Provence Beckons!
Traffic on the A9 is light as we head out to Orange, home of the family that includes St. Guilhem, the Dutch royal family, and William of Orange, the King of England. Orange is also home to the only Roman Amphitheater in Europe...
Madrid: Alive and Breathing in Life to its Fullest
Madrid is not one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Much of its historical and cultural history has been torn down to make way for the new. Indeed, it seems to be a city on the verge of the next century, good and bad. The...
The Prado in One Day
I was merciless yesterday as we did our walking tour of Madrid: although the guidebook told us that the walking tour would take at least two days, we got it done in one (and were our feet complaining loudly last night? You bet...
Club Med Les Arcs Panorama: An Alpine Mountain Paradise
Do you love to indulge in all-inclusive resorts, eat the best food and drink the best wine? Do you love a 360-degree, stunning summer and winter snow-capped mountain views of France’s original “mega-resorts” Les...
Day-Tripping to Tallinn, Estonia
The residual hangover from the night before gives us a natural impulse to start our morning late today. We plan to take the hour and a half ferry ride to the medieval town of Tallinn in Estonia this afternoon but we don’t depart...
Marché de Mulhouse: Food, Cheese, and Alsatian Wine.
What better way to start a sunny, crisp Alsatian Saturday morning in Mulhouse than with a little shopping? And shopping is at the Marché du Canal Couvert de Mulhouse the largest public market in North East France. Clothing, meat,...
Crossing the Afsluitdijk: A Blustery Storm Off the North Sea
The weather is not promising – a major storm is supposed to blow in off the North Sea today. A good driving day – except that we are planning to drive over the Afsluitdijk, and if the storm gets too bad, the road over...
Onboard the M/S Vesteråle: Delivering the Mail on Norway’s Coast
Hurtigruten is the coastal ferry steamer that plies the small ports up and down Norway’s Atlantic coast. Running for over 100 years, the ferries are now a big tourist business – in addition to freight and mail, they carry...
Sunday: A Complete Day of Rest in Catholic Spain
For anyone who doesn’t work in a store or a restaurant, Sunday seems to be a complete day of rest in Catholic Spain, with not much going on (other than eating out or shopping, with the major stores open all day long). In...
Following the Ghost of Mozart
We seem to be following the ghost of Mozart: First in Prague, where he debuted many of his works and now onto Salzburg where he was born. Legend has it that Mozart didn’t like Salzburg that much but we find a storybook town...