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 […]
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. […]
Now that the holidays are over and everything has calmed back down, I took some time this week to reflect on favorite travel memories from the past year. These include seeing Stonehenge, tiptoeing through incredible tulips, checking out a painting from a young Andy Warhol, and receiving a very nice honor from peers. Almost everything […]
Can it really be 25 years since the peaceful fall of the Berlin Wall? The city itself has been paying tribute to the event this weekend with lighted balloons placed along the entire path where the hated wall once stood. We were in Berlin just 3 weeks ago; and getting up close to parts of […]
Honestly, I’ve never really given much thought to “Greenwich Mean Time,” and what that actually means. But during a recent trip to Greenwich, England I not only learned a lot about it – I also got to stand in two different hemispheres at the same time! As mentioned previously, I was sent to London earlier […]
Stonehenge… is there a place shrouded in more mystery?? I’ve had a strong interest in this UNESCO World Heritage Site since I was a little girl and first heard about its ancient circle of stones. (That interest actually increased after seeing the hugely famous and silly scene in the movie Spinal Tap that featured an […]
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 […]
The first time I visited London, England was during a European tour with my grandparents when I was just 16 years old. And London was the start and finish points of that 3-week “visit everywhere” tour. As a teen, the city felt huge and chaotic and fun but also a little scary. During my first […]
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. […]
By my third day in Vienna, I had learned a lot about the history of the city’s most popular royals and had seen their palaces. So when I heard that public tours are offered of the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt), I decided to pay a visit to the final resting place of these new friends with […]
