I arrived in Vienna with five days ahead and a handful of names beginning to fix themselves on the map: Stephansplatz, the Hofburg, Belvedere, Schönbrunn, Wieden, the Donaukanal. The journey stayed mostly within and around the old center, but the scale kept changing from cathedral stone and palace courtyards to market counters, café tables, garden…
I based myself in Malá Strana, on the castle side of the Vltava, where the streets stayed quieter than the approaches to Old Town. From there, four days in Prague crossed river bridges, castle courtyards, tram routes, cafés, markets, and residential neighborhoods beyond the main postcard views. Old Town, Malá Strana, Hradčany, and New Town…
I started in western Slovenia, inland from the Adriatic and Dalmation Coast where we had previously been. The road moved away from sea views and into vineyards, orchards, and small hill villages. Goriška Brda came first, with family vineyards spread across rounded hillsides and medieval villages set above the roads. Wine stayed close to households,…
I arrived in Korčula by ferry, which was the right way to meet the island. Provence had been a journey of vineyards, village markets, and long Mediterranean lunches. The Adriatic promised something different: islands connected by ferries, white wines shaped by limestone soils, and towns that still revolved around their harbors. The old town sits…
There are places that reveal themselves immediately, and others that take a little patience. Provence belongs firmly to the second group. At first glance, visitors arrive expecting lavender fields, hilltop villages, and endless photographs of pale rosé beneath olive trees. Those things certainly exist. Yet after several days moving through the region, what stayed with…
The Amalfi Coast is much larger and more varied than it first appears on postcards. Positano draws most of the attention, but the coastline extends through a long series of smaller towns connected by cliff roads, stairways, ferries, fishing harbors, and terraced hillsides that have been cultivated for centuries. I spent several days moving between…
The rhythm shifts again. After the open coastline and long Atlantic light of the Algarve, Crete feels more layered—less expansive, perhaps, but deeper in its sense of time and place. Chania sits along the northwestern edge of Crete, where layers of history stretch back more than three thousand years. Ancient Kydonia once stood here, a…
Venice is a city you don’t rush. You arrive, you adjust your pace, and slowly it begins to unfold. Built on water and shaped by centuries of trade, diplomacy, and quiet ambition, it moves differently from anywhere else in Italy. There are no roads guiding you forward—only canals, bridges, and narrow streets that invite you…
After leaving Riquewihr, the Alsace Wine Route tightens and refines as it moves south—villages draw closer together, the architecture becomes more ornamental, and the balance between daily life and careful preservation becomes more visible. This stretch carries me through Kaysersberg, Turckheim, Eguisheim, and into Colmar—a sequence that feels less rural and more composed, shaped as…
The Alsace Wine Route shifts again as you move into the heart of the “postcard” villages—where the streets feel narrower, the façades brighter, and the sense of history is sometimes hidden behind how effortlessly charming everything looks. This chapter takes me through Ribeauvillé, Hunawihr, and Riquewihr—three stops that sit close together, yet each tells a…