Editor’s note: this is the second part of Jackie’s trip to Spain and Portugal. You can click here to read about her experience in Madrid. As for these cities, Seville is my personal favorite in Spain, and one of my favorites in Europe. Granada is stunning due to the Alhambra, and Cordoba is at the…
Editor’s note: First off, a huge congratulations to TRT writer Sam Spector on the birth of his third child. Any of you who follow his writing will know it won’t slow his travels much. Here he talks about Iceland, a perfect day trip from the capital. For more of Sam’s writing, click here to visit…
Editor’s note: I am lucky to be able to meet TRT writer Mandy Meehan roughly once a year somewhere in Europe. While we were in Copenhagen, she wanted to head back out to visit a museum while I had a quiet evening in to write. This is that museum, and one that definitely seems like…
I really love this city. Istanbul, the bridge between Europe and Asia, and Turkey’s largest city, is a truly remarkable place. It is beautiful, vibrant, has some world-class sights, features great food, and is really unique. But there are also some challenges visitors find when exploring here. I’ve now been to Istanbul three times, including…
Few places on Earth are more stark in their contrasts. East meets West. Europe intersects Asia. Islam and secularism coexist side by side. And for tourists, one of the most incredible and dynamic cities has to be taken in turn with a regime that is, here in 2024, not very democratic in tendency nor pro-American.…
After six weeks spent in Greece, including about a month in Athens, visits to two islands, seeing some of the top sights on the Greek mainland, and wandering another top-five populous Greek city for more than a week, I am far from an expert on the country. But there are some things I noticed from…
Heraklion is the capital and largest city of the Greek island of Crete, and Greece’s fifth or so (depending on metric) most populous city at around 150,000. For tourists, however, the city is pretty much a blank spot. Yes, some will fly in and spend a day (or cruise in) and then head to Chania…
Editor’s note: another Azorean island look from Morgan, our resident geology buff. Sao Jorge does indeed seem beautiful, remote, and a great way to get off the beaten path, if you’re into that sort of thing. For more of Morgan’s writing, be sure to click here to visit her index page. When Azoreans heard me…
Lunch at Heraklion’s A Little Wine, A Little Sea on my first day here on the Greek island of Crete. It’s a cute restaurant facing the city’s Venetian harbor and fortress, serving up seafood and some Greek staples. After a fried fish platter for one that could easily have fed three, piled high with fried…
I love being surprised by a destination. When I planned out my itinerary for Greece, Crete - and Heraklion in particular - was on my radar for its Minoan history. (You can read about that here.) The palace-cities of Knossos and Phaistos marked the Golden Age of Crete way back in the Bronze Age. But…