It’s been a wild couple of weeks here at Wiz Manor. I had to get my cat Fido in to the vet, and it turns out he has serious heart disease. A few days after that, I had a chimney inspection done, and it’s the only thing around here that’s sicker than Fido.

Summer is here and there’s a lot to celebrate. Perhaps the oddest, most difficult school year is over or coming to an end. Things are open! Unlike last summer, there are a lot of options for travel both near and far. If you haven’t made plans yet, you still can get something booked, but demand is sky-high, so contact your travel advisor as soon as possible.

Each announcement of a border reopening or removal of quarantine requirements comes with a feeling of euphoria about international travel resuming and the world once again being open to us. Last week was a very good week in that regard.

Italy announced that American leisure travelers can enter without quarantine if they travel on special COVID-tested flights. Italy is perennially one of the most popular destinations for Americans, with more than 3 million visiting in 2019. And what’s not to love? There’s the great cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice. There’s the beautiful regions of the lake country, Tuscany, and Puglia. There are breathtaking coastal areas such as Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast. There are the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Capri, and so many others. Pizza, pasta, seafood, all our favorites. And the wine!

As more countries reopen to American leisure travelers, your options for travel this year are growing by the week. But you might find that your problem is no longer not being allowed in, but not finding space available in your preferred destination, or even your second and third choices. Demand is at all-time highs right now, and could be for years.

Mom: She does it all for the family. That’s been even more than usual over the last 14 months. She could use a vacation, and you can be the one to give it to her. No matter her travel style or what she could use right now — a getaway with the whole family or getting away from everything including the family — we have the trip for her. Peruse these trips and see what’s best for the lady who keeps it all together in your household. Then contact your travel advisor to book or give the gift of travel for a future vacation.

After months of stress, hours of hashing out agreements via attorneys, and days of packing, I still can’t quite believe it but… I moved. Finally. Into my new house, this week. The day of the actual move went great, thanks very much to Chase, Brian, Caspar, and Ish (yeah, that’s what he told me to call him!) from Strongmile Movers. These guys have my heart forever.

After so much bad news and so many border closures throughout the pandemic, we’ll take good news whenever we can get it. And we’ve been getting great news lately. Every American adult is now eligible for vaccination. French Polynesia just reopened May 1. The same day, fully vaccinated Americans could enter the Bahamas without a negative COVID test.

This is the last WineWiz! That I will write in this house. (Ha ha, suckers. Yeah, I move in four days and this is all the level of comedy I can muster.) I feel a little bad that I don’t really feel that bad? I thought leaving this house would be more of a wrench and so far, it isn’t. There are things about the house I’m going to miss, like the fab engineered hardwood floors I put in everywhere and my (I think) pretty darn clever coat closet turned into a wine cellar. It’s as if part of me knew I wasn’t going to be here forever (though just over 6½ years is no slouch).

In so many ways, Bermuda stands alone. Geographically speaking, it’s by itself in the Atlantic, well to the north of the Caribbean islands it’s normally lumped in with. This position on the same latitude as the Carolinas means it’s not a year-round beach destination, but from May-November it’s right in the Goldilocks zone with high temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees. While it’s certainly not immune from hurricane season, Bermuda typically sees less action than the Caribbean or U.S. mainland.

Well, it’s spring! And there was a freeze warning for the night of April 22. Of course. Speaking of things that should be heralding springtime, but aren’t totally, we should be getting ready for the NJ Winemakers Co-op Spring Portfolio Tasting. Where we get to meet the actual winemakers from the five participants, taste great local wine, hear about what’s going on in the vineyards.

This week we celebrate World Heritage day and the many wonderful UNESCO World Heritage sites scattered across the globe. This summer, new sites will join the list after the pandemic put a pause on the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2020. Only recently visited by humanity, Antarctica doesn’t have any entries on the list (though New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands made the cut). These are the most popular World Heritage sites on each continent. The best part is you can visit several of these now or in the near future. Peru, Tanzania and U.S. national parks are open, and France is finalizing plans to welcome vaccinated travelers starting in May. Consult your travel advisor for details on COVID protocols in each destination.

Even to the people we call the ancients, Egypt was ancient. The pyramids at Giza had lorded over the Western Desert for two thousand years before the Roman Republic was founded, let alone the empire. The mysteries of the Land of the Pharaohs have intrigued travelers as illustrious as Alexander the Great, who founded Alexandria and conveniently discovered he was the son of a god and rightful ruler of Egypt on a visit to the oasis at Siwa. The fertile Land of the Nile and its queen Cleopatra VII captivated prominent Romans Julius Caesar and Marc Antony and became the breadbasket of the empire.

Myth and daily life are so intertwined in Greek life you can’t help but lose yourself in time and space. Each place you visit has thousands of years of documented civilization to go with a collection of legends about ancient gods, goddesses and heroes who were timeless even to the people who lived all those years ago. In several areas, the people were said to be born from the very earth itself, having come from there and nowhere else. Wherever you go in Greece, the people are very into being Greek and into their traditions.

If you’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you’re once again welcome in Iceland. With official paper or electronic proof of vaccination, Americans can skip testing and quarantine requirements in the land of fire and ice. The decision to allow vaccinated visitors from outside the Schengen zone is another sign that the world is reopening. If you’re not yet vaccinated but have proof of prior infection, you can skip testing and quarantine too.

Belize might not be a large country, even by Central American standards, but there are so many layers it’s worth a deep dive — and not just into the Great Blue Hole, which none other than Jacques Cousteau declared one of the best SCUBA sites in the world.

Oh no! Disaster! And for once I’m not talking about house stuff. (At the moment. That could change. I haven’t checked my email or text messages in the last couple minutes, so who can say.) No, this time the disaster is the Barolo I’d wanted to try with my shepherds’ pie last week was long past it. When I poured it into the decanter, it was entirely brick red. I hoped it would still be OK, but alas. It was practically vinegar.

There will be a lot of freeing feelings in the upcoming months. There will be the feeling that comes with being vaccinated. There will be the feeling that comes as restaurants open for indoor dining at full capacity, the feeling of gathering in a crowd to watch a game, a show or just to be among people again. There will be the feeling of international borders across the world reopening.

One of the nerdiest holidays of the year occurs this Sunday, 3/14, known as Pi Day. It's also the anniversary of Albert Einstein's birth, which is kind of a big deal in and around Princeton. And while I'm all about promoting better mathematics education and supporting nerdery, who are we kidding. I'm here for pie on Pi Day, and food puns any day of the year.

If you ever went to summer camp, you no doubt have fond memories of days filled with outdoor activity followed by nights around the campfire gazing up at the stars. You can bring that wonder back for your family — with a much more comfortable sleeping arrangement than you had in your younger days — with these getaways. They’re close enough to get to without needing your passport, but they’re full of enough magic to transport you back in time.

Hey, how are you, insomnia? ‘Twas the night before I had to write a wine column, and I’m still up. I have this fun thing nowadays where if I drink more than one glass of wine, it keeps me awake? Whee? So tonight’s experiment is, if I drink wine, then stay up super late, will I still fall asleep? Also if you’re super tired, will the wine still taste good? These are the questions that consume my thoughts. That, and the fact we’re heading into the one year anniversary of living in a pandemic.