Europe By Train #9: Venice: Through Her Back Door

We all have our public and private faces. So does that very grande dame Venice. Venezia. Everyone knows her canals, bridges, and palazzi. San Marco… And the gondolieri with their blue-and-white striped T-shirts… Her grand churches… But we have been lucky enough to spend time in her “backwaters” of Castello, a former ship-building center nearer … Read more

Europe By Train #4: Amsterdam: Going Our Own Way

Amsterdam is a city on the move. Mainly on bikes.  A population going to and fro. Straight-backed, with easy panache on bicycles of every color and configuration. Women in summer dresses. Or sleeveless sheaths and high heels. Riding their bikes one-handed with baskets of flowers, panniers of groceries, a bottle of wine. Or children in … Read more