Turin is one of Italy’s best and most unexpected cities. Located at the foot of the Alps and packed with parks and tree-lined boulevards, this isn’t hot, touristy Italy. This is a thriving city with food, culture, style, shopping, and outdoor activities galore. In Turin, you’ll feel like you’re inContinue Reading

For a town of only 160,000 people, Salzburg is a cultural star. A UNESCO world heritage city, this Austrian gem offers music, festivals, art, beer, food, history, architecture and so much more. Just a short trip across the German border, Salzburg also is nestled next to the Austrian Alps. MozartContinue Reading

Maastricht is special. It’s the oldest city in the Netherlands (settled around 50 BC), yet in many ways feels like the newest. Maastricht is vibrant, historic, creative, international, and easier to navigate than Amsterdam or Rotterdam. The city has brilliant restaurants, bars, museums, shops, and even a rubber ducky store.Continue Reading

Germans love Christmas Cookies so much that they designated an entire word to it: “Plätzchen.“ This means if you’re looking for cookies anytime between January and October, they’re “Kekse” but as soon as the first lights are put up, they will all be replaced by the seasonal “Plätzchen”. Yes, evenContinue Reading

Oppenheim is a place of wine and water, a small town on the banks of the Rhine where the circle of life is very much present. It is a place where you can get back to basics. Travelers can stroll past gorgeous buildings, wander sprawling vineyards, and emerge from aContinue Reading

by Ronnie Juhans Photo by Jag_cz/shutterstock.com For my fellow hikers who enjoyed the great outdoors trekking during the warmer months of the year, there is no need to put away those boots and let Old Man Winter keep you indoors until spring of next year. Winter hiking and snowshoeing areContinue Reading

Vienna, Austria’s largest city and capital, is not only rich in culture, art and history, but also in food. The gorgeous city is home to people from a variety of cultures and nationalities, so you’ll find anything from Belgian fries, hearty Hungarian cuisine or seafood to a more traditionally AustrianContinue Reading

The American love affair with pumpkins is well documented. On the other side of the Atlantic, autumn is the season in which decorative gourds pop to life all across the country. Coffee shops fill with pumpkin spice lattés. Kitchens everywhere give off the delicious aroma of pumpkin pie or pumpkinContinue Reading

Ingredients for 4 people Slightly more than 1 pound of strawber- ries, washed and quartered 4 whole mint leaves washed 4 mint leaves finely sliced 10 tablespoons sugar 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 250 grams mascarpone 4 tablespoons milk 4 tablespoons lime juice Mix 4 tablespoons sugar with balsamic vinegar. MarinateContinue Reading