Vacations Blog

This is a destination you probably have not thought of – yet. Well its time to change that.

If you are visiting Europe, or live there, it is a short flight to this island in the Mediterranean. Kayt Sukel, based in Germany, explains that the island has a remarkable history. Its temples pre-date the Egyptian pyramids. The island has great hotel options – but you could consider B&Bs or even renting a villa. The food is rich in choices – after all, the island has a great location in terms of regional influences. Getting around is easy by bus and there are great beaches and diving. Take a look at the island’s tourism information here.

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German Eats

Maybe it’s the Southern boy in me or the Irish ancestry, but I’m baffled as to why German cuisine isn’t mentioned more. It’s warm, hearty and cheap – the Soul Food of Europe. We managed to get into the well-known Schusterjunge, an excellent jumping off point in Berliner cuisine should you be a first-timer.

[Clockwise]

Solianka (actually, a Russian soup, but popular here…and fantastic)

Tea

Bratwurst w/ roasties and sauerkraut…all in a sausage gravy – insane.

The (in)famous digestive, Jagermeister.

Apple Strudel with custard – went down in about 3 minutes.

Gluewhein…sure, of out season, but they had some left from December. Read More »

It’s time for another rousing edition of Travel Around the Internet! Brace yourself.

Here are just a few of the items that have shuffled across our inbox lately:

Disney Cruise specials and kids sail free!

Marriott wants to Twitter, email and Facebook you to Hawai’i! By all means, let them!

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Visiting a concentration camp is one of the most important things someone can do. Be you black, white, Jewish or Irish, doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if your people were the ones afflicting or the afflicted. 8 years ago, I walked down the train tracks and into Auschwitz and it did something. Not immediately, but it did something. What it was, I couldn’t tell you – but it was there. Be it a deeper understanding of how far some have went, or simply piecing together the scenes in Schindler’s List… Read More »

The Tenuta di Canonica Agriturismo in Todi, Italy

I’m one of those parents who prefers to keep my children penned in to the backyard area with a hose and some water balloons, because when I take them out in public we are bound to meet mishap of one kind or another.  As such, our travels, while increasing in frequency as the boys get older, have yet been limited to family visits and low-profile excursions.  I have read with envy the blog posts about families traveling to Europe or the Amazon, experiencing epic adventures together.  “Someday…” I dream, wistfully.

Someday might come sooner than later if opportunities like Piccolo Chef’s Italian Culinary Vacations become possible for us.
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My husband recently traveled to Germany and brought back a strong opinion, a bag of souvenirs, and a long list of no useful information.  This is my attempt to make apple wine out of his sour crab apples.

Stewart had to fly to Frankfurt, through Zurich on a business trip.  A big lover of the good old US of A, he did not look forward to it at all, which left me insanely jealous and shaking my fist at the unfairness of it all.  I begged him to take pictures and notes and essentially make me feel like I was there with him instead of left behind to parent two little boys all by myself.  At first it seemed like his work schedule would leave no room for exploration of his surroundings, but he made great progress and wound up with a free day.

Frankfurt Train Station

From the hotel Mercure in Friedrichsburg which he loved and said had all necessary amenities, he managed to navigate the the signs and local language to get to the central train station and hop on board one of many offered sightseeing tours to get a look around the area.  He chose the Rhine Day Tour.  He was there during the week, so the other travelers he encountered were also people on business trips, but there was one American couple with a child, who seemed out of place during the wine-tasting stop.

The tour took Stewart to the beautiful countryside along the river Rhine and the participants got to ride on a ski lift for a better view.

The river Rhine

The hills are alive...

At the bottom of the mountain they ate lunch at a local restaurant which also offered the wine tasting.  He learned that a local delicacy, ice wine, is made when the grapes are frozen and picked during the middle of the night and all the local spirits are subject to purity laws.  He brought back a bottle for me, and I must say it was fantastic.

Lunch stop

The tour also included a ferry ride where views of medieval castles were on display, and a chance to get out and walk around and shop for gifts in the village of Rűdesheim/Drosselgasse.

On the ferry

A castle on the banks of the river Rhine

View of the village

A local landmark that Stewart does not remember

Niederwald Monument

Overall, my husband’s reaction to flying to Europe, going through the hassle of exchanging money, dealing with a foreign tongue, and clearing customs, was not worth it.  He says “If I want to see rolling hills, I will go to Paso Robles.  If I want to see the water’s edge, I’ll sail to Catalina.  And for tasty beer, I’ll pop open a Sierra Nevada.  In other words, Germany is nice, but California is something special.”

We obviously don’t share the same taste in travel.  I enjoy exotic adventures and sights unseen.  Luckily, there are plenty of those in California too.  At least I got him to bring home some pictures, so I can gaze at them as I dream of the day I will get to travel to Germany…with some girlfriends!

 From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip

“Bicycles are sacred in Amsterdam,” said Michiel Laterveer, director of sales and marketing at the Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel.  “Like cows are to India.”

On a recent trip to Europe, I was struck by the green transportation efficiencies that were created out of necessity.

“You don’t want a car in Amsterdam,” added Brigitta Kroon-Fiorita of the Netherlands Board of Tourism.  “Everyone rides a bicycle.”

In fact, I spotted several business men and women talking on their cell phones as they peddled to work.  The Amsterdam train station had a three level parking garage specifically designed for bicycles.  With its cobblestone streets and numerous canals, Amsterdam is a city to be enjoyed on foot.

Scooters were the preferred mode of transportation in the narrow streets of Madrid and Seville, Spain, as well as Lisbon, Portugal.  While there isn’t a helmet law, most riders sported helmets in the heavily congested city of Madrid.  The upscale city also offers an easily accessible underground and affordable subway system.  The Sunday that I visited Madrid, thousands of bicyclists swarmed the Paseo de la Castellana that had been closed to cars for the event.  I watched from my club room at the Intercontinental as the bicyclists demonstrated their solidarity in demanding bike lanes for riders.  Unfortunately, there is not much room to expand for bicycle lanes in downtown Madrid.

For the green traveler looking to cover a lot of Europe, Eurail offers many alternatives from train to boat.  I selected the 10 day, first class Global Pass, which is valid within a two month period.  For Lisbon, Portugal I took a day trip to the charming city of Sintra.  After several days in Lisbon, I boarded the overnight train, #385, to Seville, staying at NH Plaza de Armas.  The hotel was a 10 minute cab ride from the train station.  For a lovely day excursion, I recommend a train ride to the waterfront town of Cadiz.

Finally, a common mode of transportation spotted throughout my 10 day tour of Europe was the adorable Smart Car.  Squeezed between bicycles and barges in Amsterdam or cozied up next to horsedrawn carriages in Seville, the Smart Car is slowly making its debut in the United States.

While I drive the fuel-efficient and sporty BMW Mini Cooper, I would happily convert to a Smart Car if I didn’t have to contend with SUV’s, Humvee’s and tanker trucks sharing California’s highways.  Our gas guzzling USA would benefit greatly if we were to implement many of the green transportation alternatives offered in Europe.

Is green travel important to you?  Do you find that you travel differently abroad than when traveling in the United States?  For more information on this topic check out the Go Green Travel Green blog.

Seville bicycle photo, Cadiz scooters, Eurail train and horse and carriage photos by Nancy D. Brown

From guest blogger, Andrea Widburg, of Andi’s Answers

When we traveled in Europe last winter, we had to deal with two immutable factors: the long distances we had to cover and the high cost of lodging. We hated to spend our days stuck on trains, rather than walking around and sight-seeing, and we hated to spend our nights paying $300 for a small room with a half bathroom. A sleeper train seemed like the logical solution. There are lots of websites that give information about this way of traveling (see here and here, for example) and they all make it seem very civilized and easy. They’re almost correct.

We took our first sleeper train from Paris to Venice. Although we had very carefully and specifically booked a cabin just for the four of us, we were promptly led to a cabin that already boasted two other people. Fortunately, the conductor was a sympathetic type, and the train wasn’t too full, so we finally got a cabin all our own.

Our cabin had two lower berths that functioned as seats during the daytime, and two upper berths that folded up against the side of the car when not in use. I didn’t have a tape measure, but the berths felt as if they were about two and a half feet wide. The train company provided a thin nylon sleeping bag that served as both a top and bottom sheet (much like the sleep-sheet used in hostels), a small pillow, and a thin blanket. Our luggage was stuffed under the bottom berths and placed on shelves above the top berths.

The good part of the sleeper train was that we did sort of sleep. We took our shoes off and got to lie down. The train had that nice, relaxing chugga-chugga-chugga rhythm, and there were mercifully few horns and whistles. The kids were initially too excited to go to sleep but exhaustion finally overtook them and they blinked out.

The bad part was the fact that the berths were extremely uncomfortable and, for my tall husband, way too short. Also, getting to the bathroom was no fun. You had to crawl down from the berth (since my husband and I slept on top), put on your clunky winter shoes, unlock the door (which inevitably woke the spouse), and then stagger down the rocking aisle to a very cold and, usually, somewhat dirty bathroom. If there was no toilet paper, you staggered back to your cabin, got the toilet paper and started all over again. Multiply this not just by your own bathroom stops, but by the children’s, and you’ve got a pretty lousy night of sleep.

Of course, after all this discomfort and inconvenience, we woke up to find ourselves in beautiful Venice. Once there, although we were tired, we spent quite a nice day sightseeing. In other words, the plan worked perfectly, with us doubling up on travel and lodging and not wasting any daytime hours sitting on a train. So even though I really did not enjoy the experience, I ended up doing it all over again when we traveled from Venice to Rome, and I’ll do it again the next time I’m in Europe.