Overseas Travel

Berlin’s Festival of Lights: A Colorful and Chaotic Community-Wide Block Party

Brandenburg Gate at the Berlin, Germany Festival of Lights 2014

This past weekend saw the debut of the very popular “Lumiere” event in London. Described as “installations from the world’s most exciting artists working with light,” this outside exhibit joined a long line of other city light festivals held throughout the year and all over the world, including Sydney, Singapore, Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Lyon. Each […]

For Valentine’s Day – Visiting Two of the Art World’s Best Kisses

Klimt's The Kiss at the Belvedere Palace and Museum in Vienna, Austria

    On this most romantic day, it seems appropriate to talk about love, affection, and passion. Artists such as Renoir, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Constantin Brancusi have used love as themes in some incredibly moving masterpieces. And I’m thrilled to have seen in person two of the most famous works to focus on, well, smooching. […]

Visiting the Queen’s ‘Little Weekend Retreat’ Known as Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle in England

Okay, I admit it: I LOVE exploring castles. This includes walking around ancient ruins, seeing majestic old buildings from afar, and especially being able to peek inside over-the-top glamorous rooms used long ago by generations of royals, such as the beautiful Schönbrunn and Hofburg Palaces in Vienna, Austria that I wrote about previously. But during […]

Dining in a Viennese Cellar Dating Back to the 1100s

Twelve Apostles' Cellar in Vienna, Austria

The quirky and unusual Zwölf Apostelkeller restaurant in Vienna is quite literally a buried treasure. In fact, its name translates into the “12 Apostles’ Cellar.” And this keller/cellar is one popular (although kind of hard-to-find) gem. Located in Sonnengelsgasss, behind St. Stephan’s Cathedral and down some winding streets, this subterranean tavern is worth hunting down. […]

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