Tag: Europe
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Spring Blooms & Strudel: A Day Trip to Innsbruck, Austria
The mountains were snow-capped, yet flowers were emerging when Shawn and I made an early-spring day trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Shawn and I had been cooped up for much of the winter, so once we got to Innsbruck, we opted to stay outside as much as possible to soak up the sunshine. We strolled Innsbruck’s…
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Creating Handmade, Italian Marbled Paper in Florence, Italy
The art of paper marbling is mesmerizing. An artisan applies droplets of paint to a small pool of water. The colors appear to gracefully dance upon the surface of the water, but these individual splotches of paint respect the neighboring colors’ boundaries. As the artisan adds more and more colors, this dance continues. Finally, when…
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Komiža, Vis: Savoring the Off-Season Charms of One of Croatia’s Most Remote Islands
The enchanting Croatian island of Vis has had many identities over the last few thousand years. For a time, it was an ancient Greek colony known as Issa. Then, from the 1950s until the 1980s, Vis was a secret Yugoslavian naval base that was off-limits to foreigners. From there, tourists — and filmmakers — started…
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The Art of Florentine Marquetry: Watching Italian Mosaicists “Painting with Stones”
The arts have long flourished in Florence — the so-called “cradle of the Renaissance.” Hundreds of years ago, there were tens of thousands of artisans in the city, each dedicated to everything from leather goods and hand-decorated paper to jewelry making. Over time, the number of workshops has declined. Nevertheless, Florence still has a sizable…
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Portugal’s Alluring Azulejos
Portugal is a feast for both the stomach and the eyes. It’s a land of irresistible port wine, trayfuls of crispy and creamy pasteis de nata (custard tarts), and buildings adorned with colorful ceramic tiles called azulejos. When you visit Portugal, you’ll spot azulejos on the outsides and insides of many different types of buildings,…
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Photo du Jour: A “Stunt Squirrel” Takes on a Croatian Forest
A red squirrel pauses after doing some death-defying moves in the evergreen treetops of Makarska, Croatia. This “stunt squirrel” — with impressive nails and fabulously furry ears, I might add — lives on the Sveti Petar Peninsula, a forested area that overlooks the Adriatic Sea. When I took this picture earlier this year, I was…
