Though Stockholm has much in common with other Scandinavian cities, it has a look and cultural legacy all of its own. This harbor city gets both American tourists and lots of fresh seafood. Stockholm seems …
April 15, 2014
Europe
Must-see Stockholm
Bamberg, Germany: the "beer city"
The nearly four-hour train journey north from Munich whipped us past a landscape of farmland, old Bavarian villages and rolling hills. Our destination: the historic city of Bamberg. We booked a small room at the …
March 25, 2014
A taste of Southern Italy: Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
Sorrento is well positioned as the gateway to several locations of interest in southern Italy, including Pompeii, Capri, and the spectacular, meandering Amalfi Coast. But the town of 17,000 is also worth exploring in its …
March 13, 2014
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki, Finland, is considered by many to be the “gateway to the East,” dividing Scandinavia from Eastern Europe. Indeed, it spent time as both as part of the Kingdom of Sweden and as part of …
March 2, 2014
Walking the Camino, an intermission
Near the end of Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago — Lydia Smith’s finely observed documentary about travelers along Spain’s 500-mile pilgrim trail, the Camino de Santiago — one of the pilgrims makes a …
February 26, 2014
Münich's surfers
Sitting near the base of the Alps in southern Germany, Münich's nearest coastline would be where Venice slowly sinks into the Adriatic some 300 miles away. But while one might make the case a gondolier …
February 16, 2014
Hidden Bruges: Bonifacius Bridge
Bruges can easily be called one of Belgium's greatest tourist traps. Loads of expensive restaurants, hundreds of surely overpriced hotels and many, many tourists. Thanks to a great guide, though, I experienced an idyllic moment …
February 9, 2014
Saarbrücken, Germany
Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland that’s right on the French border, was part of an independent nation-state created after WWI. It changed political control back and forth: at times it was …
January 25, 2014
Essential Budapest
Few people are aware that Budapest is actually two cities, Buda and Pest, situated along the banks of the Danube River. Most visitors stay in Pest – it's got more to offer in terms of …
January 16, 2014
Brahms versus Schutz
We’re going to go Bach versus Bach here in the second match of Germany’s World Cup of Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach (papa Bach) versus his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. CPE Bach was a classical …
January 6, 2014
Wild, traditional Faroe Islands
Most Americans probably don’t know where the Faroe Islands are. They’re a small island chain between Iceland and Scotland, speaking a language derived from Old Norse and Western Norwegian dialects. If anyone's heard of the …
December 31, 2013
Mystical Glendalough, Ireland
As I walked near the mist-shrouded lakes beyond the ruins of the Glendalough monastery, it was easy to imagine there were magical creatures just beyond my field of vision. A misty morning stroll past the …
Georgia (the country)
Google “Georgia,” and you are much more likely to get recipes for peach pie than to learn about the unique ex-Soviet republic where wine was invented and a special language and culture survived a thousand …
December 19, 2013
Luxe Stuttgart, Germany
Stuttgart isn’t as frantically busy as many other cities in Europe and even in Germany can be, but it’s lively and thriving. With luxury auto manufacturing, palaces and wine, the city is a place to …
December 9, 2013
Small-town Italy: a Tuscan welcome, Greve in Chianti
While visiting Florence, I took the opportunity to spend a few nights in a little town about 30 kilometers to the south called Greve in Chianti. The Chianti region, well known for its Chianti Classico …
December 2, 2013