Tag: Europe
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The Fairytale Town of Idstein Germany
The tiny town of Idstein has practically leapt straight from the pages of a fairytale. The half timbered fachwerk buildings with their colorful paint and crooked towers are so whimsical that I felt like I’d stumbled into a movie set during my visit. There’s even a tower reminiscent of Rapunzel! I actually had to google…
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Visiting Drottningholm Palace
If there’s one thing about traveling Americans can agree on, its our love of baroque and palaces. Listen- we don’t have that at home! Drottningholm Palace as it appears today was built in the late 17th century and was regularly used as the summer residence for the Swedish Royal Court. Its popularity stands today and…
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Hotel Review- Tower Hotel: London
With London being as expensive as it is- and only getting pricier- I’m always looking for a good deal on a hotel. During my most recent stay, it was far less expensive to stay in the more Western City of London than anywhere within spitting distance of Westminster. I was pleasantly surprised by the price…
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Things to Do in Inverness Scotland
Scotland’s Northernmost city, Inverness is the perfect launching point for most tours of the Scottish Highlands- some of my favorite scenery in the world. Inverness, meaning “Mouth of the River Ness”- yes that Ness, of Loch Ness Monster Fame, is bisected by the river from which it gets its name, which offers some lovely strolls…
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Scotland By Train
One of the nice things about visiting Scotland is that they have an extensive train system to transport people around most of their major cities with ease- no cars needed. This is especially convenient as Scotland drives on the left side of the road, and I’m much more comfortable driving on the right! ScotRail The…
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Hotel Review: Volkshotel- Amsterdam
Having saved $300 by flying home out of Amsterdam rather than Cologne, I found myself in the unfortunate position of learning exactly how pricey Amsterdam hotels are. That’s what I get for trying to be clever! Although a little distant from city center, Volkshotel was relatively inexpensive and the convenient metro station located immediately outside…
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Hotel Review- Glasgow: Point A Hotel Glasgow
I wasn’t expecting much out of my visit to Glasgow- I’d scheduled so many lengthy day tours out of the city that I wasn’t expecting to spend much time in a hotel. With that in mind, I went for the inexpensive Point A Hotel Glasgow, and was delighted by my experience. The hotel is about…
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Eat or Be Eaten at London’s Borough Market
Borough Market is one of London’s most famous markets- and contains exclusively food vendors! Head down to Southwark and you’ll start seeing the crowds of visitors intent on grabbing a bite. With more than 100 vendors covering about 4.5 acres, there’s a real wealth of options to choose from. Borough Market has been around in…
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Hotel Review: Lisbon- H10 Duque de Loulé
In Lisbon, there’s no shortage of hotels of all shapes and sizes. I was a little overwhelmed by my choices, and when recommended the H10 Duque de Loulé, I found myself booking the hotel almost entirely due to its stunning balcony and blue-tiled interior. Since this hotel was my first stop after a long plane…
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Douro Valley Wine Tour
You can’t go to Porto without taking a wine tour! The city has its own wine named after it- port! We selected this tour, which conveniently picked us up right at our hotel. This did of course mean, that we had to pick up a few other guest before we could begin the journey to…