Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick
If your time is worth anything (and I always assume my traveling readership has very valuable time), you must get a reservation to go up the Eiffel Tower. Here, looking down from the first level at the lines on the ground, it’s clear: Those who just show up waste lots of time. Those who follow their guidebook’s advice and book an entrance time in advance (it’s easy) scoot right in. Just be sure to reserve well ahead — in peak times (such as summer), slots can book up several weeks in advance. Spend five minutes booking it now, and save an hour or more in line next month.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
Many European cities have tried to become bike-friendly, and Paris is among the most successful. They have a very popular loaner bike system where thousands of city bikes are parked in hundreds of racks all over town, which locals use for quick little one-way hops. And bike tour companies are quite popular here. I took a tour one afternoon last month and rolled through slices of town I had yet to see. I loved this section: an open art gallery along a stretch of the Seine (just downstream from Notre-Dame) that has become a people zone — especially in the evening, when there’s music, dancing lessons, BBQs, and so on.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
I’m staying with Val and David Fisher, who run Howe Keld, my favorite B&B in Keswick — the best home-base town for exploring the Cumbrian Lake District in northern England. It occurred to me that a great B&B is great only when it’s run by hands-on owners…and there’s a lot of work they have to do behind the scenes. I surprised Val and David with my little camera during their busy time in the kitchen so that you can have a Back Door look at how the traditional Cumbrian Fry (breakfast) is cooked up. This hearty meal came in handy as the sun started to shine, kicking off a fabulous day of filming. We finished our TV show with all the sunny glory we had been waiting — and praying — for.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
Bacharach is a German town as cute as a Hansel-and-Gretel fantasy. The back lanes of this most delightful town on the Rhine take cuteness to Pixy Stix heights — with half-timbered homes reminding me of elves and a stream that babbles like a fairy tale. Then, I come upon a lurid peep show. I have to look.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
It’s been a rainy summer in Europe. I remember summers when I brought a jacket and sweater…and only wore them on the chilly, air-conditioned flight home. Not this year.
We’ve made nine new TV shows this year (that’s a record for us) and have been dogged by rain during several shoots. The shows end up fine, but it takes every waking minute to get things as bright and perky as possible.
When I’m not filming, I hardly care about the weather. As you’ll see in this video clip, while I was researching my Germany guidebook, the rain actually put me in an almost giddy mood. Join me on the Rhine River in my favorite little town of Bacharach one evening for a torrential rainstorm.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.