Friendships form with another American student, and with Cesare, an Italian medical student living in the same "hotel." But what transpires is something no one ever expected, especially her mom. Over the next 45 years, Debbie returns 11 more times, mostly alone. Other trips include her two best friends, another with her father, and horseback riding adventures in the Chianti Region of Tuscany with cousins. Some of the places visited include Rome, Tuscany, the Almalfi Coast, Sicily, Capri, and a 2,500 year-old village in Umbria where the only mode of transportation allowed is a moped or donkey. One hundred years after her great grandmother migrated to America, Debbie locates her family in the most unusual way, culminating with a heartwarming reception. Rarely staying in hotels, My Love Affair With Italy describes each of the trips, all the types of accommodations such as the agriturismi (farmhouses), the apartments, vineyards, the medieval villages, monastery, villas, and horseback riding centers she stayed in addition to the romances and friends met along the way. At the age of 50, Debbie learns how to horseback ride English style and takes a 100-mile tour cantering through Tuscany, something she was not nearly qualified to do. Within a year, she becomes an exchange student and enrolls in school in Siena, one of Tuscany's most magnificent cities, to learn Italian and moves in with a local family, she not knowing Italian and they not knowing English. While in school, she befriends a German woman who invites her to stay at her home in the beautiful Bavarian Alps during her next visit to Europe, and Debbie accepts in an attempt to practice Italian with her former classmate, but the trip becomes a shocking revelation. The book also details the "jewels" of Rome not mentioned in brochures such as The Scala Sancta, the Holy Stairs, holy because they are said to be the stairs that Jesus climbed on his way to his trial before Pontius Pilate, and the Aventine Keyhole, a nondescript-looking door on the Aventine Hill, neatly placing the dome of St. Peter’s right in the center. Each trip also details why she returns each time, the struggles endured at home after becoming a caregiver, the 50-year friendships that get her through it all, and the shocking way her father shows his presence in Piazza Navona. Lastly, four decades after it all began, there are very surprising reunions and the most unusual romance.

    That unmistakable urge was already growing inside of Mike Krabal when he received advice from a wise soul of eighty-one years to "get out more." In October 2011, he traded his life in a small West Virginia town for 132 days on America's open road. Through vivid observation, he tells of hair-raising run-ins with wild animals, wild people, and the wicked Hangover Fairy. Youthful curiosity charts the course, and his trusty motorcycle, the Goose, hauls the gear. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, exotic landscapes, fresh mornings in unfamiliar towns, and more than 17,000 miles pass. No detail is left behind in this friendly, funny, and mischievous story of discovery away from home. (black and white ebook) *Update 2/23/2016: I've just released 132 Days A journey A journal and some Whiskey COLOR PHOTO EDITION. It features over 900 color photos to best capture the essence of a coast-to-coast American adventure, and it's now available on Amazon.com. Here's the link - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B...-

    The fully updated guide includes unique cutaways, floor plans, and reconstructions of the must-see sights, plus street-by-street maps of cities and towns. DK's insider travel tips and essential local information will help you discover the best of the Greek Islands, from local festivals and markets to day trips around the countryside. Detailed listings will guide you to hotels, restaurants, bars and shops for all budgets, while practical information will help you to get around by train, bus, or car.With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that brighten up every page, "DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Greek Islands" truly shows you around this destination as no one else can.

    Go along with writer Susan Van Allen on a femme-friendly ride up and down the boot, to explore this extraordinarily enchanting country where Venus (Vixen Goddess of Love and Beauty) and The Madonna (Nurturing Mother of Compassion) reign side-by-side. With humor, passion, and practical details, this uniquely anecdotal guidebook will enrich your Italian days.Enjoy masterpieces of art that glorify womanly curves, join a cooking class taught by revered grandmas, shop for ceramics, ski in the Dolomites, or paint a Tuscan landscape. Make your vacation a string of Golden Days, by pairing your experience with the very best restaurant nearby, so sensual pleasures harmonize and you simply bask in the glow of bell’Italia.Whatever your mood or budget, whether it’s your first or your twenty-first visit, with 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, Italy opens her heart to you.

    Dramatic, amusing, and engaging observations of a major climb by a first-time climber.

    This is the story of his arduous and almost miraculous survival, and of the brilliant, committed teamwork which brought him to safety.

    His adventure takes him through valleys bordered by thousand-foot cliffs, roaring waterfalls wreathed in rainbows, blinding glaciers, and shimmering blue snowfields. Yet this is also some of the harshest, most challenging terrain in the world. Watkins's route follows razor-thin ridges, hair-raising paths, and vertigo-inducing drops. An engaging and reflective memoir, The Fellowship of Ghosts captures the profound connection between the Norwegian landscape and the myths, peoples, and dreams that it inspires.

    She fell in love with the silence, and in this profound, frank memoir she describes how she explored this new love, searching for silence and solitude.

    Simultaneous.

    Nursing two reluctant knees and a can of Stella, he perambulates through the seasons seeking adventure in our city’s remote and forgotten reaches.When John Rogers packed away his rucksack to start a family in London he didn’t stop travelling. But instead of canoeing up the Rejang River to find retired headhunters in Sarawak, he caught the ferry to Woolwich in search of the edge of the city at Crayford Marshes.This Other London recounts that journey and many others – all on foot and epic in their own cartilage-crunching way. Clutching a samosa and a handful of out-of-date A-Zs, he heads out into the wilderness of isolated luxury apartment blocks in Brentford, the ruins of Lesnes Abbey near Thamesmead, and the ancient Lammas Lands in Leyton.Denounced by his young sons as a ‘hippy wizard’, Rogers delves into some of the overlooked stories rumbling beneath the tarmac of the city suburbs. Holy wells in Lewisham; wassailing in Clapton; a heretical fresco in West Ham. He encounters the Highwaymen of Hounslow Heath, Viet Cong vets still fighting Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket in Beckton, Dutch sailors marooned at Erith pier; and cyclists – without Bradley Wiggins’ sideburns – at Herne Hill Velodrome. He heads out to Uxendon Hill to witness the end of the world, Horsenden Hill to learn its legend, and Tulse Hill to the observatory of the Victorian Brian Cox.This Other London will take you into the hinterland of the city. The London that is lived in; the London where workaday dormitory suburbs sit atop a rich history that could rival Westminster and Tower Bridge. In an age when no corner of the globe has been left untrampled-upon by hordes of tourists, it is time to discover the wonders on our doorstep.This Other London is your gateway through the underexplored nooks of London. As Pathfinder wrote in 1911, ‘Adventure begins at home’.

    And they did it. Then, undaunted, they took on the treacherous waters of the Thames. Not exactly as Mark had planned, however: this time his companion was to be the delectable Jennifer - but she was held up at the office, and when Boogie was dropped off at the kennels the other dogs complained.Travels with Boogie is a witty and fascinating account of a mismatched couple and of the people they meet and places they visit.

    What starts out as an idle daydream to embark on 'a travel to end all travels' turns into something far greater: an epic year-long 5000-kilometre walk from Trafalgar Square in London to Morocco and the threshold of the Sahara Desert.Quite an ambition for an unfit woman who favours sharing cigarettes and a few bottles of wine with friends over logging time on the treadmill. But if the sheer arduousness of walking over 25 kilometres a day through the landscapes and cultural labyrinths of France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco - without a support vehicle - is overlooked in her excitement, then so too is the unexpected journey of self discovery and awakening that lies beyond every bend. Both the companions she meets on the road and the road itself provide what no university can offer: a chance to experience life's simple truths face to face.Paula's transformation from an urban primary school teacher into a successful expeditioner is a true tale of an ordinary woman achieving something extraordinary. It is a journey that begins with one footstep.

    As the daughter of King Malcolm of Scotland, she has always been expected to achieve great things, and so she was sent to England to receive an education at just seven years old. Now, at fourteen, her aunt wants her to take vows to become a nun. A knight hospitaller wants her to join the fight against the Saracens in the Holy Land. And, her father wants her to marry a man she does not love just for the money and political benefits. But… perhaps she might become queen of England instead? After all, she is rumored to be the only woman to have ever turned the king of England’s head. And anyway, King William is far kinder and prettier than the man her father chose for her. As dawn breaks, she runs away from the abbey without any solid plan. And just as she takes a deep breath and allows her legs to rest, she is found by the king’s little brother, Lord Henry. He won’t let her travel alone. When she protests his company, he forces her in his horse's saddle and rides away with her into the forest. In this stunning tale of Matilda of Scotland's "lost" seven years, great love is lost and found, a kingdom rises, and a queen is made.

    L. Gardner, includes five novels and one novella: 1929 Elizabeth’s Heart 1930 Drifter Purgatory Cove 1931 1929 When Black Tuesday triggers financial despondency, three young couples in New York City trade their lives of luxury for poverty. From back-breaking jobs to a shabby, rundown apartment, the couples’ rocky path leads to more turmoil when a business rival creates one disaster after another. A story set in the past, Gardner’s first novel is more than memorable—1929 is unforgettable. Elizabeth’s Heart Institutionalized in 1929 for having prophetic visions, Simon Sinclair narrates from inside the Massachusetts Asylum. There he meets Elizabeth, a young woman with a shadow personality and a traumatic past. As their lives become entwined, their attachment for each other grows. Their actions set off a chain reaction that directly touches the lives of the characters from 1929. 1930 A memorial service for Aryl Sullivan isn’t enough closure for the 1929 characters. Claire, now a pregnant widow, is too devastated to cope, Caleb drowns his sorrow in a bottle of whiskey, and Jonathan awaits the birth of his child. Maura is put to work to see them past the worst of it, facing setbacks of her own. As the gears of life slowly start to move again, new friends are made and old enemies return. Claire finds refuge through a common bond with widower Gordon, finally allowing her to move on and accept her new life. Until she’s met with a shocking surprise. Drifter Richard Sloan, a Massachusetts missing person’s detective, is losing his touch. After six months, he hasn’t found anyone alive and becomes desperate to redeem his reputation. Aryl Sullivan, who suffered amnesia in a boating accident, finds himself caught up in a series of events that land him in London. While in the hands of Gina, a secretive and controlling woman, Aryl is forever changed as he does what he has to in order to survive. Purgatory Cove Elizabeth William’s mind is full of fissures and hairline fractures held together by the love of fellow patient, Simon Sinclair. But when the staff at the Massachusetts Asylum informs her that her soul mate, Simon, has died, she instantly shatters. Retreating within the depths of her mind, she must confront the fractured personality that’s tried to control her for years. But Elizabeth discovers that she’s outnumbered and must live in the shadows of her own personal purgatory until she finds the strength to change her fate. 1931 The saga of the 1929 Series continues as Aryl’s battle with opiates forces Jonathan and Caleb to take drastic measures in an effort to save him. Claire clings desperately to the hope that the man she fell in love with—and lost—will reemerge from the depths of his addiction. Ava confronts a dark secret from her past that sends her spiraling deeper into her postpartum depression. Instead of reaching out to Jonathan, she withdraws. While Arianna is expecting their third child, Caleb finds himself ensnared in Marvin’s tangled web of deceit and blackmail. He struggles to keep his family safe as he maneuvers his way out of the nightmare. Will they have the tenacity to overcome their obstacles? Or will this forever destroy their friendships as they know it? Get all six novels in one digital boxed set.

    Volumes 1-3 of the Jack Nightingale supernatural thriller series: NIGHTFALL, MIDNIGHT and NIGHTMARE.