The Rila Monastery's cool alpine location and colorful buildings make it a popular tourist destination on the weekends. I visited on a Sunday and despite the hordes of other visitors making noise arou
I can not imagine calling Bucharest a picturesque town, but nor is it ugly - just a town full of large boulevards and hulking concrete buildings topped with company logos. Most of this ungainly archit
Romanians have lived through some tumultuous years since 1987 - years full of political disarray, riots, strikes, food shortages, revolution, and the executions of former leaders Nicolae Ceausescu and
Fate swept me quickly out of Bucharest. From trolley bus to rail station to ticket vendor to departing train, yesterday's departure conspired to whisk me away to Sinaia without delay. Sina
I checked into a marvelously depressing one-star hotel in Brasov, where an old man who smoked quietly by the light of a TV set handed me my key. My single room hid at the end of a long dark hallway, t
I settled into an excellent room in Sighisoara, happy to rest in a peaceful little medieval town for a few days after too many days spent traveling. The town's slow paced calmed me down pe
Traveling frequently turns out to be an endless succession of meeting new people and entertaining new thoughts. This morning a 10-year old gypsy girl approached me on the train platform and
With 2 million citizens, Budapest's size compares to other major cities in eastern Europe. But it seemed much larger to me, with so much to see and do that I spent half my days walking, metroing, and
Friends and travel guides raved about Szentendre, espousing the town's narrow winding streets and perfectly preserved atmosphere. But after I took their advice and went, I found that every other touri
Like most of my days in Budapest, I walked all over town and felt in need of a little treat. What better place to go than the Szechenyi Medicinal Baths for a little dip in the city's famous thermal po
My train hummed through Hungary towards the Croatian border yesterday evening while a captivating sunset played across the ripe summer crops of the countryside. I poked my head out of the c
Dubrovnik distinguished itself on my visit for two reasons, the first being the spectacular two kilometer walk around the old town along its protective walls. The view from 25 meters high couldn't be
I missed the whole American election while travelling - the campaign, the debates, the rhetoric, the vote, the talking heads, the post election fighting, the swearing in, and as of tomorrow, the first
I arrived to Zagreb on a night bus with the plan to spend only a few hours looking around town before catching a train to Slovenia. It didn't take long to figure out this was a mistake. Zagreb turned
Greg earned his moniker of "Hat Guy" almost one year ago when I met him on the South Pacific island of Samoa. He wore a homemade pixyish hat fashioned from the shed bark of a palm tree and everywhere
The Castle Story as it came to be known should begin with the "Once Upon a Time" start of fairy tales, as it involves all of the classic ingredients of a good story - love, castles, and a princ
Venice needs little introduction, as all its stereotypes breath in reality - stripe-shirted oarsmen, bow shaped gondolas, graceful canals, historic buildings, romantic accordion music, and labyrinthin
The island of Burano was a colorful surprise in my day spent hopping around on vaporettos (ferries) in Venice. It is known for its handmade lace and slow paced fishing life, but I immediately apprecia
I could whine about my everlasting train ride, but truth be told it wasn't as bad for me as for the others involved. On the night I left Venice and headed north to Vienna, an Italian train hit a maint
