My visit to Portugal during carnival week in the Netherlands was a trip to remember. Flying in with zero knowledge and expectations, I had the most wonderful time exploring Lisbon, but the nicest day was – by far – the
Visions of Lisbon : Portugal
During the one week off for carnival in the Netherlands, I took off for a first visit to Portugal. I knew very little about Portugal, and had absolutely zero expectations. Despite rainy gloomy weather most days I visited, I can
Visions of Delft : Netherlands
Last newyears I stayed in the Hague-Rotterdam area and was looking for something to explore in the area. Although I haven’t heard anything about Delft from anyone, it showed up on the map between the two main cities so I decided
Visions of Rotterdam : Netherlands
Around newyears time I was visiting the Hague area and had a chance to drop in to the nearby Rotterdam for the first time to see the city in the freezing cold following a night of buzzing and partying. The
Visions of Valencia : Spain
Valencia may have been just another Spanish city with a nice old city center, but just before saying my goodbyes I went to see the new City of Arts and Sciences and was in for a big surprise. I heard
Visions of Antwerp : Belgium
My first visit to Belgium was to the lovely town of Antwerp at the northern side of Belgium, less than an hour by train from Brussels. Although it was a gloomy and cloudy day during turbulent times of a country
Visions of Maastricht : Netherlands
Maastricht is a small town in the southern Limburg province of the Netherlands on the border with Belgium and very close to Germany. In my previous visits to the Netherlands it was a bit far off my travel route and
Visions of Florence : Northern Italy
The first stop on my recent travels around Italy was to Florence up an hour and a half by the fast train from Rome. A long overdue trip, it was my first time ever visiting Florence, and there’s no doubt
Long Beach and Seal Beach : Los Angeles California
Los Angeles has some wonderful beaches, and Seal beach is a prime example for a great beach not too far away from town. In my last conference visit to Long Beach I found affordable accommodation between Long Beach and Seal
Visions of Mexico City
I wasn’t planning anything special for Thanksgiving, but two weeks of -10c average daytime temperatures in Champaign ignited the need to escape to warmer climates and so – way past last minute – I begun looking for cheap tickets and