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Beautiful Capri

Posted by Mark Sullivan on October 7, 2026

Posted in: Europe, Italy. Leave a Comment

There are a lot of mediocre restaurant serving the tourist hordes in Capri, but Da Tonino, a 20-minute walk from town, is perfection

From Palermo we took an overnight ferry to Naples, where we would catch a morning ferry to the island of Capri, one of our favorite places in the world. But first let’s talk about that overnight ferry.

We did the same ferry in reverse 13 years ago, setting out from Naples for our first ever visit to Sicily. We didn’t really know what to expect, but it was a really fun experience. Soon after we settled into our modest private cabin we went looking for dinner. First we checked out the “cafeteria,” a huge space teeming with tons of people filling plates with sloppy looking, seemingly low budget food selections. Then we looked for the “restaurant” and found a shockingly elegant space with white tablecloths, white-jacketed waiters, a lovely menu, and hardly another soul dining there. There we had one of our most memorable meals ever.

As we prepared for this repeat journey I was wondering if that amazing, improbable dining experience was still an option. I asked ChatGPT about it, and they confirmed that yes, this route still has both a crowded cafeteria and an “elegant” sit-down à la carte restaurant. Yay, another fun travel experience to look forward to!

Now, it turns out that ChatGPT is sometimes just wrong. And while there was still technically a table-service restaurant, it had been seriously downgraded. No tablecloths. Surly waiters. Not a great menu at all. And just to really rub it in, they had put the boat’s children’s play area immediately across from this restaurant so diners could enjoy the screaming and squealing of the ship’s loudest and most boisterous passengers. Our dinner was a shadow of the faded glamour we’d hope to recapture.

But we survived and made it to this beautiful island for the first time in nine years. We are nearing the end of the summer season, and we got four days of the perfect weather we hoped for. Sunny. In the 70s. A little breezy. And the sea water warm and bright blue.

What do we do in Capri? Most days we head to one of the beach clubs. The island has no actual sandy “beaches,” but these elegant clubs have grown around rocky outcrops where you can jump into the sea and climb out by a ladder. Or you can walk over uncomfortable pebbles until you are relieved to fall into the soothing water. And then you have an elegant Italian lunch overlooking the stunning land and seascape.

La Fontelina is a popular beach club that we’ve been coming to for years. The views from here are among the absolute best. But I was a bit annoyed at how outrageous the prices were this time!

Lunch at La Fontelina

Lunch at our hotel’s own beach club near Marina Piccola. They are newer and don’t charge nearly the prices that La Fontelina does, yet the service and food were way better.

Enjoying the warm blue October water

What you don’t do is walk through the cute town during the day because it is completely overrun by hordes of day trippers. I don’t know how many thousands of people are dumped off here by the ferries and cruise ships, but they are really a menace. They crowd the central streets, form huge lines at the gelato shops, and make it a chore to get around. From about 11 am to 5 pm they are jammed into the central square, sporting their wrist bands, ID stickers, and lanyards around the neck. Big clusters wear headphones as they follow their flag-bearing guides.

And then as evening comes on they all go away and peace descends again.

From here we’ll travel up the island to spend another four days in the charming town of Anacapri. But as we look at the weather forecast, we fear the summer season is abruptly coming to an end!

The iconic Faraglioni attract yachts of all types and a gazillion photos

The narrow lanes that snake all over the island

The hordes of day trippers that jam the center of town during the day; note the skinny little trucks that carry luggage, food, and supplies through all the narrow roads all over the island

A peaceful aperitif in town after the day tripping hordes have cleared out

Lunch at Da Tonino

The comfort of Al Grottino, a reliable restaurant we’ve returned to numerous times over the years

Jumping Around the US

Posted by Mark Sullivan on October 1, 2026

Posted in: North America, USA. Leave a Comment

A wonderful visit in San Francisco with my brother John and his family: Ava, me, Jasmine, Alma, John, Jim, Nico

We usually spend July and August traveling, in order to escape the brutal New York heat and humidity. But this year we did things a bit differently because we’ve so badly wanted to spend time in Southern Italy, which is lovely in the early fall but unbearably hot in summer.

So we divided the “summer” into two pieces — July in Bali and September/October in Southern Italy.

That left us about a six-week gap in August and early September. And somehow that gap got jam-packed with domestic travel opportunities — to Delaware, Vermont, Michigan, and California — that we somehow couldn’t say no to. It’s made for a pretty crazy year (and possibly just too much travel!) but I guess that’s what we like to do.

In mid-August we did a little three-day journey to Delaware to visit our friends Dan and Lorraine at their beach cottage. Their place is in the lovely town of Lewes, just north of the much busier and more chaotic Rehoboth. Quite a few political types from Washington, DC have places in Lewes, and we really enjoy spending time with Dan and Lorraine and their super interesting friends in that community.

On previous trips to Lewes we’ve rented a car in New York and driven down, though we really hate the drive out of and back into NYC — as well as the two hours on the dense New Jersey freeways. So this time we took the Amtrak train from Penn Station to Wilmington, then rented a car for the shorter and relatively relaxing journey across Delaware to Lewes. Big improvement!

We had a lovely time on the beach with Dan & Lorraine — until a little rainstorm came out of nowhere and chased us away

Our next trip was supposed to be to Michigan to visit my parents. We got to LaGuardia airport nice and early that morning but soon got word of a 20-minute flight delay. It had the ominous tones of bigger problems, and the next few hours produced extended delays over and over, as we watched dreary clouds move into the city. At one point Jim said, “Why don’t they just cancel it?” About 60 seconds later we each got the text message that indeed the flight was just plain canceled.

American Airlines offered new flight options starting the next day, but we were unable to do anything but reschedule the trip for two weeks later, because we had a trip to Vermont in the mean time. It was really the first time in all my travels that a flight got canceled and there was simply no way to re-book anything without postponing the whole trip. But in truth, we went to Michigan two weeks later and found ourselves kind of happy to be there then and not have the whole visit already long over with!

It’s been almost a year since my mom had a stroke, which has left her bed-ridden. After several months in a hospital, a rehab hospital, and two nursing homes, we were able to get her back home with excellent full-time care. It’s so much better to see her there! And she always seems thrilled to see us when we visit.

The other thrill of visiting my parents was hanging out with the friendliest cat in the world, who just appeared out of nowhere recently

An amazing sunset just up the road from my parents’ farm

The poor kitty when everyone has gone inside!

Our Vermont visit was built around our friend and former business partner, Nathaniel, who hosts an annual bonfire at his family farm. He always has 2 or 3 dozen interesting people from various parts of his life. People have meals together, engage in various sports and entertainments, and crash on couches or in tents or cute cabins. On Saturday night there is a huge bonfire.

The accommodation options being a little rustic for me, we actually stayed in a boutique hotel in nearby Hanover, New Hampshire. We enjoyed the little glimpse of the town and the Dartmouth college campus. And we greatly enjoyed spending time with Nathaniel and his interesting and eclectic set of friends. We attended the bonfire about 16 years ago, and were glad to make it back again after all that time. After a couple days there, we then traveled to central Vermont to spend a couple days at a really posh inn called Twin Farms. The trip gave us some really nice exposure to beautiful Vermont, a state I hadn’t spent much time in.

Jim relaxes by the pond at Nathaniel’s family farm

Nathaniel is truly a Renaissance man with a very wide variety of hobbies. In recent years he has built a 7-mile long 18-hole disc golf course through the woods of the farm. It was incredible!

Nathaniel just starting the fire that a few hours later would be a massive bonfire. Note the gigantic circle of wood around the perimeter. We would be feeding that fire for hours from wood cut to make the disc golf course.

The raging fire later that evening, as the guests toss endless logs and branches in to feed it. It turns out: It’s really fun to burn things!

Wandering around the pretty Dartmouth campus

Biking near Twin Farms

Relaxing by a cozy fire at Twin Farms

Another fun way to get around the property at Twin Farms

The last trip squeezed in between Bali and Italy was to Northern California. We planned this trip a long time ago in order to attend the opening night of our friend Thea Musgraves’ opera, Mary Queen of Scots at the San Francisco Opera. A big group of friends joined Thea at the opening in London last year when the English National Opera staged the show. And now the same production was moving to San Francisco.

Since we were flying across the country we decided to add a few days outside of San Francisco someplace. Our theater producer friend Jacob has a winery in Napa Valley and also runs Hollywood & Vine, which brings Broadway stars to perform concerts there. A great singer was performing, so we got tickets and booked three days in San Francisco and three days in Napa.

Incredible redwoods at Big Sur

A couple weeks before the trip we got an apologetic email that the singer had to postpone his appearance in Napa. While a bit disappointed, we re-thought the trip and decided to go to Big Sure instead, someplace we’ve never been. Suddenly we were even more excited about the trip.

Then as we arrived at Big Sur we heard worrisome news from the San Francisco Opera. Their orchestra was on strike! They ended up working out a deal to end the strike before we got to San Francisco, but it was too late to rehearse and pull off opening night of the opera. So that got canceled, too. So our big music-driven trip to California ended up entirely music-less.

Hardly a problem. We spent three days in stunning Big Sur. We visited some friends in San Francisco. And we spent lots of great time with my brother John and his family in San Francisco. It just so happened to be the weekend of John’s block party, one of his favorite events of the year. John sets up an amazing wine bar in his driveway under a canopy of palm trees, and many of his extended family and friends gather and celebrate. It was a super fun time! Who needs to get dressed up and go to the opera anyhow?

And now that all that travel is out of the way, we’ve just arrived in Italy, so stay tuned.

Big Sur from our porch

A nice warm pool in the cool air

Can’t get enough of those redwoods

The view from the pool

Sunset in Big Sur

With Alma under their amazing canopy of palm trees over the wine bar

Having a blast at the block party — Nico, Jasmine, John, me, Jim, Ava

Nusa Dua (or Nusa Don’t?)

Posted by Mark Sullivan on August 7, 2026

Posted in: Asia, Indonesia. 3 comments

A delightful lunch at our hotel with Lloyd and Fiona, Australian friends we met on our cruise to Antarctica

Every now and then a friend will tell us they checked our blog for ideas before planning a trip somewhere. That might be a good idea — advice we should have followed ourselves when planning this trip!

We decided to conclude this trip with a final stay in Nusa Dua, one of just a few spots in Bali with resorts that are truly beach-oriented. But nine years ago we did the same thing — ended a long stay in Bali with a beach stop in Nusa Dua — and then wrote a blog post that was pretty unflattering to the place.

Our complaint then was that dining options outside the fancy resorts were surprisingly poor. When we travel, we invest quite a bit of time researching restaurants. And the result is that we very rarely have a meal that isn’t pretty good. We love food, and a missed opportunity for a good meal while traveling feels like a tragic loss.

It turns out things had not changed here in Nusa Dua, and we find it very odd. There is a huge tourist population here, including a lot of people staying at pretty high-end resorts. Because we’re not the only people who tire of overly fussy resort food (and resort food prices), you can usually find good quality independent restaurants in places like this. But it’s strangely just not the case here.

That leaves us with three options:

1) Eat at nice resorts. This we did plenty of because our hotel had a truly excellent restaurant, just not the kind of place we want to eat every day. Plus a neighboring resort had a somewhat more casual poolside restaurant that worked well for lunch.

2) Take a car somewhere. We don’t always love the hassle of this, but the Grab ride-sharing system here is so good and inexpensive that we did this a few times. One night we even traveled 25 minutes each way to a pretty amazing place in Jimbaran called Cuca.

3) Give the local independent restaurants another chance. Many restaurants are clustered in a Nusa Dua development called Bali Collection. It’s a really bustling place with a ton of physically attractive restaurants with indoor/outdoor seating, good lighting, and a wide variety of cuisines. One night we went to an Indonesian place with decent reviews, but we left feeling like we’d had a decidedly mediocre dinner (i.e., a failure). A couple nights later we tried a nearby “French” place we’d liked the looks of. And the food was positively terrible.

Because we have good survival skills, we managed to have a lovely time here in Nusa Dua, despite these epicurean setbacks. We stayed at a St. Regis resort, where we had a beautiful room with a lovely deck with a heated private pool and direct access to a “salt-water lagoon.” The latter turned out to be a huge, sprawling, wonderfully warm salt-water pool surrounded by incredibly lush tropical gardens. And of course there is a big wide sandy beach.

Our living room at the St. Regis

In the “lagoon” looking back at our room, with the entrance to the left and our “bale” lounge space on the right

Lounging areas along the lagoon

There was also a big fresh-water pool

Our patio and pool, with the lagoon just behind it, after a morning rainstorm came out of nowhere. It poured fiercely for a few minutes, then cleared up like nothing had ever happened.

The resort grounds just after the rain came and went

But the highlight of our stay was a visit from our Australian friends Fiona and Lloyd. We met these fun people on our 18-day cruise to Antarctica last winter. We’d discovered back then that we had similar long trips planned to Bali, just barely overlapping. So we made a point to get together just after their arrival. It was so much fun to see them that we all marveled over the fact that we’d only just met earlier THIS year.

Lloyd and Fiona are travel maniacs who retired on the young side and are determined to make the most of their adventurous spirit while they can. While they still live on the Gold Coast in Queensland, they are on the road much more than at home. We don’t often meet people who travel more than we do (Looking at you, Aunt Debbie). Makes us long for our earlier days of full-time travel, when we never had to suffer that indignity.

Thus we wrapped up a fantastic five weeks on the magical island of Bali. I write this on the plane as we approach Singapore, where we will catch a quick 18-hour flight home. We look forward to being back in New York and taking a few more trips planned for this summer and fall. But I can’t help wondering when we’ll get back to Bali.