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A roundup of this week’s travel stories: Hiking trails through the “Mountains of Heaven,” why champagne is turning into a drinker, and a woman who found joy by moving from Las Vegas to an Italian island.
Debra Kortune’s life changed in 2023. I visited the tiny island of San Pietro on the southwestern tip of Sardinia, Italy, to serve as a judge at a local tuna festival. She never imagined that this quiet community of less than 6,000 people would soon become her home.
As a food critic, she was there to judge the tuna, but the fish is just one part of the traditional plant-based diet that makes Sardinia one of the world’s five blue zones, and known for the extraordinary longevity of many of its inhabitants, living to be over 100 years old.
For more than a decade, Kortune’s life revolved around the relentless pace of Las Vegas, and he felt like he was always struggling to stay ahead.
But she quickly fell in love with San Pietro, telling CNN, “This island fills me with so much joy.”
Within a year, she moved to the island with her children, Aiden and Kaiya, and the family’s two dogs. Read the full story to find out what happened next.
Actor Billy Porter also discovered his dream island while working abroad. In his case, it was on a cruise ship in Greece. In the CNN series “My Happy Place,” he revisits the sunny island of Mykonos, where he found freedom and belonging.
For nature lovers, we have two hiking trails through the majestic Celestial Mountains of Kyrgyzstan and two hiking trails through the Cursed Mountains of the Balkans.
A nomadic tent network that allows travelers to hike from yurt to yurt with only a day bag pioneered the Aksu Trans-Aksu Trail through Kyrgyzstan.
The 70-mile trek route was previously only accessible to hardcore climbers willing to carry heavy packs containing several days’ worth of tents, food, and clothing, but now this spectacular Central Asian wilderness can be enjoyed by many.
Europe’s Balkan Peaks is a challenging but rewarding 190-mile hiking trail that winds through the cursed mountains of Montenegro, Albania, and Kosovo.
During the warmer months, hikers can enjoy views of towering limestone peaks, glacial lakes, rolling wildflower meadows, and steaming cloud forests.
wine and cheese
Why intense heat increases the alcohol content of champagne
France’s wine regulator has eased regulations on Champagne in response to a series of heatwaves this summer.
France, like much of the world, was hit by a record heatwave this summer, which affected the wine and cheese for which the country is famous.
Grapes ripened so early in Champagne that it had the earliest harvest on record, but another side effect was that the heat made the grapes sweeter, meaning more alcoholic. France’s wine regulator has been forced to ease regulations in response to a rise in alcohol consumption.
The flavors of some of France’s famous cheeses are also at risk. A prolonged drought has burned the pastures that the country’s dairy cows normally graze, forcing farmers to supplement their cows’ diets with additional feed instead of the typical grass-based diet.
When cows are fed grass, the cheese becomes softer, yellower, and more flavorful, but less green leaves the cheese lighter in color and less flavorful.
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She wanted one last grand adventure after receiving a devastating diagnosis.
Being stuck in a pitch-black cave for days on end wasn’t part of the plan. (Subscribers only).
A “Museum of Unpleasant Food” has opened in Hong Kong.
CNN also went along to sample the products.
“I almost passed out.”
Go down one of Europe’s tallest waterslides five times.
hero pilot. Panda delivery. A spectacle of fashion.
What do you remember about that week?
