Even after poring over the beautiful color brochures we received, I wasn't sure what to expect when we booked our Viking cruise. You've probably wondered the same thing. So let me give you a glimpse of our life on board ship earlier this month. This is the wheelhouse on the Viking Longship, Idun. . . .
I'm sure you'd like to know what a Christmas market is really like, right? We went to quite a few, but one that stands out is at the Thurn and Taxis Palace in Regensburg. It's the only market we saw that charged admission (well worth it, by the way), but since we toured the palace, our admission . . .
Alpacas aren't the first things to come to mind when someone says "Christmas market." In fact, they never come to mind at all. But they were absolutely the cutest things we saw at the wonderful market at privately-owned Thurn and Taxis palace in Regensburg, Germany. More on the palace in another . . .
Passau is a charming town in the lower Bavaria part of Germany near the Austrian border. It's known as The Three Rivers City, because three rivers converge at the town: Danube, Inn and Ilz. And since we were on a river cruise, we got to see them all. And a bunch else. This is going to be a . . .
M didn't want to go to the Nazi Rally Grounds or Courtroom 600, where the Nuremberg trials were held. He said he didn't want another reminder of the Nazi atrocities, but my position was different. The idea of spending an afternoon with a historian, talking about the trials and actually visiting . . .
Come lunch-time, the Christmas market was the place to be. Mulled wine—gluhwein—was everywhere. But which booth would we choose? We decided to eat first. Because Budapest food is very tempting fare. Pulled pork doesn't ordinarily come to mind when someone says Budapest food. But there it was. I . . .
We arrived in Budapest on a dull grey, overcast day, a day that made it easy to remember that Hungary was once safely tucked behind the Iron Curtain. Does any generation besides ours know about the Iron Curtain? About the Cold War? On our way in we saw some deteriorating, Cold War-era apartments . . .
Yeah, you thought today was just about green beer and shamrocks, right? Well, it's also about gratitude and blessings. Because St. Paddy? (no, it's not Patty, it's Paddy) He had a lot to be grateful for. Captured and taken into slavery by the Irish as a child, he finally escaped after six years. . . .
Scene: London hotel room. Book: originally written 1894 My husband to me: "I wish I had a photo of you reading that." (Your wish is my command, sugar.) . . .
Those royals are a hardy bunch! The Queen is celebrating her 60th year on the throne and Jubilee banners are everywhere. The first night I was home, I dreamed that I spent an afternoon strolling museums with Her Majesty. She was very pleasant. She's in pretty damn good shape for woman of . . .
