The Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam
The Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam looks at how the Dutch coped with the Nazis before and during the war: collaborate, resist, or just try to get by. Which would you have done?
Travel
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A Free View of Tokyo from Tokyo City Hall
The classic destination for a big view of Tokyo is Tokyo Tower, which looks like a cross between a communication mast and the Eiffel Tower. What stopped me from visiting it was the cost: ¥1200 (€8 or $9) to go to its main deck at 150 meters (492 ft) and ¥2800 (€19 or $21) fee to reach…
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The Happiest Expats Live Here
While it may seem appealing to ditch the daily grind and live an adventurous life abroad, being an expat comes with its own trials and tribulations, and not all expat locations are created equal. This is – or, rather, was – a sponsored guest post, originally published by thehipmunk on Hipmunk’s Tailwind blog on December 13, 2015. The Hipmunk brand…
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WinterWelVaart 2024 and Wintergoud: Groningen’s Christmas Market
WinterWelVaart and, now also Wintergoud, are the annual Christmas market in Groningen, with an unusual maritime twist that makes it extra special!
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The African Burial Ground of NYC
New York City’s African Burial Ground National Monument has an interesting history. Or, rather, two histories: one of the people who were buried there, the other of the rediscovery of the graveyard and the establishment of this monument. Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. If you click on it and spend money, I will…
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The Chocolate Museum, Guadeloupe
Just seeing the bright hand-painted sign above the entrance to La Maison du Cacao (The Chocolate Museum) in Pointe Noire, Guadeloupe, was enough to make me happy. The truth is that pretty much anything chocolate-related makes me happy. I’m an addict. Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. If you make a purchase through the…
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Visiting Valor in Villajoyosa
Last spring in Guadeloupe I visited an archeological park where I got to sample the pulp from a fresh-picked cacao pod. I heard more about chocolate cultivation at two coffee plantations. Given my obsession with chocolate, I decided to take the process a step further on my short visit to the Costa Blanca in Spain,…
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Eagle Creek Backpack Review
For the two solo trips I took this year—one to Guadeloupe, Martinique, New York and Spain, and one to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea—I needed a very specific kind of luggage. The problem Since I was traveling solo, I needed to travel as light as possible. I also needed luggage I could manage…
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Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution: a review
Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution in Amsterdam presents a measured, pragmatic view of an institution usually looked at with derision and disapproval.
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Alcoy: My Too-Brief Visit
The Refugio de Cervantes Bomb Shelter Museum is what I visited, but there is much more to Alcoy in Spain: here is an overview.
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Driving Costa Blanca: Some Advice
If you’re ever in the Costa Blanca in Spain, here’s what I’d recommend: get away from the coast! Yes, you can enjoy the beaches and party till the wee hours in the coastal towns, but there’s far more to see inland. The drive I did the other day, for example, was absolutely lovely. Leaving from…
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Hash, Marijuana & Hemp Museum Amsterdam
It’s not surprising that Amsterdam is home to a museum of Hash, Marijuana and Hemp, given its generally tolerant policy toward soft drugs.
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5 Tips for Helping a Fearful Flyer
You’ve boarded a plane and found your seat, stowed your things and buckled up. The plane makes its way onto the runway and, after a short wait, the acceleration for take-off begins. You’re reading the book you brought along and don’t pay any attention to what the plane is doing, but, as it speeds up, something…
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The Museum of Bags and Purses Amsterdam
The Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam might be worth a look, if you like handbags or if you enjoy the absurdity of a museum devoted to purses. [This museum is now closed.]
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11 Hotel Management Tips
When you check into a hotel room, chances are you look for particular things that are important to you. Perhaps you want a hairdryer, or a bathtub, or an air conditioner. I tend to check the general cleanliness of a room. If it’s scrupulously clean, I’m not so particular about the rest. Staying in the New…
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Body Worlds Amsterdam: Museum or freak show?
At Body Worlds Amsterdam we are viewing actual dead bodies, called plastinates. Is this entertainment? Education? Or just a freak show? A critical review.
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Ill Overseas? 10 Top Tips
On my recent solo trip in Asia, I developed a hernia in my neck that caused a lot of pain in my left arm. Without going into all of the details, I ended up on an odyssey of sorts through the Korean medical system as well as my own Dutch medical system and, as a…
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A Tourist to the DMZ
The no-man’s-land of the DMZ embodies the tension that continues between these two countries, still officially in a state of war.
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Two Seoul Neighborhoods: Ikseon-dong & Bukchon Hanok Village
Two Seoul Neighborhoods: Buckchon Hanok Village contains many hanoks, but it has a completely different feel to it than Ikseon-dong Hanok Area.
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Suwon’s Palace and Fortress
Suwon, South Korea, a city with more than a million inhabitants, is a separate city from Seoul, but it’s been swallowed up in the post-Korean War urban sprawl, so that it’s in the same metro system. Getting to Suwon from the center of Seoul involves a very long metro ride: more than an hour, and…
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Seoul Tower Without a Date
Seoul Tower, perched on Namsan Mountain above Seoul, is visible everywhere, looking like some sort of 70’s version of the future. Built back in the 70’s for radio and television, it was and still is a communication tower. However, it’s also a destination for tourists and locals: a thing to do on a free weekend afternoon….
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Physical Therapy, Korean-style!
On my recent trip to South Korea, my left arm began to hurt. I dismissed it as a muscle ache, probably from carrying my luggage up and down metro stairs. Little by little, though, it got worse. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t find a position in which my arm didn’t hurt. When my arm started…
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Six (!) Seoul Palaces
Seoul is home to six different royal palaces, each built by or for a different king. Beautifully crafted and opulent, some are more intact and authentic than others. Authentic? The five older ones all include at least one tale of complete or partial destruction. All were burnt to the ground during the Japanese Invasion in the last decade…
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Mr. Toilet House? A Toilet Museum in Suwon, South Korea
The big gold-colored statue of a turd right next to the entrance was enough to tell me that Mr. Toilet House, the toilet museum in Suwon, South Korea, wasn’t going to be a disappointment! Mr. Toilet House Believe it or not, “Mr. Toilet House” is the popular name for the Toilet Culture Museum in Suwon,…
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Traveling by Train in Japan: 8 tips
For those of us who do not know Japanese, traveling by train in Japan can be a bit daunting, to say the least. Here are some tips for Japan travel that will allow you to negotiate the Japanese rail system, including reading signs, without knowing any Japanese at all. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links….
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Gion Corner: The Simplicity of Japanese Musical Art
A show that’s produced for foreign tourists can be an insulting oversimplification of local culture, or it can be an interesting peek into that culture. I wasn’t sure which I was getting when I agreed to go to a performance by Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Foundation at a venue called Gion Corner, in the famous…
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5 Tokyo Gardens
I’m not particularly into gardens. I enjoy them, but don’t enjoy gardening. I visited a few gardens in Tokyo partly because I was curious about Japanese gardens in particular, and also curious as to how they are used by people in such a big city. But mostly I went to them because I wanted to…
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Takayama Hida Folk Village
More than 30 Hida traditional houses have been moved to form this open-air museum in Takayama: Takayama Hida Folk Village.
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Marina Del Rey: LA’s playground
Los Angeles is one of those places that everyone wants to visit someday, to glimpse some stars on Rodeo Drive, visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or enjoy the original Disneyland. The city is very spread out, though, and the Los Angeles area includes some great beach communities, including Marina Del Rey, called “LA’s coastal…
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Strolling Yanaka in Tokyo
Tokyo is best known for its big-city-ness: huge, new, shiny, crowded, and exciting. I found it overwhelming in terms of noise and crowds, and also in terms of choices: where to go, what to do, what to eat, where to sleep. Add to that my functional illiteracy—I can’t read Japanese lettering or say more than…
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What to do in Himeji on a day trip from Kyoto: Himeji Castle and Engyoji Temple
As I stepped off the train for my Himeji day trip from Kyoto, I said to myself, “I’ll look for the tourist information office first and ask how to get to the castle.” (Yes, traveling solo for so long, I did sometimes say things like this out loud!) While there are other things to do…
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A day trip to Matsumoto, Japan
While the main attraction is the 16th-century Matsumoto Castle, there are other things to see as well on a day trip to Matsumoto.
