Articles from this Category
September 26, 2018
Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe, second only to Russia in size, and shares borders with Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Transnistria (the nation that doesn’t exist). It’s a country with a long, complex, and turbulent history. The Eastern European nation is home to a plethora of beautiful places […]
September 21, 2018
Who could have guessed that there are so many things to do in Terceira? Our overnight flight landed us on this tiny island in the Azores just after sunrise. Expecting to be driven to our hotel for a short nap, we were surprised when Paulo, our guide suggested that we take advantage of the clear spring […]
August 31, 2018
My friends are envious of my “glamorous” life. I love being a travel writer, and my life is certainly filled with fun and adventure, but it’s hardly glamorous. It’s often difficult. I’m currently on a one-month trip taking me through Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Poland. I’ve been on planes, trains, buses, vans, trams, cars, […]
December 18, 2017
The Republic of Moldova is a fairly unfamiliar landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It has a long history of land fragmentation, including stints at being part of the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Romania, and the Ukrainian SSR. Per capita, Moldova has the poorest economy in Europe and is also the least visited country in […]
November 16, 2017
Transfagarasan road trip winds through the Fagaras Mountains of Romania, part of the Carpathian Mountain Range that connects Transylvania to Wallachia via a shocking series of white-knuckle hairpin turns and sharp descents. The 56-mile path climbs to an altitude of 6,699 feet, slinking past stunning outlooks of lakes, waterfalls, and a dam. After our initial […]
September 14, 2017
“They carry on as though they are part of the old USSR,” said Alex, our Moldovan guide from JayWay Travel. “Transnistria has repeatedly asked to join the Russian Federation.” Unrecognized by the United Nations or any other sovereign nation, Transnistrians couldn’t care less. In spite of being one of the poorest places in Europe, they […]
March 15, 2017
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from – or how you feel… There’s always peace in a strong cup of coffee.” ― Gabriel Bá, Coffee in the United States has become somewhat of pop culture. Get in line, order the most complicated, tongue-twisting combination of caffeine on the menu, and drink it from the paper cup […]
February 8, 2017
Full transparency: I’m not a foodie. I’m an adventure traveler. So when our JayWay tour guide said we were going to take a cooking class while traversing Macedonia, I was not thrilled. I anticipated boredom. I was wrong, very wrong. Lake Ohrid We started out from our hotel on glorious Lake Ohrid where we’d spent […]
January 5, 2017
Albanian wine is no stranger to Europe. Archeological evidence near the capital of Tirana indicates traces of tannic acid, which produces the bitter taste in wine, dates back to a 6,000-year viniculture, making Albania arguably the oldest winemaker in Europe. Albania, a small country bordering Greece on the Adriatic Sea, has four separate wine regions, […]
January 3, 2017
It’s no secret that the Greek Islands rank high on the list of “must-do” destinations. But which one to choose? Each island has its own magnetic charm, but I submit that the Corfu beaches and activities make it difficult for anyone to resist the Greek island’s pull. Corfu Island is the second-largest island in the […]