Category: Euro Trips

Detroit is a funny place.  It has a terrible reputation for its economic situation.  On top of that it is always at the top of the wrong lists, such as crime and murder rates across America.  Growing up in the Detroit area you turn a blind eye to these problems and enjoy amazing Greek food.  Im not sure what the initial catalyst was, but there is a huge Greek population in Detroit.  So much so that Detroit has a “Greek Town”, which is a neighborhood in downtown Detroit where you are surrounded by Greek restaurants, bakeries, and now Greek Town Casino.  As a family we would regularly venture to downtown Detroit (with our windows and doors locked) to satisfy our Greek food addiction.  It was a great experience going into these restaurants.  Giant flaming saganaki cheese plates warmed your face as a nearby waiter would yell a loud  “OPAAA!!”  The ceilings in these restaurants Continue reading “Heaven? – A Trip to Santorini”

I found a new love in traveling…. Trains.  Let me count the ways:

1. Easy on and off compared to Airports – No rubber gloves 🙂
2. Relaxed enviornment on the train compared to planes – Especially if you pay a little extra for a quiet car 😉
3. Smooth ride with the ability to enjoy the countryside of the country that you are traveling in.
4. Speed – This AVE train from Seville to Madrid made it in less than 2.5 hours, where driving would take over 5 hours!!!
5. City Center to City Center traveling.  Eliminating airport transfers makes a huge difference in the amount of time to be enjoyed in your destination.

I had heard that trains were the way to go in Europe, but after this 3rd train ride in Europe it became glaringly clear.  With the time spent getting to the airport and getting through everything,  the time advantage for flying is shrinking more and more it seems.

Needless to say we arrived in Madrid in Continue reading “Super Fast AVE Train to Madrid Spain”

Growing up I remember my dad having a joke that he was whispering to my grandparents.  He was whispering so that my brothers and I couldn’t hear what the joke was about.  My dad (we call him Pop.. might be a mid western thing ) didn’t realize that I have super hero hearing and heard most of the joke.  At the time I was around 8, so I didn’t really get the whole joke, but it was about bulls, matadors, and meatballs.  A man repeated a restaurant Continue reading “An Introduction to Tapas in Seville Spain”

Cassis isn’t a typical town that comes to mind when folks talk about Southern France.   When you have Nice, St. Tropez, and Cannes as neighbors its probably tough to get some attention.  We actually liked Cassis better than all those towns.  We found out about it from one of my San Diego friends that is married to a French girl.  Also it turns out that Rick Steve’s talks a bit about it as well in one of his France tour guides.  We really enjoyed how the town didn’t have any type of touristy vibe to it, but had a lot to offer.  One of the days we Continue reading “Cassis France – Southern France Surprise”

We headed to Provence after a few days in Nice and Monaco.  Again this is a very late post in that this trip was back in the Spring of 2012.  In an attempt to catch up on a lot of posts Im going to have to be light on the writing.  More details in the captions of pictures :).  So all I can say is that Provence was like Sonoma/Napa on steroids.  There just seemed to be so much more depth to the wine experience here in comparison.  There are a lot of different factors that played a role in this including the scenery, food quality, interactions with wineries, and just overall vibe.  Not to mention the wine is pretty outstanding as well! Continue reading “Provence France – Wine Paradise”

When I think of Monaco I picture James Bond.  007 just sitting at the casino ordering a shaken martini, with his Aston Martin waiting outside.  Im happy to report that its pretty much true…. if you use your imagination a bit.  The casino and the cars are definitely there.  You just have to replace a few of the Hawaiian shirt casino visitors with some GQ clad players.

Speaking of high class, Jess and I arrived in Monaco via bus. 🙂 .  But I have Continue reading “Monaco”

This is sad, but this trip was actually back in early June.  I have been lacking in the writing category… big time.   Luckily its partly a happy problem of traveling, but its also that I have run into a lack of focus for the blog.  I have been thinking too much about the direction of the blog.

Anyways enough about all of that.   I figured a good way to get back in the Continue reading “Nice France”