i’m ready. There are still two hours before I leave for the airport, but I’m all packed and ready to go. The big pile has been squeezed into my Rick Steves convertible carry-on and my souvenir bag from being a Jeopardy! contestant. Combined weight is 28 pounds, which is more than I’d like to be carrying,…
Hard to believe, but it’s just one week until I leave on my trip. I started packing last night. Well, not really. I made a pile on my floor of some stuff that’s coming with me (including some stuff that most likely won’t make the final cut when I actually do start packing). The pile will…
I love shopping on vacation. It’s not about buying souvenirs. In fact it’s not necessarily about buying anything (though I often do spend my American dollars abroad). Shopping on vacation is about seeing how locals shop, and how the things they buy and the way they buy them are similar to or different from how…
There’s only one artist from the countries I’ll be visiting that I’ve ever heard of: Ivan Meštrović. But I only just figured out why I’ve heard of him. For a while Meštrović taught at Syracuse University, where I (much later) went to college. And a number of his sculptures are displayed on the SU campus.…
Just as two years ago I struggled for the right term to describe Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, and Iceland (I settled on “Nordic,” but that wasn’t really right), there isn’t a good term that describes the places I’m visiting on this trip. I use “Balkan” reluctantly, and I acknowledge that it’s not technically accurate, but…
With essentially three full days in Dubrovnik, I will definitely spend one of them on an all-day excursion to the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. I’ve already written about that. There are a couple of other options for day trips out of Dubrovnik that won’t require a full day. Cavtat Cavtat (pronounced ‘tsav-tat’) is a small town just…
Regardless of whether you are visiting Dubrovnik for the first time or the hundredth, the sense of awe and beauty when you set eyes on the Stradun never fades. Indeed it’s hard to imagine anyone becoming jaded by the city’s marble streets, baroque buildings and the endless shimmer of the Adriatic, or failing to be…
When I went to Italy for two weeks in 2009, I spent most of the time seeing places with rich historical and cultural significance (i.e. sightseeing), but I spent the last few days in the Cinque Terre just enjoying spectacular scenery, wonderful and challenging hikes, and quiet relaxation. My Nordic adventure two years ago had…
After Mostar I return to Croatia, where I spend the last 8 nights of my vacation. My first stop is Trogir, a town of about 10,000 people just 27 kilometers west of Split. Most everyone says Split is a must-see destination, but my agent at JayWay Travel urged me to stay in Trogir instead. I…
Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going. Paul Theroux I started this post writing about my enthusiasm for seeing Sarajevo because of the extraordinary history that city has experienced. This is the centennial year of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, the touchstone for…
Imagine Niagara Falls sliced and diced and sprinkled over a vast and heavily forested canyon. It’s a lush and unforgettable valley of 16 terraced lakes, laced together by waterfalls and miles of pleasant plank walks. That’s what Rick Steves says about Plitvice Lakes National Park on his 2010 show, “Croatia: Adriatic Delights.” I can’t wait to…
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