Treat yourself to an afternoon high tea at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. Spend a lovely afternoon admiring artworks and nibbling delicious miniature creations inspired from the largest private art collection in Ireland.
A unique autumn cultural experience is to visit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico during the traditional festival of Dia de los Muertos – a 3 day festival held each year between Oct 31st thru Nov 2nd. Be prepared for an abundance of colour, flowers, creativity and even humour that is lovingly created in the many displays and traditions honouring the deceased. Continue Reading…
Who knew that only a block away from the train station on a quiet city street was the best kept sweetest secret in Basel, Switzerland?! Nestled amongst the ornate apartment buildings is the production facility for Confiserie Brändli. For two hours we maintained a confectionery high as we nibbled tasty creations offered throughout our chocolate tour. Warning! – this article may be very detrimental to maintaining your dieting intentions. Continue Reading…
Waiting patiently under a bright blue sky rippling with floating puffy white clouds our perserverance finally paid off. Squinting into the bright sun we could barely hear the faint clamor of clanging bells in the distance. As the first herd of cows were sighted high above our heads, they carefully wound their way out of the woods and down the winding open alpine field path shuffling towards us. The muffled metallic raucous now changed to a deafening clanging roar. Continue Reading…
We drifted in from all directions to our meeting point at the Basel Badischer Bahnhof underneath the Tower. Everyone was here for the same purpose: to take one of Basel’s Free Walking Tours given by a Basel local. Today it would be a 2 hour wander thru Kleinbasel “Lesser Basel”. Kleinbasel is the unconventional family member of “Basel Stadt”. Unlike its’ serious and dignified brother-Greater Basel (Grossbasel) across the Rhine river; Kleinbasel is the colorful, quirky, eccentric, renegade family member. Today we were going to find out just how creatively different it is!
It was the artistic display of hearts (yes- hearts!) outside the front shop door that first caught my attention when wandering around one of my favourite Alsace villages – Eguisheim, France. A large dotted heart hanging above the simple rough wooden ladder leaned against the stone wall. On the other side of the door were smaller delicate linen hearts gently swinging from an intricate wire dress making frame. It was now time for www.DianesTravelHeart.com to do some in-depth research. Continue Reading…
This year I had the delightful experience of playing “parade paparazzo with a purpose”. I want to share my 6 key photography tips that I found helpful for taking great closeup pictures and also capturing more scenic backgrounds of this huge event. I actually knew someone in one of the bands participating in the Basel Tattoo – an annual international military musical event held in Basel, Switzerland. I wanted to be sure I was able to capture a few good pictures for family members back home in the US. Many have never been to Basel so the challenge was to not only photograph their loved ones but also give them a few cultural photographic insights. Continue Reading…
We were again crawling towards another S-curve with road angles looking more like a squished letter Z (and there were many!). Our Swiss bus driver changed gears while inching forward, blowing the horn multiple times to announce our presence before he magically turned the huge post bus around and up the steep narrow paved road. It was a heart pounding moment each time – fearing some vehicle may be racing down and we would all end up going off the edge! However I soon forgot about helping the bus driver with my “worries” and instead gazed out the window admiring the blue sky, distant snow capped alps, and wooden chalets dotted on green fields below. Continue Reading…
Sitting in a French tiny patisserie in the Alsace with our noses buried in the menu we had not yet fully realised how we were surrounded everywhere with whipped cream, fresh fruit, chocolate, and nuts lovingly baked into works of art in the form of cakes, breads and pastries. We were in store for a lot more than a quick coffee and a bun. Continue Reading…
Ibiza is best known to most Europeans as the land of party, party and more parties. However, I discovered five other unique aspects of this island that are well worth a visit (unless of course you are primarily interested in late night carousing- then best not to read further). Continue Reading…
