Iceland waterfalls that are easy to reach from the ring road
There are so many Iceland waterfalls that you couldn’t possibly see them all. Here are 12 that are easy to reach from the ring road.
Europe travel
This category includes all my articles about my Europe travel. Because I live in the Netherlands, I can travel in Europe quite easily, and as you see here, I’ve seen a lot of it. Generally I don’t write “ultimate list” or “everything you need to know” posts. Instead, I tend to focus on just one or a few sights or experiences from my specific point of view. Enjoy!
Best hot springs in Iceland and how to choose
Iceland has lots of pools and baths that are heated geothermically. Read here about the best hot springs in Iceland and how to choose which one to visit!
Icelandic turf houses: Laufas, Glaumbaer and others
Few Icelandic turf houses still exist, but the few that do give a glimpse of how Icelanders used to live. Read about two special ones here: Laufas and Glaumbaer (and a few others)!
Husavik whale watching with North Sailing
Our Husavik whale watching trip with North Sailing didn’t go quite as I’d hoped. The weather was terrible, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Reykjadalur hot spring thermal river, Iceland
Reykjadalur hot spring thermal river is without a doubt worth the hike. How often do you get a chance to experience a hot river?
Skogar, Iceland, and what to see there
Travelers stop in Skogar, Iceland, to see gorgeous Skogafoss waterfall. But there are other, equally worthwhile things to see in Skogar! Read here about the other, less-known waterfall, and a surprisingly good three-part museum.
Things to do in Heimaey island, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland
Things to do in Heimaey island, off the southern coast of Iceland: a small place with dramatic scenery and a dramatic history to match.
Aviodrome Lelystad, an aviation museum
For a fearful flyer like me, airplanes hold a certain fascination. It can seem an absolute miracle that something so big and heavy can actually get off the ground. And then, of course, there are flying enthusiasts. Those fortunate people actually enjoy their time aloft, taking pictures out the window or just dropping off to…
What to do in Den Bosch, a.k.a. ’s-Hertogenbosch
Our first bit of travel, as the pandemic seemed to subside here in the Netherlands, was a simple weekend away in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, generally referred to as Den Bosch. It’s only a few hours from home, and I had to be near there for a couple of days to lead a workshop anyway. My husband and…
The Polar Museum, Tromso, Norway
The picturesque harbor town of Tromso (spelled Tromsø in Norwegian), lies more than 300 kilometers / 200 miles above the Arctic Circle. It has a history of serving as a jumping-off point for varous polar activities like trapping, hunting and fishing, as well as polar exploration. Nowadays, it is home to a fascinating little place…
Kinderdijk or Zaanse Schans?
You’re visiting Holland, so of course, you want to see windmills. While windmills dot the countryside all over the Netherlands, Kinderdijk and Zaanse Schans are two popular places for viewing windmills and seeing inside them. I wrote about a visit to Zaanse Schans a couple of years ago. North of Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans has a…
UNESCO Sites in Switzerland
The following is a guest post written by Anna Timbrook. All around the world, UNESCO promotes peace through conserving and protecting monuments, museums, and places of interest in history, science, nature, and the arts. The culture and natural beauty of Switzerland are recognized at a variety of sites from old castles to vineyards, and of…
29 things to do in Drenthe province
If you’re not from around here, you’ve probably never heard of Drenthe, a province in the east of the Netherlands. When I decided to make a list of things to do in Drenthe, I was surprised at how many there are. Some are a bit odd or obscure, but those are the places I like…
40 things to do in Groningen province
Tourists to the Netherlands visit, for the most part, Amsterdam. They might take a side trip to Keukenhof (tulips galore) or Zaanse Schans (windmills in picturesque quantity) or the Hague. I live on the other side of the country, in a province called Groningen, whose biggest city (about 200,000 people) is also called Groningen. That means…
10 things to know before moving to Switzerland
Switzerland, or what is officially known as the Swiss Federation, is a country located in central, western, and southern Europe. The federal republic consists of 26 cantons, and the federal authorities are based in Bern. It is geographically divided among the Alps, Swiss plateau, and Jura covering an area of 41285 square kilometers. The population…
Amsterdam Tulip Museum review
The Amsterdam Tulip Museum is surprisingly interesting, especially when it tells the story of the tulip mania: the Dutch bulb-buying bubble that burst.
Amsterdam Cheese Museum review + all about Dutch cheese!
A review of the Amsterdam Cheese Museum, plus everything you ever wanted to know about Dutch cheese!
A complete SAIL Amsterdam 2025 guide
It’s unusual for me to write an article about something that hasn’t happened yet, but SAIL Amsterdam only happens once every five years: best to be prepared! And this time, it hasn’t happened in 10 years because the 2020 edition was cancelled. The 2025 edition of SAIL Amsterdam celebrates both the 750th anniversary of the…
The Willet-Holthuysen Museum: An elegant Golden Age house in Amsterdam
In Amsterdam, you’ll admire the beautiful canals, lined with elegant Golden Age houses. But have you ever wanted to see the insides? Read here about visiting the Willet-Holthuysen Museum!
Ruminations on an Auschwitz Tour
Ruminations on a tour of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where Nazis turned genocide into an industrial enterprise, efficiently turning over a million souls to ashes.
The KGB Museum in Riga, Latvia
You could easily miss the KGB Museum in Riga if you didn’t know where to look. Commonly referred to as “the Corner House,” it looks on the outside like a quite stylish residential building. I walked right by it and had to retrace my steps a block or two away. Basically what the KGB did…
Castle De Haar: An extravagant vision of the medieval
Castle de Haar is one of the most fanciful castles I’ve ever seen, if you discount Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland. It’s got a moat, a formal garden, towers and turrets galore. Stunningly ornate, especially inside, it’s a medieval princess’s dream. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click on one of them and…
A Riga City Tour: 10+ things to see in Riga
This could have been a review of a tour that doesn’t actually exist. What I mean is that the Riga city tour I took was sponsored by #LiveRiga, a campaign of the Riga Tourism Development Bureau, but it is not run on a scheduled basis. Rather, our guide, Juris Berze, is a freelance tour guide,…
Two Latvian food tours
As you’ve probably guessed, I love food. I can’t call myself a foodie, exactly, because I’m not choosy about what food I eat. I’m likely to enjoy whatever national cuisine I try, or at least find it interesting. Generally, I’m happy with anything from street food to chic food. But tasting the difference between one…
Muiderslot Castle (a.k.a. Amsterdam Castle)
When you were little, did you ever draw a picture of a castle? If you were like me, the castle in your picture was square, with a tower in each corner, crenellations along the walls and a drawbridge to an arched gateway in front. I’ve been to a lot of castles in my travels, but…
Eating Europe’s Jordaan Food Tour: A review
Rows of pretty small houses and shopping streets lined with a mixture of hip and quirky stores, along with a smattering of “coffee shops” leaking the reek of marijuana out onto the sidewalk: this used to be my image of Amsterdam’s Jordaan neighborhood. It never occurred to me until I took a Jordaan food tour…
Menkemaborg in Uithuizen: Dressed to impress
Groningen has three nearby manor houses or “stately homes” that are open to the public and furnished to allow visitors to learn about local history. I’ve written about one of them before: Fraeylemaborg, which I only half-mockingly referred to as the “ancestral home.” Another is Menkemaborg, a similarly impressive display of wealth and social position…
Boat Bike Tours: A review of “Hansa Highlights”
One of the first people I met on my recent week-long trip with Boat Bike Tours was a retired Canadian man named Peter, who told me right off the bat that this was his third tour with the company. I took that as a good sign. Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in that I…
Gammelstad church town UNESCO site in Sweden
Back in the 17th century, not long after the Reformation turned Sweden Protestant, a new law required church attendance, depending on one’s distance from the church. People up in the cold north of Sweden, despite living on widely-scattered farms far from the nearest church, still had to get to church. Disclosure: This article contain affiliate…
Things to do in Rovaniemi in the summer
What do you think of when you hear the word “Lapland”? Reindeer, cold, snow, huskies pulling dogsleds? All of that is true, of course, though in reality the dogsleds are mostly for tourists these days; locals are more inclined to use 4x4s or snowmobiles. If you ever venture this far north, the town of Rovaniemi,…
Hurtigruten review: A breathtaking Norway coastal cruise
I wanted to take a cruise. My husband steadfastly refused to consider a cruise, but he wanted to see Scandinavia. Our compromise: a Hurtigruten cruise up the coast of Norway. Disclosure: I received a media rate for this cruise: a discount, which makes this a sponsored post. Nevertheless, all opinions are my own and the…
Amsterdam Historical Museum
I visited the Amsterdam Historical Museum (more properly just called the Amsterdam Museum) as an afterthought. It was on my list: one of the many small museums and other sights to see in Amsterdam that I like to visit and write about. That day, though, I wanted to see Below the Surface, an archeological exhibit…