Croatia: Dubrovnik, the pearl of the Adriatic
Estonia: a frightening experience in Tallinn’s KUMU museum
Japan: Endless views of Mt. Fuji
Japan: Adachi Museum of Art near Matsue
Japan: Totorri sand dunes
Japan: Sapporo to Nagano on the Twilight Express sleeper
Japan: How to get to the Snow Monkeys
Japan: A visit to see the Snow Monkeys!
Japan: Asahikawa’s Ice Festival
Japan: Otaru’s lights and lanterns
Japan: Sapporo’s 62nd Snow Festival
Japan: Tokyo to Sapporo with the Hokutosei sleeper train
Japan: Incense as a game
Culture»
Croatia: Dubrovnik, the pearl of the Adriatic (0)
If you are in a hurry, you can see Dubrovnik in 30 minutes and check it off your UNESCO World Heritage sites on top of that. That’s how long it takes to walk at a leisurely pace the 400 meters of its main street, the Stradun, from the Pile to the Ploce city gates – [...]
Destinations»
Japan: Endless views of Mt. Fuji (8)
Fuji-san (as the Japanese reverently refer to their iconic highest mountain) is like a little child – it demands attention: I am here, I want you to look at me, pay attention to me, to my moods, to my cloud hat, to the sun’s rays as they caress my cake-frosting top, to the wind as [...]
Events»
Japan: A visit to see the Snow Monkeys! (10)
When the baby monkey gazed up at me from the safe folds of her mother’s warm embrace, well, who wouldn’t melt? Ever since seeing a report on TV about the red-faced Macaque monkeys enjoying the natural volcanic hot springs near Nagano, I had wanted to visit them. And now I was here, communing mutely with [...]
Food and drink»
Japan: Delicious white strawberries! (1)
Ever on the lookout for new gourmet taste sensations, I found these white strawberries in Tokyo’s famous wholesale Tsukiji food market. Beautifully packaged, as they should be for the price of 800 Yen for 6 strawberries in early February (that’s about $10 or 8 Euro). Amazingly, they really tasted like strawberries, as did the red [...]
Gardens, Parks, Nature»
Japan: Tokyo’s Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (1)
It was a perfect early Spring day: sunshine and temperatures of about 10 degrees. Time to stroll through one of Tokyo’s largest city center parks. The early narcissus were in full bloom under the still barren cherry tree branches, attracting avid photographers. Also out were early Ume (plum) blossoms, which attracted some cute green finches. [...]
Observations»
Bangkok to Penang: 24 hour International Express Train (14)
Nowadays, the internet is the source of instant information and this is especially true for travel news. I forget how I found www.seat61.com but in no time, I was intrigued by the very detailed account of how to get from Bangkok to Butterworth, which is the railway station to get to Georgetown on Penang Island [...]
Travel tips»
Japan: Tokyo to Sapporo with the Hokutosei sleeper train (1)
For holders of the JR Railpass, this is a good option to get from Tokyo to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. The Hokutosei is a tokkyu limited sleeper express and leaves at 7 p.m. from Ueno Station, arriving the next morning at 11:15 a.m. in Sapporo. That is about 17 hours, but there [...]
Entries(RSS)