Category Archives: Europe

Apr8

The Heights of Tirano

Posted on by
The Heights of Tirano
The Heights of Tirano

With a few hours to spare after my visit to the Basilica, I spotted a pair of travelers toiling up the mountainside. I determined to track the same path skyward, towards the minute stony structure perched up there in the hills.

The journey delighted at least as much as the destination: over a sprawling river by bridge, threading my way through vineyards, and emerging at last into the sparkling air.

The nearer I advanced, the more the stony church in the sky grew in size — while down below the Basilica shrank.

Read the rest of this entry →
Apr7

Touring Tirano

Posted on by
Touring Tirano
Touring Tirano

A modest town in the shadow of the Alps: Tirano attracts visitors, one must admit, mainly because there the Bernina Express terminates.

An afternoon spent exploring the surrounds did not disappoint, however. One main restaurant manfully acts as the tourism center: steps from the train station, it promises hot meals prepared fast all day (“no break in the afternoon!” – a marketing strategy revealing of the local customs), plus luggage storage and, naturally, wi-fi.

I dropped off my backpack and turned my steps towards the town’s true attraction: la Basilica Madonna di Tirano, a church founded more than half a millennium ago.

Read the rest of this entry →
Apr5

Morning in Milan

Posted on by
Morning in Milan
Morning in Milan

You must see the Castello, the hotel receptionist said, shaking his head sorrowfully. You can’t come to Milan without seeing the Castello.

The cultural contrast after crossing the Alps struck me forcefully at moments like this. In Liechtenstein’s little corner between Switzerland and Austria, a restaurant dinner cost triple (10 EUR, say, for a plate of pasta in Tirano — 30 CHF if you were lucky at a sit-down restaurant in Liechtenstein). On the other hand, the sun-swept cities of Italy couldn’t quite match, it must be admitted, that same sparkle of care and cleanliness.

Above all, the German-speaking staff had regarded me with polite distance, making themselves more invisible than not. In Milan, my newfound friend fetched out a map and planned my itinerary, suggesting enough sites to occupy me for several days.

The next morning, after I tore myself away from Il Duomo, I went to see the Castello.

Read the rest of this entry →
Apr4

Milan’s Marvel

Posted on by
Milan’s Marvel
Milan’s Marvel

The Bernina Express deposited me in northern Italy, where a bevy of airports offered flights back to London.

Some internet sleuthing decided me on Milan, a city too glorious for the meagre half day my itinerary afforded it — but too marvelous to pass up the chance of visiting either, however brief.

I determined to brush off my Italian and attend an early mass at the Duomo, Milan’s crown jewel: a Gothic cathedral of dazzling proportions.

Read the rest of this entry →
Apr1

Hiking to Triesenberg

Posted on by
Hiking to Triesenberg
Hiking to Triesenberg

Yes, I thought to myself, gazing from rows of wooden-sided homes to the sheer blue drop below. This is where I would retire.

The tourism office had patiently instructed me the day before in the route for a morning hike.

I would tackle a fraction of the marked trail, which spanned the length of the country, for the intrepid and committed. My jaunt would cover a single leg, from the town center up into the mountains.

Forests, views, something of everything, he promised me.

Read the rest of this entry →
Mar31

Oxford Blooms

Posted on by
Oxford Blooms
Oxford Blooms

England may deserve its reputation for dreary weather, but it makes up for dismal winters with its slow-dawning, always charming, long-lasting spring.

The first blooms emerged this year in January (January!): dainty drooping snowdrops, too shy to raise their heads. Vibrant crocus followed, in pools of purples and pinks.

Then daffodils took the city by storm.

Read the rest of this entry →
Mar22

Dining in Vaduz

Posted on by
Dining in Vaduz
Dining in Vaduz

When I happen on a fabulous establishment accepting reservations for one, I treat myself to a set menu.

If the chef himself has selected your courses, the experience combines all the charm of surprise with the certainty of excellence.

In Vaduz, the finest hotel invites guests to the restaurant Marée, where the waiters greeted me with the warmth of long-time friends. Neither did the menu disappoint.

Read the rest of this entry →
Mar21

Welcome to Liechtenstein

Posted on by
Welcome to Liechtenstein
Welcome to Liechtenstein

Today commenced a new venture into continental Europe, the next phase in my ambitions to soak in the Alps. Farewelling friends in Rome, I braced myself for an overnight bus ride spanning three separate legs and twenty hours of travel time. If I wanted to save on my voyage to one of Europe’s most diminutive nations, I would undergo the punishment at the outset of the trip, then rest myself in the mountains.

Once Friday morning dawned, the winding bus ride graced us with spectacular views of the peaks, most white-capped and gleaming with the chill indigo unique to alpine atmospherics.

Read the rest of this entry →
Jan17

Castle-gazing in Sintra, Portugal

Posted on by
Castle-gazing in Sintra, Portugal
Castle-gazing in Sintra, Portugal

Stepping outside the terminal in Lisbon, I noticed first the sunlight. Late afternoon, clear and creamy, it shafted between buildings and spilled all over the station platform. I had almost forgotten what I was missing back in England. If I stood on tiptoe, I could spot the sea peeking on the horizon. Europe, but shading nearer my island home of the past two years — I prayed in fervent gratitude for a long weekend in a new land.

After two solid months of fifteen, sometimes twenty hour days, zooming back and forth by bike between my home outside the city to the university center, I had determined to prioritize resting on this trip. To make good on this resolve, I booked a room outside the capital, in a little town most tourists counted worthy of a day trip, for three nights of absorbing its beauties at a tranquil pace.

Read the rest of this entry →
Sep4

the golden apples grow: Sightseeing in Rome

Posted on by
the golden apples grow: Sightseeing in Rome
the golden apples grow: Sightseeing in Rome

originally published June 9, 2022

Read Part IV: Conference in Rome

Gabrielle and I had talked all year of her visiting me in England, but in the last-minute rush to finagle my quarantine-free entry to the conference, she obliged me by redirecting to Rome. Joy squeezed my heart at the sight of her – a little piece of home, arriving in a blaze of sunlight. Five days of freedom beckoned, a generous allowance for exploring the city at our leisure.

Read the rest of this entry →
Aug29

with bell and voice and drum: Conference in Rome

Posted on by
with bell and voice and drum: Conference in Rome
with bell and voice and drum: Conference in Rome

originally published May 25, 2022

Read Part III: Winchester and Theale

A solid six weeks without traveling (what a relief after the past two months!) has afforded me the leisure to revisit my international summer of 2021. I left off at the end of my time in Oxford, dashing home to the USA for fourteen days to clear my travel history so that I could disembark freely in Rome, the eternal city.

For my first visit to continental Europe since childhood (excepting the European areas of Turkey), I must thank a Christian conference for inviting me to a week of talks, fellowship, and scavenger hunts.

Read the rest of this entry →
Aug10

among sandy gardens set: Winchester and Theale

Posted on by
among sandy gardens set: Winchester and Theale

originally published January 19, 2022

Read Part II: Wales, York, Edinburgh

A slick black engine shot me from York to London in two, maybe three hours, followed by a more sedate connection to Oxford. I alighted on the first morning of the Awakening conference, the Canterbury Institute’s pilot program for high school students on the verge of university studies.

Canterbury boarded me at St Edmund’s, a college I had yet to explore, and engaged me for two days in such fabulous sessions as, “What is the purpose of a university education?” and “What is the meaning of life?” One-on-one tutorials in law and classics (the participants’ chosen areas of interest) gave the program its backbone. With only two students attended by about a dozen graduate students, I suspect the conference staff relished the event even more than our guests did.

Read the rest of this entry →
Jul26

eastern cities, miles about: Wales, York, Edinburgh

Posted on by
eastern cities, miles about: Wales, York, Edinburgh

originally published January 6, 2022

Read Part I: London and the Isle of Wight

After ten months of bouncing between the cosmopolitan worlds of Oxford and London, I was overdue for an encounter with the British parts of Britain.

The family in Wales not only adopted me for the week, but embraced tour guiding for their corner of the island. Don’t go to Cardiff, they advised, so I took the train to Bath for the day instead. You can’t visit Abergavenny without “walking” up the Sugar Loaf, I learned, so they drove me there themselves.

Best of all, they unleashed me on three children and a library of picture books – in English and Welsh!

Read the rest of this entry →