Category: Europe
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Trip Planning
I never felt comfortable giving advice on trip planning because I used to travel quite spontaneously and haphazardly. It didn’t matter so much when I’m traveling by myself without an end date in mind, but since I’ve returned to the real world, I’ve had to accept the fact that a time-limited adventure with travel companions can benefit…
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The Shop
We found the shop while searching for handmade chocolate sheep. Bruges was littered with chocolatiers, souvenir shops, and Christmas stores, with shiny and glittery things meticulously placed in well decorated display windows. I consider myself very lucky to have found this little gem amidst all that. The small door of the shop opening to the…
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Rant
Things the Madrid airport made me appreciate: Free airport wifi that works for more than 15 min Screens that show departure information for the next few hours, not just one hour Especially when some gates take 30 minutes and a train to get to Restaurant staff in the international terminal who speak English Or restaurant…
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Otto Frank
I hadn’t planned to visit the Anne Frank House, given my short time in town and the long queue around the block. But the weather was gloomy in Antwerp and I was back in Amsterdam earlier than expected. And as it turns out, Anne had been hiding just two blocks from my hotel. I didn’t…
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Gods in Ruins
I distinctively recall receiving my first copies of the Illiad and the Odyssey. The former was dark green and the latter a deep shade of maroon, both with simple line drawings of warriors on the cover. They were Chinese translated versions of course, and simplified for the young reader that I was. Of the two I preferred…
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The Not So Brilliant Colors of Santorini
We had high hopes for Santorini, the only island we were staying on this trip. Everyone’s seen the iconic photo of the Oia sunset, and for some reason we thought, you know, it was just an everyday thing. Nope. There is a reason why tourist seasons exist. It’s the time of the year where the…