There are two types of Americans renting cars in Europe. The first type is relaxed. They booked something small, they’re excited, they’ve got a vague plan, and they assume it will work like it does at home. The second type is sweating in a fluorescent rental office, being asked if they want “extra protection,” watching …
Walk into a busy bar in Spain, look down, and you may recoil. The floor around the bar is littered with crumpled paper napkins, olive pits, toothpicks, the odd shrimp shell or two, maybe a torn sugar wrapper, all of it dropped carelessly where people are standing and drinking. Your first instinct, trained by a …
Limoncello is one of the simplest things you can make in a kitchen, and one of the hardest to rush. It has only four ingredients, lemons, alcohol, sugar, and water, and not one of them is difficult to find. What it asks for instead is time. The bright yellow liqueur they serve ice cold after …
A tomato farmer outside Bologna picks his summer crop having sprayed only what European rules allow, at the levels they allow, and his tomatoes reach the market carrying pesticide residues comfortably below Europe’s legal limits. That same farmer could not sell those tomatoes into the United States using the very same chemicals, and an American …
You arrive at a hotel in Rome or Madrid or Lisbon, tired out from the journey, and the receptionist asks for your passport. Not just to glance at, but to take away to the desk, where they tap at a keyboard or run it through a scanner while you stand there wondering, for a moment, …
Desserts are more than just a sweet ending to a meal they’re cultural icons, emotional comfort foods, and in many cases, a nation’s pride. From the flaky layers of baklava to the silky smoothness of crème brûlée, the world’s most beloved desserts each carry a unique story. Yet, many travelers find themselves surprised by how …
(And Why None of It Is Actually Weird in Korea) If you’ve never been to a Korean jjimjilbang (찜질방), prepare to leave your cultural expectations at the door—along with your clothes. These public bathhouses are not a quirky side attraction. In South Korea, they are a vital part of daily wellness and relaxation culture. Entire …
Some of the best food in the world is also the simplest, and there is no better proof than a plate of pasta al limone. This is the bright, silky lemon pasta of the Amalfi Coast, where the lemons grow the size of your fist and the cooking is built on letting a few perfect …
An American spending their first summer in Europe notices it within days and finds it slightly alarming. The windows are open. Everywhere, all the time, in the heat of summer, Europeans fling their windows wide and let the outside in, where an American would seal the house and crank the air conditioning. To the American, …
There is a whole category of Greek cooking built on the radical idea that a vegetable, cooked slowly and generously in olive oil, is not a side dish but the main event. The finest example may be gigantes plaki, which translates roughly as baked giants in the oven, a dish of enormous creamy white beans …
Stuffed mushrooms may show up at cocktail parties and potlucks, but when done the Italian way, they become something entirely different earthy, cheesy, savory bites packed with Mediterranean flavor. This isn’t your average breadcrumb-filled cap. Italian stuffed mushrooms blend quality ingredients, rich tradition, and crowd-pleasing comfort all in one bite. In Italy, stuffed vegetables are …
The listing photos showed a stone farmhouse in the Dordogne, two hours east of Bordeaux. Three bedrooms, exposed beams, original fireplace, nearly an acre of land. Needs work. €45,000. My friend James, a semi-retired architect from Denver, saw exactly what the listing intended him to see: a dream waiting to be uncovered beneath decades of …