Europe String

Some of my favorite posts on Europe String from April:

I declared my love for my Sigg water bottle, which travels with me everywhere I go.

I reviewed Air Berlin, now one of my favorite low-cost airlines in Europe.

A giant snowman predicted the weather in Zurich.

Red and green beer is the thing to drink in Berlin.

I loved this fountain in Nuremberg.

Asparagus season came to Germany.

Chocolat receives my praise as the best gelato in Milan.

And on my other blogs (Veggie Chic and This non-American Life)… I visited a great (vegetarian) restaurant and a fun bar in Berlin. Plus I managed to procure a …read more

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Another fabulous trip! We squeezed in too much for 8 days, but it was all wonderful. Tuscany was definitely a highlight. Here’s a photo from one evening in Montepulciano, but it doesn’t begin to do justice to the beauty of the actual scene.

More about our trip in the coming weeks!
Photo source: personal collection.

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And wooden shoes, and giant wheels of cheese… sometimes I’m almost shocked when confronted with stereotypical cultural icons in a country. Like part of me expects them not to really exist or something, except in a synthetic format marketed to tourists. And yes, there’s plenty of that in the Netherlands, too.
But it is possible to see glimpses of the real thing as a tourist, even though the presence of a whole lot of other tourists might make the experience seem less authentic. For example, the Kinderdijk area is the perfect place to see good old-fashioned Dutch windmills. This UNESCO World …read more

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Germany’s Baden-Württemberg celebrates asparagus season.

A budget deal to Iceland.

Does this video remind you of any travel experiences?

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Visitors to the German-speaking world this time of year might wonder about all the signs advertising Spargel that they will inevitably see. White asparagus is revered and celebrated here like you wouldn’t believe. Some market stands (such as this one) are exclusively dedicated to selling the spears, and many restaurants have special asparagus menus in the spring. There are even asparagus festivals. If you’re a fan of asparagus, you won’t want to miss springtime in Germany.
Photo credit: personal collection.

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Trips to Italy involve daily gelato for me (luckily for my wasteline, I was able to give up this habit when I actually lived in the country). There is excellent gelato to be had all over this country, and all over the city of Milan, but there’s one gelateria that’s so special it’s worth going a little out of your way for: Chocolat.
Chocolat is located near the Castello Sforzesco (at Via Boccaccio 9), and serves up some amazing stuff. As the name implies, the many chocolate flavors are their specialty, but really all the flavors are yummy (at least all …read more

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The city of Nuremberg, Germany, is full of great fountains, but the most entertaining one has to be the Ehekarussell, or Marriage Carousel. This giant fountain depicts various scenes from a “bitter-sweet married life” as described in a poem by Hans Sachs. I had a hard time finding any “sweet” scenes…

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A slideshow of scenes from beautiful Vienna.

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This week I am happily gallivanting around Italy, and I’m looking forward to using this trip as an excuse to unplug from the internet for a few days.
Thanks to the wonders of pre-scheduled posting, Europe String will still have plenty of new content this week, although you’ll have to wait until I return to hear about my Italy trip. Arrivederci!
Photo credit: personal collection.

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I’m proud to say my charming home city of Munich has been deemed Germany’s Hot Spot of the Moment by the New York Times. (Thanks to the 500 or so friends who sent me this article, by the way.)

This week’s big travel writing news involves a Lonely Planet writer’s scandalous confessions.

Some interesting thoughts about TripAdvisor’s neutrality (or lack thereof).

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