A Budapest Highlight: Faust Wine Cellar
If you enjoy wine, this atmospheric local shop provides a curated tasting of five wines from local Hungarian vineyards. The Wine Cellar Over on the other side of the river, in Buda, sits the Buda Castle. And also…. a Hilton hotel. But it’s an old building, with old traditional cellars. And in this Hilton, you’ll find the Faust Wine Cellar. It’s not a Hilton venture. It is a local business, operated by a local man who has operated this shop for many years. Although I accessed the store after entering a Hilton, the entrance (an old stairwell) was really atmospheric and felt completely authentic. (And by that, I don’t mean…
Small Group Travel: Choosing to Be Intrepid
Recently, I chose to do a small group tour with one of the biggest providers out there – Intrepid Travel. Why? I’ll explain my decision points below. (To spoil the ending, yes, I’d totally recommend this company, although there are things to keep in mind.) — Considering Small Group Travel? Do you ever get tired of putting so much effort into logistics when you really just want to explore new places? I was there. I wanted to travel, but without quite so much thinking. Luckily, small group tours can make that happen. I’d always thought a group tour would be a good option for central Europe. The currency changes in…
2021 Vaccinated Vacation Adventures
It turns out that 2021 was, indeed, better than 2020 in many ways. Granted, the endless working from home and refrigerator access probably hasn’t helped the fit of my wardrobe. Bummer. But in terms of travel, the outlook has become markedly more positive. For those of us lucky to have it, access to the vaccine has definitely opened up more vacation options! The year started with the certainty of… well, uncertainty. But a willingness to be adaptable led to a couple opportunities I wouldn’t have predicted in January. — Sadly, I’ve written exactly zero blog posts in recent months, which means I’ve written nothing about the international trips I was…
Brussels: Great Chocolate and the Grand Place
Ah, Belgium. On an itinerary entirely focused on London and Paris, Brussels was a last-minute addition mostly to add a new country to our travels (and eat chocolate). Is a single day enough to explore Belgium? Nope! But a single day in Brussels was plenty of time for us to realize that Belgium is absolutely worth a return trip. I do mean to experience more of the country, of course. But, let’s be very honest here: I also mean I want to eat Belgian chocolate until I am physically ill and then wake up the next day to do it again, sometimes with a side of frites. Stop judging me.…
Poor, Unfortunate Soles: A Walk in the Left Bank in Paris
One of the great joys of Paris is how utterly, delightfully walkable it is. It’s a huge city, yes, so the fantastic metro is a wonder for increasing access to most of the city. But once you know where you want to go, the absolute best way to explore – if you’re able – is simply to point yourself in the right direction and walk those tootsies off. That’s exactly the approach we took when took a walk through the neighborhoods of Paris’ Left Bank. Walk It Out My travel partner during my last trip to Europe would probably be the first person to accuse me of being entirely too…
Intentional Travel: Adding Value to the Bucket List
My first reaction to pandemic lockdowns was to obsessively plan future trips. After months of planning several new adventures, it became apparent that there is just too much to do on this Earth and, most likely, not enough time to do it all. I might need to prioritize, to focus on intentional travel, if I want to ensure that I get to the destinations that are most important to me. Sure, 2020 might have been a torturous bout of travel deprivation for the travel obsessed, but it also turned out to be a time for revelation. Mainly, this: there is no better time to kick my old “bucket list” to…
