Travel Adventures
✈️ Welcome to My Travel Blog
History and geography were among my favorite subjects in school. Long before I could imagine actually traveling to these places, I wanted to see with my own eyes the cities, roads, buildings, and landscapes I knew from history and books.
About a year after we studied the Roman Empire in school, I read Raffaello Giovagnoli’s Spartacus. I was probably in seventh or eighth grade, and the book made an enormous impression on me. From then on, I wanted to see Rome with my own eyes — the Colosseum, which became inseparable from gladiators in my imagination, and the Appian Way, where the story of Spartacus’s fight for freedom came to its brutal end.
Paris had an even larger place in that imaginary geography. Long before I ever arrived there, I already knew Paris — or at least my Paris — from Dumas and Simenon, and later from French movies with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Louis de Funès, and Alain Delon.
It was the city where d’Artagnan found his loyal friends, the Count of Monte Cristo established his magnificent Parisian home, and Commissaire Maigret could interrupt a busy investigation for sandwiches and a glass of beer. Unthinkable today!
Paris, 2017. Years after first discovering the city in books and movies, I was biking along the Seine with my son. The Eiffel Tower in the background was a useful confirmation that we had, in fact, found Paris.
There was Toledo, connected in my imagination with Don Quixote and the famous steel of its swordsmiths; London with Sherlock Holmes; and Germany with Bach, Beethoven, Goethe, and the Gothic architecture I had seen only in books.
Growing up in the Soviet Union, I never seriously expected that I would someday see all of this myself. Traveling abroad involved enormous bureaucratic hurdles, and traveling simply because you wanted to — especially together as a family — was beyond the reach of most people.
Somehow, what once seemed impossible became a very important part of my life.
Madrid. Something I could hardly have imagined as a child: traveling through Europe with my own family. Paella apparently helps make the impossible seem quite normal.
And along the way, I discovered that travel is about much more than finally seeing the places I had read about. It is about learning how other people live, meeting people I would otherwise never meet, hearing different languages, trying unfamiliar food, and discovering familiar food prepared differently.
Paris by bicycle eventually led to the inevitable: chocolate crêpes and coffee, with our bikes parked beside the table. History and literature are important, but so is lunch.
Travel is also about walking when you could take a bus, renting bicycles and seeing where the road goes, sitting down for coffee when you have a few hours to spare, and occasionally finding something wonderful that wasn’t in the plan at all.
London with Yana. Eventually travel stopped being only about seeing the places I had dreamed about and became part of our own family history.
When I eventually began traveling, part of the pleasure was finally comparing the places I had carried in my imagination for years with the real ones.
Usually, the real ones turned out to be more interesting.
Language & Travel Stories
One of my favorite travel-related memories is how languages unexpectedly became part of my journey.
🌍 Interactive Travel Map
🌷 Netherlands
Amsterdam
Beautiful view of the city can be enjoyed from the canals.
The Hague
Tip: Visit the Mauritshuis Museum —
home of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.
🇩🇰 Denmark
At ARoS in Aarhus, I came across this painting of Eve being tempted by the serpent.
What caught my attention, however, was not Eve and not even the serpent. It was the Garden of Eden itself.
There are no exotic mountains, tropical plants, or impossibly lush scenery. Instead, there is a quiet meadow, water, trees, and that soft northern light. After traveling through Denmark, the landscape seemed unmistakably familiar.
Apparently, the Garden of Eden had been transferred to Denmark.
After two weeks there, I could see why.
Denmark on Two Wheels
Denmark also occasionally gives the impression that the entire country was designed by someone who really liked bicycles.
Flat terrain, excellent roads and bike paths, beautiful countryside, and towns close enough together that getting somewhere on two wheels never seems particularly unreasonable.
We used the car to travel between cities, but bicycles became our favorite way of actually experiencing them — and sometimes of escaping them altogether.
By the end of the trip, renting a bike had stopped feeling like an activity. It was simply how we explored Denmark.
Copenhagen
Our first real introduction to Copenhagen was on two wheels.
We spent about six hours biking around the city — through parks, along the waterfront, past museums, fountains, and whatever else looked interesting enough to make us stop.
The Little Mermaid
Smaller than her reputation, but when you’re in Copenhagen, you have to say hello.
Travel lesson: Padded biking shorts are not an admission of weakness.
Helsingør
Kronborg Castle
Hamlet’s castle — or at least the castle the world has come to associate with Elsinore.
Beautifully situated on the Øresund, impressive and historic, although perhaps a little more tourist-oriented than we expected.
Still, being this close to Elsinore and not visiting Hamlet’s castle would have been rather unreasonable.
Odense
The hometown of Hans Christian Andersen.
The Hans Christian Andersen Museum turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip — partly because so many stories we knew as children suddenly acquired a physical place.
The Princess and the Pea
Some fairy tales have also become permanent family vocabulary.
In our family, The Princess and the Pea requires very little explanation.
Svendborg and Thurø
Another day, another pair of bicycles.
We rented e-bikes in Svendborg and headed toward Thurø with only a general idea of where we were going.
When I was growing up in Peterhof, there were enormous old oaks. After I moved to California, the oaks somehow seemed much smaller. Or maybe I just grew up.
Along the way, we found this enormous old oak. Nothing in the photograph quite conveys its size — except perhaps the two people standing underneath it. For a few minutes, it transported me straight back to my childhood.
About 28 miles later, we had ridden through small villages, fields, forests, and along the water. It was one of those days when having only a general plan turned out to be considerably better than having an itinerary.
Back in Svendborg, we stopped at Hotel Ærø for a very Danish lunch. Among other things, we encountered the wonderfully named Veterinarian’s Midnight Snack — rye bread with liver pâté, salt beef, meat aspic, onion rings, and cress.
Why a veterinarian requires this particular combination at midnight remains unclear. Also, is this the only medical profession allowed to eat its patients?
It was delicious.
There was also a minor encounter between me, a bicycle, a bunch of bushes, and just a touch of road.
This time, no road rash — thanks to the long pants.
Travel lesson: Long biking pants are useful for reasons that have nothing to do with weather.
Aarhus
Aarhus gave us a mixture of art, bicycles, rain, coastline, and good food.
We visited ARoS, but some of my favorite time in Aarhus was spent outside the city center, biking along the coast.
The weather changed constantly — heavy rain when we arrived, followed by skies like this.
Alan occasionally went running along the coast while I exercised my parental right to sit down with tea or beer.
A perfectly reasonable division of labor.
Silkeborg
By this point in the trip, renting bicycles had stopped being an activity and had simply become how we explored Denmark.
Silkeborg required a little more planning. It was Sunday, so we arranged the bikes in advance by phone, but the owner couldn’t meet us until 1 p.m.
That left us with a few unexpected hours to explore the town.
Naturally, some of that exploration involved coffee and dessert.
Once we finally got our e-bikes, we headed into the forests and around the lakes for an easy afternoon ride.
Sometimes having to wait turns out not to be much of an inconvenience.
What Worked
This trip reinforced something I’ve gradually learned about travel.
The best plan for us is a semi-structured one: know where we’re sleeping, have a few things we definitely want to see, and leave enough empty space for bicycles, restaurants, weather, wrong turns, and ideas that occur along the way.
Amsterdam → Germany → Denmark → Germany → Amsterdam.
A lot of driving. Even more biking.
And two weeks traveling with my son.
I wouldn’t change much.
🇮🇹 Italy
Venice
Milan
Florence
🇪🇸 Spain
Madrid
Paella in Madrid — although my critics say I
make it better. Sorry, Madrid…
Don Quixote
Couldn’t miss one of my favorite characters.
Travel Tip
A hot day in Madrid goes better with sangria!
El Retiro Park
Tip: Great spot for rest and restoration during your
visit.
Toledo
Culinary Inspiration: Oxtail Stew
Seville
🇫🇷 France
Versailles
Tip: The fountains operate only a couple of hours on
select days—plan ahead!
Eiffel Tower
Looks beautiful at any time of day.
Cold Day in Paris
Travel inspires my cooking, especially on cold days.
Spiced Hot Red Wine
Also known as Mulled Wine, Glühwein, or Glintwein.
French Onion Soup
Perfect for chilly evenings.
Strasbourg
One of the great discoveries of our Christmas trip.
Strasbourg was magical during the holidays — a city where French and German traditions seem to meet, especially at Christmas.
Because It Is France… Cheese
Some things require no further explanation.
And Because It Is France… Sweets
Apparently cheese alone is not sufficient.
Coffee for Two
Two cups of coffee waiting for us at an outdoor table.
Even in December, there is something wonderfully European about sitting outside with a cup of coffee and watching the city go by.
Christmas in Strasbourg
And then there is Christmas.
A Christmas market beside Strasbourg’s enormous Gothic cathedral is difficult to beat. The old streets, lights, decorations, food, and Glühwein made the entire center of Strasbourg feel like one enormous Christmas market.
Strasbourg calls itself the Capital of Christmas.
After visiting, I am not inclined to argue.
Travel tip: If you like Christmas markets, Strasbourg deserves more than a quick stop.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
Zurich
Zurich was our Swiss stop on the same Christmas trip.
After Strasbourg, we rented a Citroën and drove into Switzerland, buying the Swiss motorway vignette at the border — one of those little details that makes a European road trip feel like a road trip.
Zurich’s Christmas markets felt different from Strasbourg. Instead of one overwhelming Christmas wonderland, they were elegant and scattered around the city, which made exploring them part of exploring Zurich itself.
And, naturally, Switzerland required fondue.
Some Swiss traditions really shouldn’t be skipped.
Three nights in an aparthotel gave us enough time to wander around without trying to turn Zurich into a checklist of attractions.
Culinary requirement: Fondue. This is not optional.
🇬🇧 England
London
House of Parliament
Phone Booth
Agatha Christie Memorial
Bath
🇩🇪 Germany
We finally made it back!
After our planned Germany trip was canceled in 2020, Munich had been waiting for us for several years. This time we came at Christmas — which may be one of the best times to see the city.
Christmas markets, lights, Glühwein, German food… Munich makes winter feel like a feature rather than a problem.
Nuremberg
Nuremberg was another stop on our Christmas-market tour.
The old city provides a perfect setting for a Christmas market: medieval streets, historic buildings, holiday lights, and plenty of opportunities to warm up with food and Glühwein.
A very different atmosphere from Munich — smaller, older, and wonderfully walkable.
Bremen
A stop on our way north to Denmark — and, naturally, I had to meet the Bremen Town Musicians.
The donkey, dog, cat, and rooster from the Brothers Grimm were all present.
We didn’t have a major sightseeing agenda in Bremen. We wandered through the old center, found the Town Musicians, and eventually discovered an excellent place to sit down and enjoy the view.
Two beers, Bremen Cathedral, the old Rathaus, and nowhere we particularly needed to be for a while.
Sometimes a city doesn’t need to be the destination to become part of the trip.
Hamburg
Hamburg started, appropriately enough, with German food.
Frau Möller
The name of the restaurant immediately amused me because of two completely unrelated Russian movie associations.
In That Very Same Munchhausen (Тот самый Мюнхгаузен), we are informed that having the last name Müller in Germany is almost the same as having no last name at all.
And then there is Müller from Seventeen Moments of Spring (Семнадцать мгновений весны) — a thoroughly negative character, but an extraordinarily charming one.
With those associations firmly established, we went to Frau Möller for lunch.
Traditional German schnitzel and beer, followed by apple strudel.
Phenomenal.
An Almost Private Tour
After lunch, we took a city bus tour and somehow ended up being the only two passengers on the bus.
Essentially a private tour of Hamburg without paying for one.
Along the way we passed the Hotel Atlantic, which immediately caught my attention: it appears in Tomorrow Never Dies, one of my favorite James Bond movies.
Apparently Hamburg was determined to keep reminding me of movies.
We finished the day by the Alster, watching the sailboats as the sun went down, sipping beer, and even having sushi purely out of nostalgia — it had been a long trip.
Not a bad ending to our last major stop before heading back toward Amsterdam.
Leer
Leer was supposed to be just a stop along the way. It turned out to be one of those pleasant travel surprises.
The city is charming and warm, and everyone we met was remarkably friendly.
Then we stopped in Leer for lunch at and found a local and very authentic Mein Genussreich. then we accidentally stumbled upon a local emergency-services fair, with rescue services and military medics showing their equipment and talking with visitors.
As two fellow medical people, Alan and I naturally couldn’t just walk past.
We had a wonderful time talking with the medics, comparing experiences, looking at their equipment, and discovering that professional curiosity works surprisingly well across languages and borders.
Sometimes the completely unplanned stops are the ones you remember best.
🇧🇪 Belgium
Brussels
Ghent
Culinary inspiration: Belgian waffles!
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇮🇱 Israel
Tel Aviv
Busted in Tel Aviv:
View of Jaffa
Mediterranean coast from Tel Aviv.
🇦🇹 Austria
Christmas in Vienna
Mulled Wine at the Market
Innsbruck
Absolutely surreal.
🇺🇸 Local Travel
Monterey Bay
