Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, December 2020
Bath’s ancient Roman baths, now a museum. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite memories from one of my favorite English cities — a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

Paul runs the Star Inn, the most characteristic pub in the historic spa town of Bath (two hours west of London). He keeps a tin of complimentary snuff tobacco on a ledge for customers. I try some,...

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Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, December 2020
Leave it to cleaver. Photo by Rick Steves

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite European memories. And, like so many, it involves eating in Italy — a reminder of the delicious experiences that await us at the other end of this crisis.

Spending a month in Italy, the thought of eating anything other than Italian food never occurs to me. Other than France, I doubt there’s another country in...

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Rick Steves' Europe
This article appears in our Print Edition, December 2020 -- Page 26
Aerial view over the historic center of Edinburgh, Scotland, from Calton Hill. Photo: Dreamstime/TNS

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe an occasional dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here are a few of my favorite European memories — a fun reminder of all the tasty treats that await us at the other end of this crisis.

My palate has come a long way from my early “Europe through the gutter” days, back when my travel diet consisted of cheap baguettes spread with peanut butter and strawberry jam packed from...

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Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, November 2020
A gate in Tangier’s old town. Photo by Rick Steves

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite memories from Morocco — a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

As I stand on the bow of my ferry, the Rock of Gibraltar disappears in the mist behind me, while the fabled Pillars of Hercules marking Africa appear ahead of me. I enjoy the thought that you encounter more cultural change...

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Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, November 2020
Nazaré hugs its wide beach on the Atlantic. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite memories from Portugal — a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

Settling into a grungy fishermen’s bar in the beach town of Nazaré (two hours north of Lisbon), I order a plate of barnacles. Yes, barnacles — called percebes here. My waiter is happy to demonstrate how to eat...

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Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, November 2020
The wide sidewalks of the Champs-Elysées invite strolling. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite memories from Paris — a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

I have a ritual when in Paris. I ask my cabbie to take me around the Arc de Triomphe two times, then drop me off to stroll down the city’s grand boulevard, the Champs-Elysées.

We plunge into the grand traffic...

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Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, November 2020
"The gondoliers, they get the girls." Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite memories from Italy — a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

While Italian men are hopelessly macho, Italian women are strong in response. It’s a social dance that is fascinating to observe, as I did one evening in Venice. I was dining with my Venetian friend Piero.

...

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Rick Steves' Europe Supplemental
This article appears in our Online Edition, November 2020
Have a chin-wag (chat) with the English. Photo by Rick Steves

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. These thoughts about communicating on the road in Britain are a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

Oscar Wilde famously said that the English “have really everything in common with America nowadays — except, of course, language.” It’s still true. A trip to Britain comes with plenty of linguistic...

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