Malbork and Westerplatte

While Gdansk itself offers plenty to see and do, there are many destinations close by, but outside the city, which are also worthwhile visiting, including both the world’s largest castle and the site where World War II was initiated. Malbork Castle, a 30-minute train ride from Gdansk, may be my favorite castle I’ve ever visited. […]

Warszawa, Polska

Warsaw, Poland’s capital and most populous city, is surprisingly approachable and fun. Nowy Świat, the main street leading to the old town, is very pedestrian friendly, with dozens of high quality restaurants, bars, and stores along a stretch of over a mile. And the old town itself, with not a single building left standing by […]

Eurovision, Lithuanian-style

Summary: I attended a live Eurovision Song Contest qualifier for Lithuania while in Vilnius! TL;DR Details: For decades now, I’ve been intrigued by the motley collection of songs across all musical genres from acts from around Europe (and now beyond) that constitute each year’s Eurovision Song Contest. From ABBA’s winning performance of “Waterloo” in 1974, […]

Riga, Latvia

Riga, the largest city in the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), is not quite as polished and romantic as Tallinn, but it’s an engaging and interesting place, full of good food and drink. Lonely Planet summarizes the spirit well: “People here fancy themselves to be the least pragmatic and the most artistic of the […]

Russian to the Border

After a smooth 2.5-hour ride east through the wintery Estonian countryside on a comfortable modern train, I arrived in Narva, which currently has the EU’s busiest border crossing with Russia. I was intrigued both by Narva’s long and dynamic history and by the fact that Russia lies just across the river. The location is impressive, […]

Life’s Swedish Moments

For over two and a half decades, Stockholm has been my primary overseas home away from home, though now with Sofia living in Czechia, Prague has become one of two overseas homes away from home. This year my family and I had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Stockholm together and with friends. I am very […]

Fortress-Hopping

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year and a half since Colleen and I previously visited Croatia’s gorgeous Dalmatian coast. This time we rented a car, and so we have much more flexibility and opportunities. We’re staying in Tisno again (about halfway between Zadar and Split, if you know Croatia), but during this […]

Smoky Cove

Earlier this year, my niece Katelyn (my sister’s daughter) contacted me and said she’s long wanted to visit Iceland, and she wondered if maybe I’d like to travel there with her. With deep appreciation and excitement, I immediately answered yes, of course!! And I’m really happy I did! Katelyn is a wonderful travel partner — […]

Cairo, Part Two 🇪🇬

After finishing the Nile River cruise, we flew back up to Cairo for another two nights there. I’m not sure why Uniworld schedules the trip this way — I would have preferred to get all of Cairo up front. But anyway, on this return visit we got to visit the pyramids of Giza, the most […]

State Pharaoh

Many of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs ruled over a united Egypt (both upper and lower), controlling a vast area along the Nile. We could understand the huge distance covered because we had taken an hour-long flight from Cairo to Luxor, traveled farther south along the Nile by ship to Aswan, and then flown on another […]