If it’s been a while since your last international trip, I have some unwelcome news: outside of the U.S., most credit cards and card readers are using a new technology. Old style magnetic strips are on their way out; embedded security chips are on...
Two decades ago I enjoyed one of the most memorable meals of my life on a sun-swept terrace in the village of St-Paul de Vence, in southern France. Today, on a similarly sun-swept day in northern California, I’ve been perusing my journal from that long-ago...
Life coasts at a lovely, simple suburban pace in Hattingen, Germany, situated on the south bank of the Ruhr River close to the Netherlands border. My time was mostly spent strolling about the old town among the charming half-timbered homes, appreciating landscapes tucked between rolling...
Ah, international travel! New people to meet. New places to see. New opportunities to make a complete ass of myself. © Anna Bizoń While overseas, I feel it’s my patriotic duty to behave in a way that will reflect well on...
Of all the major European cities I’ve visited with kids, Amsterdam is easily my favorite. Yes, Amsterdam. If you’re scratching your head right now, you’re not alone. My friends did the same when I told them we were renting an apartment there...
Oops. I fell in love. Maybe it was the wine, maybe the locals, or maybe it was the cerulean sea…but after spending ten days on the grey and golden-shaled Vermilion Coast, which runs between Argelès-sur-Mer to the border village of Cerbère, I decided to call...
I came to Holland intending to dispel some of the myths that Americans have about the country — but I was disillusioned to find that many of our stereotypes are actually spot on. At the end of the journey, I thought I had overturned at...
It’s difficult deciding where to go on a first (or second, or even tenth) trip to Europe. While undeniably exciting, big cities like Paris, London, and Rome can leave you flat broke and exhausted. Picturesque villages, by contrast, can be pretty to look at…for about...
I am walking down a cobbled alley in Venice. The stones are irregular under my feet, and the buildings on either side are so close that I can touch both of them with my outstretched hands. The street is dark and dank; at an opening...
Dubrovnik is my new favorite European city. ...