I have to admit, when I planned to stop in Barcelona, I was looking forward to rediscovering the city I first visited back in 2003. I wanted to visit La Sagrada Familia, stroll along Las Ramblas and finally make my way to the Parc Guell. And I wanted to indulge in tapas, tapas and more …
Based on statistics I made up myself, 99% of first-time visitors to Italy head to the big three of Rome, Florence and Venice. Not surprisingly, when I first visited Italy, I took the same route. But really, if you love wine, history and art – not to mention amazing food – Umbria is worth a …
Warsaw wasn’t initially part of the plan. And in case you were wondering, I do know Poland was never officially part of the Soviet Union. So if we want to get technical, it didn’t belong on my tour of the former Soviet republics. But it may as well have been. After “liberating” Poland from the …
As an animal lover, I often make a point to stop by the zoo in any major city I visit. Yes, I know the idea of zoos can be controversial to some, but I think generally the positives outweigh the negatives. I had the opportunity to visit both the Helsinki Zoo and the Tallinn Zoo …
I have a confession to make. Before this trip, I never stayed in a hostel. And to be honest, one of my biggest fears before starting this trip was how the whole hostel thing would go. Ever since I can remember, I have pictured hostels as loud, crazy places where drunken 18 …
One city down, dozens more to go on this adventure. So here’s a quick review of my favorite things about my first stop – Helsinki: 1. Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Suomenlinna probably was the highlight of my time in Helsinki. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Suomenlinna was founded in the mid-1700s when Finland was …
As my friends back home get ready to kick off college football season this weekend, I got a head start by checking out some football action here in Helsinki. Football as in soccer, I mean. I learned before my trip that Finland would play Moldova in a Eurocup 2012 qualifying match during my stay in …
I am in between travels right now, so I thought I would start a new feature looking back on past trips and sharing my favorite things about some of the cities or regions I have visited over the years. First up is Rome – one of my favorite large cities and probably one of the …
I have wanted to visit Wimbledon for as long as I can remember. Not being willing or able to shell out several thousand dollars to get tickets through brokers or tour packages, I decided a couple years ago to try to get tickets through Wimbledon’s public ballot. When that didn’t work, I paid $40 last …
