Dubrovnik is delightful, an amazing walled city with much to offer the traveler, so I suggest staying for at least a few days. It has become well known recently due to the filming of the show Game of Thrones here, which I haven’t seen, but you can take theme related tours if that’s your thing. Best advice – go in May or September, as June, July and August get super busy and hot, and also, get going early in the day before the...

Renting a car in Croatia is one of the best ways to see the countryside and get around. The roads are good, and directions are easy to follow. My friend Beth and I drove from Plitvice Lakes National Park a couple of hours down to the small city of Zadar, which is near another national park called Krka (yes, that’s how it’s spelled, although it may seem to us English speakers to be missing a vowel or two). Zadar is filled with...

Plitvice Lakes is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It is one of Croatia’s 8 national parks, a series of 16 stunning turquoise lakes strung together by a series of cascading waterfalls. The colors of the water are reminiscent of jewels – aquamarine, blue topaz, emeralds and sapphires. Plitvice Lakes is the largest of Croatia’s national parks, as well as the oldest, and it’s included in the UNESCO...

Welcome to Croatia, one of my new favorite countries, and its Capitol, Zagreb. Zagreb is a gateway into a country full of beautiful scenery, interesting history, and kind people. It’s a great mix of old and new, including old peeling walls… …beautiful churches… …and a bustling square. Art appears everywhere, spilling out into the streets… …and great graffiti graces the walls. It’s also a city full...

Kyoto is a city of contrasts – modern buildings and very old temples, the latest fashions and traditional kimonos. It’s the kind of place I envision when I think of Japan. My first morning in Kyoto, I navigated the train system to get to Fushimi Inari, the temple of 10,000 gates (which should also be called the temple of a million steps!). It sits at the base of a mountain with thousands of giant red gates all in a long row snaking...