A Love Song to Poland

poland-coat-of-arms

“We are fighters,” proclaimed our travel director Halina during her fascinating narrative as we rode through the gorgeous countryside from Warsaw to Krakow. The same sentence had resounded the previous day from our young city guide Carolina as she toured us through Warsaw. And then … Read more

Off to Visit Polish Art

Fałat

The whirlwind starts Friday when I fly off for my first tour of the fall. On Sunday evening in Warsaw, I will meet the twenty-one people who chose this Smithsonian Journey’s tour with its innocuous name “Old World Europe.” The next morning we’ll launch into … Read more

Salon Christophori

Departure Day of a tour never gets portrayed properly in the brochures. For many in each group, it starts with a brutally early hotel pickup for travel to the airport. No one likes it, of course, but if the goal is to connect to a … Read more

Thoughts from Berlin

leipziger-strasse

A wild storm is brewing outside my window here on Leipziger Strasse in Berlin. It might be a relief for Berliners after such an unseasonably hot day. Regardless of how much Germans yearn for hot summers, the reality of such temperatures does seem to cause … Read more

Along the Adriatic

dubrovnik-adriatic

Here we sit at the eastern end of the Island of Hvar, in the Adriatic, waiting for the next ferry. Despite arriving two hours early for the 1 p.m. ferry, our bus was not allowed to load. Basically we got bumped for a group of … Read more

Olives in Istria

ampitheater-pula

Yesterday we awoke in the coastal town of Opatija, Croatia, covered by pillows of fog. We were unable to see the Adriatic Sea, even though the waves began a hundred feet from our balcony. Stumbling through the fog to the bus, we drove forty miles … Read more

On Worldly Ideals

europe-travel

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. So read the title of a zany, star-studded 1969 comedy that parodied a frantically paced European tour (18 days, 9 countries). I didn’t see the movie, but I remember thinking when it came out: “Gosh, any chance to … Read more

Outdoors in the Alps

Friedrich-wanderer

I’m not an outdoorsy person. The largest swaths of my life have been spent in practice rooms, classrooms, and libraries. But that may be about to change. Last night, a Smithsonian Journey’s tour of the Swiss Alps drew to a close. The irony of finding … Read more

The Island of Kizhi

Kizhi

My phone’s camera went down midway on this voyage. No matter how many videos and files I off-loaded, it would not restore itself. It’s done. It’s tired. But before the camera expired, I got this picture. I took it standing on a wooden walkway that … Read more

From Roanoke to Russia with Great Books

great-books

I’m sitting at my brother’s dining-room table looking at piles of stuff, otherwise known as a mess. It has to be sorted out before I can sleep.  Tomorrow I head off to Russia with a Smithsonian group for another chance to sail the Russian Waterways. … Read more