Medieval castle perched high atop a hill… Dense alpine forests clinging to rocky mountain peaks… Pastel-painted buildings on the banks of a lazy, winding river… Salzburg, Austria is like a page out of a fairytale. The heart of Salzburg is its Old Town, the Altstadt—a warren of narrow cobblestone streets and extravagant, baroque architecture. The […]
This photo was taken at the Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse, Holland. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a kaleidoscope of color as this before or since. The park is only open for two months a year (from mid-March to mid-May), when the tulips are in bloom. It was a crisp spring day and the overcast […]
I was thinking about my favorite travel destinations and came to realize that the places I’ve enjoyed most are all recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Every time I see their logos on a building or in a guidebook I know I’ll be impressed. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks […]
This photo was taken at dusk in front of Malahide Castle, just outside Dublin. I loved the mood of this place—the December mist hovering above the lush, green landscape and the solitary bench next to a leafless tree. It was so quiet that it felt almost eerie to me.
This week’s “Snapshot” is a bit closer to home. Well, at least it’s in the United States, albeit at the very, very tip. I was only in Key West, Florida for one day so didn’t get to fully soak in the laid-back island lifestyle. However, in the brief time I was there I fell in […]
The first time I heard of a whirling dervish was in a song lyric from the film The Sound of Music. As a child, I wondered what in the world was meant when the nuns sang that “Maria could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl”? Much later in life when I traveled to Istanbul, Turkey I […]
Often described as the “St. Tropez of South America,” Punta del Este is the playground for the rich & famous below the equator. It’s also the subject of this week’s Snapshot. “Punta,” as it’s called for short, is a peninsula jutting from the southeast corner of Uruguay, right where the Río de la Plata meets the […]
One of the funniest things I’ve seen on my travels happened at Iguazu Falls National Park in Argentina. While eating our (overpriced) cafeteria lunches, an intrepid coati snuck up onto the table and stole my sandwich right off the tray! These South American relatives of the raccoon are omnivorous scavengers that will eat just about […]
This is one of the strangest sights I’ve come across in my travels: a giant shopping cart “driving” down the street! I think it was an advertisement for a supermarket in Punta del Este, Uruguay. [cincopa AIEAVeaBdhUS]
One of the biggest draws for tourists to Los Angeles is undoubtedly the shopping. Anything and everything can be bought here. In fact, the malls are practically attractions themselves. No expense is spared and attention is paid to every detail in order to give the customer a truly satisfying experience. And because of the nearly […]
