The Ghost Town That Wasn’t

We were in San Miguel de Allende, enjoying all the classic traits of a pretty Mexican town  – a gorgeous church dominating the skyline on the main plaza, colonial architecture with carved wooden doors and wrought-iron balconies, winding cobblestone streets, and quaint local markets where indigenous women sold traditional crafts. […]

From Tulum Trauma to San Miguel Magic

Our flight to Monterrey got cancelled again.  The first time, a year ago, we rebooked it for Mexico City, but this time airfare to León was cheap enough to make us consider going there… again. We had already taken the same flight a few years earlier and spent three wonderful […]

Mexican Chicago

Back in 2003, when I’d just arrived in Chicago, my first apartment was in Hermosa on the city’s northwest side. One evening, when I was in the back porch relaxing after a day of work, the street was suddenly filled with the sound of the revving engines. Motorcycles and cars […]

Go For Gözleme

The previous post about fish, bread, and never giving up on food dreams reminded me of something that happened two years ago, during a road trip from Izmir to Antalya in Türkiye. We left our Airbnb early in the morning, eager to start a long day of sightseeing, and skipped […]

Searching for Fish and Bread in Istanbul

Two years ago, when we did a road trip through southwest Türkiye, I kept looking for balık ekmek.  If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry.  Neither did I.  But Victor kept mentioning how he and his parents enjoyed a delicious balık ekmek in a restaurant by the Bosphorus […]

Surviving the Apocalypse in Türkiye

By Julia / October 26, 2023

After visiting the archeological treasures of Ephesus, one of the most famous and well-preserved ancient cities, in the morning, we were in the mood for something easy and delightful, with a bit of indulgently sweet on the side.  And so, a stop in the village of Şirince, just 8 kilometers […]

Welcome to Lycia!

By Julia / October 19, 2023

We visited Lycia, and I am here to tell you all about it.  If you are staring at a map, confused and bewildered, let me get you a little better situated.  Lycia is a maritime district of southwestern Anatolia and can be found on the Teke Peninsula, surrounded by the […]

Türkiye: The First Time

By Julia / October 5, 2023

The first time we ended up in Türkiye was back in the winter of 2013, and to be perfectly clear, we didn’t go to Türkiye, we went to Thailand for two weeks and had an overnight layover in Istanbul on our way back.  And so, Türkiye was an afterthought.  We […]

Small Towns, Big Problems

By Victor / September 28, 2023

Even before the pandemic, Europe had been seriously suffering from over-tourism, with masses of tourists visiting the most popular destinations at rates not seen before.  The pandemic didn’t ease the situation, and to some extent, even exacerbated the problem, causing people who’d skipped travel in the last 2-3 years to […]

The Unexpected India

By Victor / September 14, 2023

India was our best trip and our worst trip.  Nine years later, I’m still shocked that, while still being relatively new international travelers, we had enough courage to pick India as our second Asian country to visit. We wrote extensively about 16 unforgettable days in India that included, among other […]

Six Wonders of the World: Part II

By Julia / August 30, 2023

Start with Part I here for the Colosseum, Chichen Itza, and Taj Mahal. 4.  Christ the Redeemer By the time we visited Brazil in 2015, Christ the Redeemer was firmly established as one of the New Wonders of the World, and the tourists were certainly aware of it.  From our […]

Subscribe to receive our stories in your inbox

Loading