was meeting a friend of his in Atlanta and then they were headed on a road trip through the Southeast... he wrote me and asked me about what to see in Atlanta and also for suggestions for his roadtrip. I met him at the airport and then found out his friend's flight had been cancelled, so I dropped him off at a hotel and we made plans to tour Atlanta on his return trip. True to his word, he called when they came back to Atlanta!

We spent the day playing tourist... isn't it funny how you overlook things in the city where you live? We had a great time at the World of Coke and Underground Atlanta. He's been promising to send me the photo taken at dinner at Dante's Down the Hatch, but has yet to do so!

Since then, he's moved to Bologna, fallen in love, and is looking for a place to live. Once he settles in, I hope to visit!

Miguel is originally from Lisbon, and has wonderful advice on what to do and see in Portugal. I put Mark (acemj) in touch with Mig before his trip this year.

And ladies, Miguel IS as gorgeous as his photos... when I saw him at the airport he took my breath away!