Downtown Knoxville.
Since our journey from Berlin to Knoxville was exhausting, Sunday morning was declared a day for sleeping in and then leisurely exploring the downtown part of Knoxville. Of course, even that involved a...
View ArticleLookout Mountain Incline Railway.
During our week-long stay in Tennessee in March, my parents took M. and I on an overnight trip to Chattanooga, located a couple hours by car from Knoxville. On the afternoon of the day we arrived, we...
View ArticleThe Gatlinburg Simulacra
Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is one of those towns that really should have nothing going for it. However, its advantageous position just next to Great Smoky Mountains National Park has unintentionally made...
View ArticleGera: Die Ranch
Back in May, M. and I traveled with his mother and her husband to the town of Gera, located 2.5 hours southwest by car. His cousin was getting married, and since it was a holiday weekend, we opted to...
View ArticleBirthday in Warsaw
I have always loved birthdays, be they mine or someone else’s, because it’s important to feel special every once in awhile, and why not on the day you were born? However, since moving abroad,...
View ArticleLisbon: Moscavide
On our first weekend in Portugal, we found ourselves in Loures, a civil parish located in the greater Lisbon area. It wasn’t a place that was on our radar, but we came across it after spending some...
View ArticleSintra: Sintra National Palace
When we went to Portugal last month, we didn’t spend much time planning our itinerary. This is contrary to my normal way of vacationing, where I have everything figured out ahead of time (e.g. on our...
View ArticleSintra: Castle of the Moors
After we visited Sintra National Palace, the next stop on our list was the Castle of the Moors. Built in the 8th or 9th century, the castle now only consists of ruins, though there are efforts to...
View ArticleSintra: Pena National Palace
During our day in Sintra, once we had visited Sintra National Palace and the Castle of the Moors, our next stop was Pena National Palace, located just up the hill from the castle. Note that when I say...
View ArticleWarsaw: Old Town
When I first announced that I was spending my birthday in Warsaw this year, the reaction from a lot of people (including Polish friends) was that Warsaw is an ugly city. And in some sense, it is. The...
View ArticleBraga: City Center
During our week in the north of Portugal, we got a pretty good feel for Porto, and so once we saw most of what we were interested in there, I suggested we take a day trip to another city on our last...
View ArticleBraga: City of Churches
“Porto works, Braga prays, Coimbra studies, and Lisbon gets the money.” …so goes the saying in Portugal about these major cities… and first impressions tell me that these generalizations are correct. A...
View ArticleLagos: Relaxing in the Algarve
After spending a couple weeks exploring the big cities of Lisbon and Porto, we wanted to have a relaxing few days on the coast, so we made our way down to Lagos, a tiny little town in the Algarve...
View ArticleNashville: The Wild Cow
While visiting my parents in Tennessee over Thanksgiving, we took a handful of day trips, one of which was to Nashville, and as the resident vegan, I was given free reign in picking the places we’d...
View Article2014 Favorite Travel Memories
For us, 2014 was a year of (mostly) slower travel. We planned less than before, we were more flexible with what we saw (and not disappointed that we didn’t see everything), we spent more time walking,...
View ArticleLisbon: Azulejos I
It hasn’t even been a year since we were in Portugal, but already I’m missing the country fiercely. The warm weather, the friendly people, the gorgeous landscapes, and the beautiful azulejos. Azulejos...
View ArticleGrimnitzsee Getaway
Two weekends ago, we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. For the occasion, we wanted to take a small trip for an extended weekend, so we…
View ArticleTOILETPAPER at Galerie Blanc
While walking through Gay Village in Montreal, we came across an outdoor art gallery, which turned out to be Galerie Blanc. I knew nothing about…
View ArticleAlbany Tulip Festival
Every Spring, the city of Albany (which is the capital of New York, a fact many don’t know) hosts a tulip festival. The week we…
View ArticleA Sucker for Succulents
It feels like our vacation to Canada was only a month ago, when in reality it was four months ago. Today in Berlin, it’s been…
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