Category Archives: Architecture It’s hard to imagine how the Wachau Valley could be any prettier! “The Wachau” is the name given the narrow gorge where the Danube River runs between the Bohemian Massif on the northwest, and the Dunkelsteiner Woods to the southeast. For roughly fourty kilometres between the Lower Austrian cities of Melk and Krems, the hilltops are dotted with castle ruins and the hillsides are covered […]  It was Day Five of our canal-boat cruise down the Danube River: Early in the morning, our boat docked in the tiny city of Melk (population: 5,257) in Austria. Melk is is best known for it’s magnificent Benedictine abbey, first established in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria, gave one of his castles to a group of Benedictine monks. Newer […]  Lucerne has history. Of course, every place has a history. But – as is the case across Europe – so much of Lucerne’s history is still present in the wood, the stones, and the brickwork of the Old City. Lucerne also has scenery: sitting on Lake Lucerne where the Reuss runs into it, and surrounded by mountains – including Rigi and Pilatus – Lucerne […]  I had a map and a plan. Turns out, I needn’t have bothered! We were headed into Đà Nẵng for a February afternoon, and I had done my homework. But, as soon as my husband and I alighted from our resort shuttle bus, we were greeted by a smiling pedicab driver who cheerfully persuaded us we […]  My husband was born in Passau, Germany. Or, so they tell him; he doesn’t actually remember. It is named as his birthplace on his papers, which always causes some consternation at border-crossings, because he has a Hungarian name and an American passport. His parents escaped from Hungary after the Soviet Red Army invaded in September 1944. Some years later, when my husband was five, they emigrated to the USA with […] |
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