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Travel to the UK with Lisa Fagin Davis and the Medieval Academy of America

Excited to announce that our good friend and client (we designed an itinerary for her and her husband to visit their daughter in Australia), Lisa Fagin Davis, is leading a trip to the UK in October. Lisa is the Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America and we’ve seen firsthand her passion for history, including a guided tour of an exhibition she co-curated in Boston in 2016, "Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections." Participants in this October 23-28 trip will visit two rare exhibitions: "Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms" at the British Library and "Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth" at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, with curatorial introductions and expert guides in addition to Lisa. These exhibitions overlap for only one week, making this trip a unique opportunity to see them together. 

According to Lisa, the real star of the British Museum show is the Codex Amiatinus, the oldest known complete Latin Bible. It was written in England around the year 716 (that’s 1300 years ago, for those keeping score) and left England on a journey to Rome shortly after its completion, where it was to be laid at the shrine of St. Peter in Rome, a gift to Pope Gregory II from Abbot Ceolfrith of Wearmouth-Jarrow. The Abbot died enroute, but the monks who were with him finished the journey to Rome. Eventually, the manuscript made its way to the Abbey of San Salvatore in Amiata (in Tuscany), which is how it got its nickname of Amiatinus. By the eighteenth century, it had landed at the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence, where it has been ever since. But it is going back to England for the exhibition!
 
"My friends at the British Library tell me that this loan was the result of years of secret negotiations. In fact, one staffer recently told me that only a few people in the library even knew the negotiations were ongoing. It was all top secret until the deal was done," says Lisa. Read the full story of the manuscript here. 
 
The Bodleian exhibit will look at how Tolkien’s work in the field of Old English and medieval Scandinavian epic literature shaped Middle Earth, showing his correspondence, drafts, sketches. "For Tolkien geeks, it’s going to be pretty amazing," says Lisa, adding that "Tolkien wrote one of the first seminal studies of Beowulf, a classic article that students of Old English still read today, so it will be great to see the Beowulf manuscript one day and see its influence on Tolkien the next!" Price for the land package is $2580, including 4 nights lodging, most meals, guides, and tickets to all events. 
 

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My Favorite Music of 2014

As I do every year, I go through the Boston Globe and NPR’s music reviewers’ lists of top reviewed albums and songs of the year to see what truly stands out. It was a great year for electronica music, thanks to Leon Vynehall, Caribou, and Jacques Greene. Check out these three songs, in particular: Goodthing, Can’t Do Without You, and 1 4 Me. Love the sultry delivery of Niia on her latest cut, Body. Lee Field’s Standing By Your Side is old school R&B straight from the playbook of Curtis Mayfield. The Matt Wilson Quartet and John Mediski came out with an ebullient up-tempo jazz album called Gathering Call, which I just purchased on Amazon and can’t wait to listen to it as I write. Check out Pumpkin’s Delight. Hip-hop lovers will adore the new Freddie Gibbs and Madlib song, Deeper, meant to be played loud in the car when you don’t want anybody to mess with you. There was some excellent African music to come out this year, including Ugandan singer Somi and her strong delivery on Lady Revisited. Nigeria’s Brymo came out with a great album, Tabula Rusa, including one must-download song, One Pound. My favorite album of the year was A Long Way to the Beginning by Seun Kuti, Fela’s son. The younger Kuti reunited with his dad’s band to once again create that hypnotic Afropop beat, guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I can’t wait to crank it out on my trip to Tanzania in March. Enjoy! 

 
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Sea Kayak the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

South of Anchorage, the shores of the Kenai Peninsula are glacial-carved inlets where 4,000 foot peaks plummet into the waters below.  Katchemak and Tutka Bays stretch more than ten miles into the forested interior, protected from the nasty glaciers and swells of the Gulf of Alaska. Sea otters, sea lions, porpoises, eagles, and seals use these relatively calm waters as a safe haven, and now sea kayakers are following their lead.  Through the second week of September, True North Kayak Adventures out of Homer organizes three-day adventures into this fjord-like setting. You’ll spend your days paddling under 400-foot waterfalls or hiking up one of the small peaks to get an eagle’s vantage point of the landscape.  At night, you’ll camp on Yukon Island and feast on freshly caught salmon. Trips start at $495 per person, including guides, food, and tents.

I’ll be leaving today on a two-week trip to the Canadian Rockies, starting with a weeklong family adventure jaunt with my friends at Austin-Lehman Adventures. We’ll spend two additional nights in Jasper at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, before taking an overnight train on VIA Rail into Vancouver. After spending three nights in the city, we’ll take a ferry over to Salt Spring Island, a personal favorite of Seattle-based writer and BC travel guru, Eric Lucas. I’ll be back on August 8th with an update on western Canada. Enjoy these two weeks, and, as always, keep active!
 

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A Highly Recommended Private Guide In Barcelona

When I mentioned to a friend that my husband and I were going to Barcelona, she recommended a private guide company, Hi This Is Barcelona. I could tell right away from their personalized email reply to my inquiry that this was a classy boutique organization. My husband and I took two of their ½-day tours. Seeing Barcelona through their guide was like shopping for a novel at an independent bookstore versus going to a chain store. Our guide had so much knowledge and passion about his adopted city and he was genuinely committed to sharing as much as possible. 
 
He met us at our hotel the first morning and gave us an overview of the Gothic area, geographically, culturally and historically. That introduction, which he elaborated on during our walk, gave us a full perspective on what we’d be seeing. During the tour, we had time to hear stories and anecdotes that weren’t in any of the guidebooks or websites we’d checked out before our trip. 
 
My husband wanted to photograph the city from various perspectives. During the Modernist tour, our guide brought us to rooftop locations with aerial views, and we always got there at prime time for best lighting conditions. He navigated us to the least crowded areas with the most interesting mix of architectural styles and shared insight about the lives of the architects, their relationships which each other and what was going on around them that was influential at the time.
 
After our tours, our guide recommended restaurants, specific shops, and day trips outside the city that catered to our interests. Compared to the places our hotel concierge suggested, our guide’s picks were places where we felt like insiders instead of tourists. We chose Barcelona as a destination because we needed to feed our souls with culture, history and great food and Hi This Is Barcelona made it all happen for us in a uniquely relaxing and stimulating way. I highly recommend it!
 
Posted by Guest Blogger, Robin Regensburg, co-founder of RainCastle Communications, a web design and marketing firm in Boston
 
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This Summer, Book a Maine Windjammer Sail

Last summer, I made the wise choice to sail on the Schooner Mary Day with my daughter, Melanie, before she left for her first year of college at Indiana University. We had a glorious trip dining on all the lobster we could stomach on a deserted island off the mid-Maine coast, spotting harbor porpoises, lonely lighthouses, and making new friends around the country as we hoisted sails and sucked in as much salty air as necessary. This comes on the heels of two memorable sails aboard the Grace Bailey with my dad and his wife Ginny. 

A question I’m always asked is where does a travel writer go for downtime? For me, I’ll jump on one of these historic schooners any chance I get. The Maine Windjammer Association is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Do yourself a favor and book a sail. It’s the best way to see the rugged shoreline and tall timbers of the Maine coast. New themed cruises include Sail Boston Tall Ship Festival (American Eagle & Angelique), Yoga and Wellness (Victory Chimes & Angelique), Beers of the Maine Coast (Mary Day), and Acadia National Park Cruises (Isaac H. Evans & Heritage). Back by popular demand: Beer and Bluegrass (Ladona), Foodie Cruises (Ladona & Stephen Taber), Kayaking Tours (Lewis R. French), Wine Tasting (Stephen Taber, Ladona, Angelique), and Knitting (Isaac H. Evans). 
 
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Adventures in Ecuador: Biking, Snorkeling, and Relaxing on Isabela

Isabela is the largest of all the Galapagos Islands and is blessed with the longest stretch of white sand beach, where we spent two nights at La Casita de La Playa. Within walking distance are restaurants, beachfront bars, a good bakery, and several souvenir shops in a sleepy town about 6 dirt blocks long. 

 
On Isabela, we walked on an island covered with hardened black lava and black iguanas, saw white-tipped sharks sleeping in a channel, those famous blue-footed boobies and Galapagos penguins standing on the rocks, and swam once again with massive sea turtles. Our favorite outing was renting bikes to visit a lagoon filled with flamingoes, a giant tortoise breeding center, and then riding on a road along the long beach to a former fort, the Wall of Tears, used by the American during World War II. It was a special treat to bike past large tortoises on the side of the road. 
 
Make sure to bring $100 in US dollars for each person upon arrival at the Galapagos Airport (they don’t take credit cards) and give yourself at least two hours at the Quito Airport to figure out the three lines you’ll have to navigate. Once in the Galapagos, we’re happy to suggest a land-based itinerary or cruises that come highly recommended. 
 
We’re spending a week at one of our favorite New England resorts next week, the Basin Harbor Club on the shores of Vermont’s Lake Champlain. I’ll be back on August 19th. In the meantime, keep active! 
 
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Favorite Fall Drives, Route 100, Vermont

Mid-September to mid-October, when the summer crowds are gone and the snow has yet to drop, is my favorite time of year to cruise around America. This week, I’m going to delve into some of those blessed routes. First up, a fall foliage drive on Route 100 in Vermont. 
 
Don’t believe the Vermont fall foliage hype? All it takes is one drive on Route 100 from Killington to Stowe to understand the allure. Traveling along the ridgeline of the 4,000-foot Green Mountains radiating with its verdant robe of multi-hued maples, you can’t help but sing its praises. Be sure to stop in the farming community of Rochester for the requisite “cows and meadow” photo and the historic village of Stowe to find one of the numerous freshly painted white steeples. Along the route, you’ll want to visit the Cold Hollow Cider Mill for your jug of cider, out-of-the-oven doughnuts, and genuine maple syrup. Nearby is the Ben & Jerry’s factory, where you can take a tour, sample the wares, and find out how the duo started their celebrated business. Spend the night at the Stowe Mountain Lodge, at the base of Vermont’s tallest peak, Mount Mansfield, and you’ll have the opportunity to take in the fall foliage while playing a round of golf. 
 

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