Travel

Rome, Part Due

Let's go back to Rome. There's so much to see and do in Rome, and you can't easily cover it all in a single article. In my previous Rome article, I covered the major landmarks in central Rome, located on the east bank of the Tiber River. Now we'll talk about the west bank. The Vatican is located here.Tiber River ...
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/ europe, italy, trip-italia-2011

A quick excursion to Italy’s Amalfi Coast

My blogging rate has slowed to a crawl. Sorry! Back to Italy...Italy's big cities of Rome, Venice, and Florence are excellent destinations for tourists. But the smaller towns are also amazing, in their own way. We tried to balance big and small on our trip.From our base in Rome, we took a day trip south to the Amalfi Coast. That ...
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/ trip-italia-2011

Rome: Ancient capital of the world

Wow, it has almost been a month since I visited Italy. Time to get the blog articles going! Rome was the first destination on our trip.  What a city!  So much history, so much culture. It's amazing to be able to visit and to take it all in. This was my second time to Rome; the experience was just as ...
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/ trip-italia-2011

Italia, here we come! Trip preview

Well, it's about that time - time to travel the world again! This trip's destination is Italy. I'm leaving later today. There's a nice-sized crew of us going - seven people, converging from Chicago, Detroit, and DC! Although I already went there in 2006, you can usually count on Italy for great culture, food, and weather.This trip will be another ...
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/ trip-italia-2011

Japan 2010 – Trip Overview

I just spent 11 marvelous days in Japan for vacation. It's a beautiful country, with lots of history, culture, and innovation. Japan and China are probably the two most influential nations in Asia. I'm glad to have the fortune of visiting both places.This trip was very memorable and rewarding. Lots of things to write about (and I'm not done yet) ...
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/ travel, trip-japan

Food in Japan, yum!

Japan is a land rich in culture. One cultural aspect that the Japanese are particularly proud of is their food. You are probably familiar with many Japanese foods already: ramen, sushi, tempura, teppenyaki, Kobe beef… It was a delight to taste the foods of Japan firsthand. And of course, I had to devote an entire blog article on food :)Japan ...
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/ travel, trip-japan

Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan

Now that Thanksgiving is behind me, I am ready to continue my blog thread on Japan. Today's article is on Kyoto. Kyoto is located in central Honshu (the big island in Japan), a three hour bullet train ride from Tokyo. We spent four days in the Kyoto area.Kyoto is the perfect foil to Tokyo. Maybe that's why they share the ...
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/ travel, trip-japan

Fashion in Japan

Japan's society is a fascinating blend of old and new. On one hand, Japan is rich in history and tradition. This Japan is polite, conservative, and full of rules to follow. On the other hand, modern Japan is full of creativity and innovation. This Japan is flamboyant and risk-taking, and it seems to crave the next new thing all the ...
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/ travel, trip-japan

Tokyo, modern metropolis

Tokyo is the largest city on the planet. It is the city of cities. There are over 35 million people in Tokyo Metropolis. This is almost twice the number (20 million) of the next most populous metropolitan areas (Seoul, Mexico City, New York City, Mumbai). As a resident of Chicago, I feel like I live in a big city. But ...
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/ travel, trip-japan

Ich bin ein Berliner

Berlin is Germany's capital and largest city. It's large, it's modern, it's sophisticated, it's multicultural. This was my first visit to Berlin. My impression was that Berlin is Germany's version of London or New York City. When I think of Berlin, I can't help but think about its role in 20th century history. Most recently, the Berlin Wall came down ...
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/ travel, trip-oktoberfest