We have met many Dutch travelers over the past year, and after hearing their stories we were happy to discover that the cheapest way back to America is through Holland. A little wrinkle is that we will land in Toronto, not the US, but close enough.
We spent our last overseas weekend hanging out in a beautiful city. Between the tree lined canals, countless old churches, row houses, cafes, and the start of the fall foliage it was impossible not to be charmed by the city. We went on the …

After the traditional ferry crossing to Morocco and a two hour time change, we landed in Tangier. We stayed here just for a day before jumping on the train to Fez. We walked our feet off around the old medina and kasbah. We walked towards the new town and dipped our toes in the Mediterranean and took in views of Spanish coast from the other side. The time change, skipping breakfast, and the trouble locating the rental car return had thrown our eating schedule off, so at four o’clock or …

After a marathon of ferries, we still had trips on a train and city bus to reach our final destination. We found a farmhouse outside the city of Perugia that is now a hostel. The place is super nice and has great views of the rolling hills. They have decided to maintain a little of the farm atmosphere, complete with a few horses, geese, ducks, chickens, a dog, and of course you can’t keep the farm cats away. These cats were huge, we wondered if one of them was half …

An old capital of Egypt, the ancient city of Thebes is our next stop. These days the city is known by its Arabic name, Luxor, but it still holds some amazing ancient ruins. The 300 mile journey from Cairo gave us another chance to take an overnight train. This time we even had a dining car, but the outrageously priced cup of Nescafe kept us from getting too excited. The train arrived early in the morning, we found a hotel, and set out to see some temples right away.
The …

That was our first thought when we landed in Kolkata. The airport was built in the 1930s and it appears that little has changed. No computers at immigration, customs was a joke, no ATMs anywhere, and once you step outside you find a fleet of yellow taxis made circa 1950, lovingly called Ambassadors.
The drive to our hotel revealed the modern side, complete with neon lights. The whole city is an interesting mix of old and new. Many colonial buildings remain but most in dismal shape with vegetation growing from …