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Archive for the ‘Europe’ Category

Photo Friday: Love in Paris

Photo Friday: Love in Paris
This week’s #FriFoto topic is “Special Moments.” It seemed a little too Hallmark to put up a shot of Don and I on vacation, so I chose this candid photo I took in Paris in 2010. It was an unusually warm March day, and people apparently felt no shame taking it to the streets. City of...
February 17th, 2012 | France, Photo Friday | Read More

Swiss Bliss: Buying the Perfect Box of Chocolates

Swiss Bliss: Buying the Perfect Box of Chocolates
It’s the time of the year where I start ordering gift baskets or a box of chocolates for certain far-flung relatives. Before my trip to Switzerland earlier this fall, I would have flipped through a Harry & David catalog, ordering whatever bonbons looked the tastiest. Now, though, my chocolate...
December 15th, 2011 | Switzerland, Travel Tips | Read More

Bedding Down: Free Hotel Mini-bar on the Rise?

Bedding Down: Free Hotel Mini-bar on the Rise?
Photo courtesy of UggBoy, Flickr Creative Commons One of the biggest arguments that I have with my husband when we’re on the road together concerns the hotel  mini bar. I avoid them like the plague, preferring to save money by buying snacks and money at a nearby grocery store. Whereas he can’t...
December 5th, 2011 | Hotels, On the Road, Switzerland | Read More

Photo Friday: Skyline in Lucerne, Switzerland

Photo Friday: Skyline in Lucerne, Switzerland
This week’s Photo Friday (#FriFotos) theme is “skylines.” Instead of a world capital or big city, I wanted to present the quaint beauty of Lucerne. Switzerland, which I visited for 10 days in September. Switzerland knocks you over the head with its cuteness, to the point where it’s...
December 2nd, 2011 | Europe, Switzerland | Read More

Russia, With Love: Tips for Applying for a Russian Tourist Visa

Russia, With Love: Tips for Applying for a Russian Tourist Visa
This article previously ran on Frommers.com. It’s inspired by the application process that I went through for my September trip to St. Petersburg. Because we were traveling independently – yet still as a group – we had to get Russian visas. Several in our group found the process took...
November 29th, 2011 | Frommer's, Russia | Read More

Fascinating Finland: Where Does Santa Live? Lapland!

Fascinating Finland: Where Does Santa Live? Lapland!
  The business of Santa is alive and well in Lapland, which seems to have cornered the market on all things St. Nick, at least for Europeans. On my recent trip to Finland, I found that Rovaniemi’s campaign, more than 50 years in the making, to serve as Santa’s hometown has paid off handsomely...
November 28th, 2011 | Finland | Read More

Fascinating Finland: My new Finnish glasses

Fascinating Finland: My new Finnish glasses
My hatred of glasses goes back more than 30 years, when an optometrist  put a pair on me and said, “Does that seem better?” He had no idea. Until that day, I had always seen the world in shady outlines, a beautiful blur that fueled my imagination (even if it did cause me to trip a lot)....
November 21st, 2011 | Finland | Read More

Photo Friday: Cal Pep’s Creme Brulee

This week’s #FriFotos theme is Trick or Treat – so we thought we’d go the sweet route and post a photo of a mouth-watering dessert from Cal Pep, which serves some of the best tapas in Barcelona (I mentioned them before in my post on where to eat in Barcelona). Cal Pep looks somewhat...
November 4th, 2011 | Photo Friday, Spain | Read More

Fascinating Finland: Finnish food

Fascinating Finland: Finnish food
I grew up in Minnesota, so I knew a bit about the good – and bad – aspects of Scandinavian cuisine (lutefisk, never again!). But I was surprised to discover that the simple flavors and natural ingredients of Finnish food suited me, and we ate well on our visit, particularly in Helsinki and...
November 1st, 2011 | Finland, Memorable Meals | Read More

Fascinating Finland: Finnish Design in Helsinki

Fascinating Finland: Finnish Design in Helsinki
What surprised me the most about my visit to Finland is that Finnish design is not just something that you see in the shops of Helsinki. It’s a way of life, and one that reflects their history and innate quirkiness.When babies are born, the Finnish government gives the family a box full of goodies,...
October 31st, 2011 | Finland | Read More