Riga, Latvia is the largest of the three Baltic capitals and certainly the most cosmopolitan with everything you could ask for. Riga has a historic old town which has been classified as a World Heritage Site and the best nightlife in the Baltics. It is also awash with history, having been occupied by seemingly every […]
Eurail Passes
I get a lot of emails and questions about train travel in Europe. First, train travel is relatively cheap, convenient and the quintessential way to travel around Europe. Trains are very comfortable and timely and since many countries and destinations are close together, you can save a lot of money by using a variety of […]
The Belarus Ordeal
On a 2004 trip to Eastern Europe, my cousin and I were in Riga, Latvia and we decided that we wanted to go to Minsk, Belarus for a day or two. So we consulted our trusty Lets Go book and it told us where the Belarusian consulate was in Riga. So we got in a […]
Post War Sarajevo
If you’re a twenty-something man from Sarajevo lucky enough to still be alive, you would have lived through a transfer of power from a beloved post World War II regime to a brutal Unitarian Serb nationalist madman. You would have lived through Yugoslavia’s greatest moment of triumph, the 1984 Winter Olympics. You would have lived […]
The Alhambra
The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex in southern Spain, occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and was a nominee as one of the new seven wonders of the world, albeit that was a bit […]
Jersey, Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy, but dependent on the British Crown. They comprise two separate Bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, and have a total population of about 160,000 with nearly 100,000 residing on Jersey.
Getting From Gatwick to Heathrow
What a pain it is getting from Gatwick to Heathrow to get a connection back to the US. I am currently in the American Airlines Lounge at Heathrow after the excruciatingly long and annoying process of getting from one airport to the other.
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man is like any typical British Island and you could say its interior looks like the English or Irish countryside. The big difference though is that the Isle of Man basically exists for one reason and that’s money…big money and offshore money.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nothing tells me that I am on the Emerald Isle quite like having Guinness for breakfast. Granted I’m in Northern Ireland but it’s still as good as it is in Dublin. Even if you don’t like Guinness, you almost have to drink it here-it’s so good. Belfast itself is a really cool city thusfar an […]