Joe Benning Photography

Travel & Photo Blog

  •   Reston, VA

Living in Tuscany

We are finally back after spending most of September in Tuscany, Italy. We had actually planned to get to Florence from Aix-en-Provence by train but a rock slide in the Alps covered the train tracks leading from France to Italy, so that plan got shelved. In the end we managed to fly to Florence from […]

Read More »

Living in Provence

We recently spent 3 weeks living in Provence in a trip sponsored by the Smithsonian. Among other things we took a French language immersion course, a cuisine course and a course in French art and culture. After 3 weeksm=, we headed off to Florence, Italy. For more photos from. Provence, please follow the link below. […]

Read More »

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) Friday, June 30, 2023 Back in the USA for almost a full month, we paid a visit with friends to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) in Winchester, Virginia.  By car, the Museum complex is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Reston Town Center, but it […]

Read More »

End of the Line: Barcelona & Girona

3 Glorious Days in Barcelona & Girona When we sailed into Barcelona on May 30 we were ready for a planned 3 day stop with a side trip to Girona.  Except for what we needed for the next few days, our luggage was on its way back to the States.   We checked into a […]

Read More »

Back on the European Mainland

Back to Mainland Europe June 1, 2023 Granada, Spain We arrived in the Spanish province of Granada on the European mainland on May 28, 2023. Now I know how Columbus must have felt after he landed in the New World and finally got a halfway decent WIFI signal. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, […]

Read More »

Last Day in Africa

Rock the Casbah Agadir, Morocco  May 29, 2023 We sailed into Morocco on Thursday, the 26th of May, for our last day on the African continent. Overall we found the people living in Africa to be extraordinarily friendly and welcoming. They constantly waved hello and seemed eager to tell us about their countries. But the […]

Read More »

The Canaries

The Canary Islands  May 27, 2023 We arrived in the Canary Islands, “the Canaries” as the locals refer to them on the 24th of May. After a spending a few weeks visiting countries on the coast of West Africa, it was a bit of a relief.   The Canaries are claimed by Spain, and have […]

Read More »

A Short Visit to Cape Verde

Mindelo, Cape Verde May 21, 2023 On Sunday morning, May 21, we docked in Mindelo, the port city of the island of Sao Vincente. It is known for its carnival traditions, first originating from Portugal. Later cultural influences came from Brazil.  Mindelo, home to 93% of the island’s population is often considered to be the […]

Read More »

A Visit to Dakar, Senegal

Dakar, Senegal May 20, 2023 On May 19 we docked in Senegal, officially known as the Republic of Senegal. The ship’s captain reported today that we are currently in the process of exiting an area known for the highest risk of attack by pirates, which in its own way is sort of comforting.   Now […]

Read More »