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Category / Don’t Be A Tourist

Don’t be a Tourist in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is one of those cities that can convince you within a weekend, that you should probably move there. Friendly, charming, English-speaking, innovative and inspiring, there’s much more to this city than legal weed and the Red Light district. For many centuries – rebuilt and repurposed to fit the needs and preferences of each new…

Vacationing at the West’s Smallest Ghost Town

Is luck just another word for good timing? It is for the town of Gold Point. Under the endless stretch of sky in Esmerelda County, Nevada, at the gateway of Death Valley, the little ghost town sleeps with dreams of bygone glory. Of chattering saloon life and gold dusted guns. Once upon a time –…

A Time Traveler’s Guide to Amsterdam

Most people know Amsterdam as the city of legal weed and the Red Light district. But that’s not all – or the most interesting – that Amsterdam has to offer. Amsterdam’s historic city center houses many old buildings – most of which have been around for many centuries – rebuilt and repurposed to fit the needs and preferences of each…

Amsterdam is Turning its Bridge Houses into Tiny Hotels

Well that’s it for me. I’ll never stay in a normal hotel in Amsterdam again now that 28 of the city’s bridge houses have been transformed into charming little hotel rooms. For over a century, these canalside gate houses accommodated the storied bridge keepers whose task it was to conduct the city’s water traffic and allow…

Here’s the Secret to Feasting your Way Through Italy like a Local

You’re invited to local food feasts all over Italy – if you know the magic word, that is. Sagre! That’s Italian for festival, one that centres around the annual harvest, celebrating local culture and most importantly – food! So what’s your weakness? Pizza? Pasta? Truffles? Fritto misto alla Piemontese? Whatever your preference, somewhere in Italy,…

Mansion of the Month: Miami’s Villa Viscaya

It rose from the mangrove swamps of Miami; an Italian Renaissance paradise surrounded by dense tropical forest in Coconut Grove, the city’s oldest continuously inhabited neighbourhood. They called it the “Hearst Castle of the East”, even though Villa Vizcaya came first. James Deering was heir to a harvesting fortune, a lover of the arts, an antiques…

Little Russia in Paris

The international world fairs of the early 20th century brought to Paris some seriously elaborate pavilions and palatial monuments such as the Grand Palais (and don’t forget the Eiffel Tower), but with the simultaneous arrival of migrants from the east, so too have they brought their own little pieces of home over the years. And that’s how this little church, Paroisse Saint Serge,…

Tango on the Seine, for Strangers in Paris

As long as the weather is good, tango enthusiasts (advanced and never-before-danced) gather at the mini amphitheatres along the Seine in the 5th arrondissement, to dance seductively until twilight. If you don’t want to join in, sitting with a bottle of wine on the steps, watching these dancers is still absolutely mesmerizing and incredibly atmospheric. A little old…

The Chateau You Should Visit Instead of Versailles

Chateau de Versailles can keep its 7 million visitors a year. I’ve got my own little-known gem of the Parisian countryside that you’d find if you drive 15 minutes further up the road from the sun king’s famed royal residence. The garden is filled with 18th century follies that would have made Marie Antoinette green with envy,…

She’s been Drawing her Road Trips in Sketchbooks for 20 Years

There’s something about art and travel that goes so well together, something that’s more romantic about taking out a moleskin notebook and drawing the view than simply snapping it with your phone. Of course, it helps if you’re a gifted artist like Chandler O’Leary who has been recording her travels in sketchbooks for over 20 years. The Washington-based illustrator…

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