Virtual holiday tastes of the world
No one I know is traveling internationally these days, except in their imagination or through fond memories. My last big trip, one year ago, was […]
Europe
Greece: What makes Greek food authentic
Last of three parts. We all make presumptions based on our limited exposure to people whose culture, heritage or religion seem foreign to us. That […]
Greece: Ancient athletics at Olympia, Marathon
Second of three parts. Our Athens taxi driver isn’t much for small talk as we head from port to city centre on a spring weekday. […]
Greece: Seeking the holy in Meteora
First of three parts. It’s one way up and one way down – around and around – when traveling the stone forest of Meteora, about […]
German-born master chef takes over Black Forest, Three Lakes
As most U.S. teens were just learning to drive, 15-year-old Marcel Biro was a world away, navigating culinary school. The year: 1988. The place: East […]
Sometimes little luxuries make one great memory
One of my favorite names for a specialty shop is Little Luxuries, on State Street in Madison. In the offbeat inventory are fancy hair clips, […]
Croatia’s Dubrovnik a hot spot for ‘Game of Thrones’ fans
As clock tower bells chime at high noon, I stand 80 feet above ground with a wide and clear view of medieval architecture and history. […]
Wolfenbuttel, Kenosha: sister cities since 1970
The GPS has us driving in circles, so we park and approach the first person we see. Yes, she speaks English. Yes, she knows where […]
Germany’s natural world: Spreewald, Hainich
Our captain maneuvers us like a gondolier, standing as a pole propels his flatboat through a maze of canals that gingerly pass tree canopies, tiny […]
German brewers still abide by 500-year-old beer purity law
First in a series. About 44 percent of Wisconsin residents, the highest percentage of all states, reported German ancestry on the 2000 U.S. Census. (The […]
Major Nuremberg brat exhibit opens in Germany
You say you love bratwurst? Germany’s Bavaria is centuries ahead of us in that regard, and now a new exhibit in Nuremberg’s local history museum […]
A few pros, cons of river cruise vacations
Living out of a suitcase usually is an irritating necessity when a trip involves multiple cities, states or countries. You can stay in one place […]