UnTours blog readers know that we like to talk about green travel in the ecological sense, but for St. Patrick’s Day, we are taking Green literally. Tourism Ireland’s fun Global Greening (#GlobalGreening) initiative invites public spaces, famous buildings, and historic landmarks around the globe to light up in green for St. Patrick’s Day. Iconic places like…
It doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, the Dutch get excited. This winter sustained cold temperatures froze some of Holland’s ubiquitous canals to solid, safe roads of ice. When this happens, the Dutch tie on their skates and take to the most natural of outdoor skating rinks. Our Dutch UnTours staffer Marlous sent…
It pains me to think that I spent more than half of my life laboring under the delusion that Swiss cheese had anything to do with those shrink wrapped plasticky yellow bricks from the supermarket dairy case. I fondly remember the first time I smelled apenzeller. After experiencing the smells of the cows and the…
From his mid 60s to the end of his life in his 80s, Henri Matisse worked in paper. After a long and illustrious art career as a painter, his move into this new art realm pushed modern art and design forward. He cut forms from brightly painted and colored paper and worked with gallery assistants…
We travel with our eyes, yes, but also with our ears. And some of our favorite places have distinct, unique sounds, sounds that take us back to our experiences there when we hear them. Perhaps no sound is quite as evocative of place as Swiss yodeling. While it is performed for pleasure and entertainment now…
Madrid is a spectacular city! Though we do not have an UnTour program there, some of our guests from our Spanish UnTours in Barcelona, Andalusia, and Cordoba make their way there for an overnight or two, to round out their experience of Spain. And for good reason! Madrid is a beautiful and fascinating place. That’s…
You’re stuck at home, right? No romantic getaways or imminent departures in sight. No one feels your pain more than we do. (Trust me on this one.) While we are all in a holding pattern for a return to Europe and some of the most romantic places in the world, we have some Valentine’s Day…
On the Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample district of Barcelona is quite possibly the most famous block in Spain. The Block of Discord is an architectural mishmash of ostentation and color. We’re looking at some of Barcelona’s most colorful architecture as we get ready for our upcoming Virtual Weekend in Barcelona and Madrid. Barcelona’s…
Tracy, who has been welcoming travelers to Tuscany for years, has a gift for sharing the region’s culinary traditions with warmth and authenticity. Eggplant (Melanzane) Parmigiana is not just a dish; it invites us to appreciate simple ingredients and their stories. Tracy shares her beloved recipe for this Tuscan classic—perfect for recreating a…
You might have heard of the Stendhal Syndrome, or the Florence Syndrome. You may have even experienced a mild case of it yourself. It is the feeling of being overwhelmed by too much art: too many beautiful paintings, sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, architectural wonders. It is a particular physical and mental response to art that was…