Travel begins next week—travel not to conferences, feet propped up on the dashboard with my goodie bags of chips, sunflower seeds, computer paraphenalia, and spare shoes on the floor (Hank drives in case you were wondering). No, this travel begins inside a metal tube pushed … Read more
While we have no ability to travel back to an earlier time, we do have opportunities to visit historical sites. Because I grew up in Texas, I was drilled in the history of that state and its special status. I was able to make multiple … Read more
I met a man on the road today. He was coming down a steep bluff as I was climbing up, and so we chatted briefly about how much farther I had to go. He asked if I had served and said he had also. In … Read more
Inwardly, quietly, I jump up and down when our group walks out of the Milenij Hotel into the bright sunshine. We are beginning our initial walking tour of Opatija, a literal coastal paradise more gorgeous than any brochure photo could ever be. To enter into … Read more
We are embarking on the last stretch of this voyage through the Great European Rivers (Danube, Main, Rhine). As I write, sailors are pulling away the ropes that tied us to Dock 9 in downtown Cologne. Our next port? Amsterdam. By the time this essay … Read more
I try to imagine growing up in Vienna. In fact, I’m penning these words perched on a bench in Marie Theresien Platz, a glorious square that unites Vienna’s huge Natural History Museum with its equally large Old-Masters’ Art Museum. Both of these buildings stand directly … Read more
Today, waking up in Zagreb, Croatia, I thought about the people arriving tomorrow for a tour through Croatia and Slovenia. Most of them are embarking on the same trek I made yesterday, gathering last-minute items, tugging suitcases closed, and getting to the airport to fly … Read more
My train got in late to Interlaken. Disembarking at Interlaken West, I should have continued four more minutes to Interlaken East station. Had I done so, my automatic-pilot route to the hotel would have been correct. Instead, I dragged my suitcase about a quarter mile … Read more
Impressive events occur daily on Smithsonian Journey’s tours like this one through Croatia and Slovenia. Within just six days, we will have visited Croatia’s famed waterfall-and-lake national park (Plitvice), made an excursion to Slovenia’s fairy-tale island in the middle of a glacier lake called Bled, … Read more
