For 21 days, Rick and I are tour members on one of his own tours: the Best of Europe. We’re trying to combine vacation with quality control and research. And it’s going great! Join us as we traipse from the Netherlands to Germany, Austria to Italy, and Switzerland to France with a terrific tour guideContinue reading “Best of Europe: Castle, Castle, Luge, Castle”
Category Archives: Europe
Best of Europe: Rothenburg
For 21 days, Rick and I are tour members on one of his own tours: the Best of Europe. We’re trying to combine vacation with quality control and research. And it’s going great! Join us as we traipse from the Netherlands to Germany, Austria to Italy, and Switzerland to France with a terrific tour guideContinue reading “Best of Europe: Rothenburg”
Best of Europe: On the Rhine
For 21 days, Rick and I are tour members on one of his own tours: The Best of Europe. We’re trying to combine vacation with quality control and research. And it’s going great! Join us as we traipse from the Netherlands to Germany, Austria to Italy, and Switzerland to France with a terrific tour guide,Continue reading “Best of Europe: On the Rhine”
The Best of Europe: The Netherlands
For 21 days, Rick and I are tour members on one of his own tours: the Best of Europe. We’re trying to combine vacation with quality control and research. And it’s going great! Join us as we traipse from the Netherlands to Germany, Austria to Italy, and Switzerland to France with a terrific tour guide andContinue reading “The Best of Europe: The Netherlands”
Scenes from a Guide Summit
Name 20 countries from the European Union. Imagine the “typical” citizens of those countries–their features, their demeanors, their gestures, their accents. Now picture a collection of 120 people from those countries who are passionate aficionados on the history, art, culture, politics, and people of those motherlands all descending on a small town just north ofContinue reading “Scenes from a Guide Summit”
Letting Fate Be Your Guide in Venice
Letting Fate Be Your Guide in Venice It’s early morning. 6:30 to be exact. I’ve yet to take my shower, but centuries-old buildings are bathing in amber-and rose-tinted sunlight and summon me for a visit. There’s so much to do today, and I need to maximize my time here. Ninety minutes of Venice practically allContinue reading “Letting Fate Be Your Guide in Venice”
Hungry in Reykjavik
When you think of Iceland, you might think: cold, Leif Erickson, Nordic, thermal energy, big volcano with unpronounceable name, or Björk. I’m not so sure that good food would be among the first things to pop into your head. But perhaps it should be. It’s easy to find top-quality, innovative cuisine using locally sourced ingredients. Continue reading “Hungry in Reykjavik”
Life in a Volcanic Landscape
No trip to Iceland is complete without a visit to the highlands. With the help of an expert guide–equipped with a “Super Jeep”, Rick and I made the four-hour trek from Reykjavik to the rugged and almost other worldly landscapes near Eyjafjallajökul (pronounced EY-ya-fyad-luh-YO-kuld, a.k.a. E15–starts with “E” has 15 letters). You’ll recall that thisContinue reading “Life in a Volcanic Landscape”
Iceland Iceland Baby
What do you do in Iceland when you only have two days to visit? Lots, that’s what. Instead of flying directly from St. Petersburg to Seattle, my partner Rick Steves and I decided to take advantage of spending some time (for the first time) in Iceland. We hoped to break up our jet lag andContinue reading “Iceland Iceland Baby”
St. Petersburg Dining: From Bleak to Chic
They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It’s the way to mine, too. So, when gearing up for our visit to St. Petersburg, the prospect of drab food options made my heart sigh a big meh. I imagined dining exclusively on borscht (beets and my taste buds are mortalContinue reading “St. Petersburg Dining: From Bleak to Chic”