Little Italy: Part One

Many cities around the world have areas that have been created by immigrants and where you can get a flavour of the culture and cuisine of a nation. Famously, ‘Chinatowns’ spring to mind, but there are also Italian, Greek, Asian and many more where the inhabitants recreate their homeland.

One such area that I have had the pleasure to explore on several occasions is Little Italy in San Diego which was originally a fishing village based around the tuna industry. Now it is still a vibrant ‘village’ with lots of Italian restaurants and upmarket boutiques. I have quite a few photos from my visits so I shall split this into three photo posts, the first being a general wander around the area.

It’s also a very floral place as you can see.

~wander.essence~ photography

postcard from america

The Everglades in Florida is made up of coastal mangroves, sawgrass marshes and pine flatwoods that are home to hundreds of animal species including ubiquitous Florida alligators. On a cloudy day we took a trip on one of the Airboats through the waterways to find those alligators in the water. Seeing one swimming lazily towards the boat, eyes just above the water getting close and personal is quite an experience. It is quite exhilarating as the Airboat picks up speed and heads for the river of grass heading into miles of wetlands – thoughts of Miami Vice or CSI Miami entered my head, hoping we didn’t discover a dead body in the reeds.  Our tour ended with a bizarre Gator wrestling match and seeing baby gators (with their mouths tied up). It wasn’t something I would repeat although the boat trip was fun.

home thoughts from abroad

Home thoughts from abroad is a new series on Travel Words featuring a single photograph that reminds me of a country visited and showing something that uniquely identifies it as being ‘abroad’.

Our few days in Montreux were very busy. On our first day we caught a bus* to Vevey Funi and took the funicular railway up the mountainside to Mont Pèlerin (no views sadly because of the fog lingering over the water) then walked back along the promenade (Quai Ernest-Ansermet) into Vevey town centre for a look around. From Vevey-Marché (lac) we caught a ferry boat to the Castle of Chillon which is at the far side of Montreux, with the intention of visiting the castle in the afternon before walking back via Quai des Fleurs and Quai Alfred Chatelanat to our hotel (2 miles). A full self-guiding tour takes approximately 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on how fast you walk and how much reading you do. Castle of Chillon is the result of several centuries of constant building, adaptations, renovations and restorations with excavations affirming this site has been occupied since the Bronze Age.

*free transport passes are provided to visitors by your hotel in many parts of Switzerland on local buses, trams and trains.