Do you recognize this flag? Neither did I. It's the flag of Lapland. Lapland isn't a country, but a region in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia where the Sámi (Lapps) live. Only Norway recognizes this flag, and it's flown throughout the country on ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Netherlands
Flags without countries
Do you recognize this flag? Neither did I. It's the flag of Lapland. Lapland isn't a country, but a region in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia where the Sámi (Lapps) live. Only Norway recognizes this flag, and it's flown throughout the country on ...Mastering the culinary experience on Benelux trains
Hitting the rails around Europe can be a blast, and I particularly enjoyed it in the so-called "Benelux" countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg). The scenery in the Netherlands was a bit thin, but the Belgian towns were incredibly cute, and it was fun to watch the ...Amsterdam hot dog review: THE CHUBBY!
Sometimes a food's name says everything you need to know about it. Tucked away in the museum part of Amsterdam, the Lunch Kiosk is a mobile operation intended to feed the tourists in need of some fast grub. I was in that spot on my visit earlier this month, and I do like ...Airbnb: Six awesome experiences
Last autumn, after having tracked the Airbnb buzz for a while, I finally took the plunge and reserved rooms through the site in Panama City and Bogotá for my two-stop December jaunt.
About a half-hour into my first pit stop, it was already clear to me that the ...National Geographic announces Emerging Explorers for 2011
National Geographic has revealed their selections for the 2011 Emerging Explorers program, which spotlights outstanding scientists and adventurers who are doing great things, even at the early stages of their career. The awards, which are given on a yearly basis, include a ...Bizarre foods: European "delicacies," by country
What constitutes "food" is relative, depending upon what part of the world you call home. In Asia, pretty much anything on no (snakes), two, four, six, or eight legs is up for grabs. Europe, however, has its own culinary oddities, as detailed below. Got maggots?
...Keukenhof 2011 season opens March 25
If you are visiting the Netherlands between March 25 and May 20, you may want to add the Keukenhof Gardens to your itinerary. The gardens are home the largest collection of tulips and other flowers in the world, and showcase the Dutch brilliance in horticulture.
The ...Top 20 travel destinations - The 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report
Every couple of years, the World Economic Forum crunches a bunch of numbers and releases a list of the top countries in the world to visit. While ranking 139 countries, they measure aspects such as pricing, culture, environmental protection, safety, and infrastructure. For ...Remembering Europe before the Euro
American travelers often complain about the current money situation in Europe. With the Dollar/Euro exchange rate sitting around $1.40/1, along with inconvenient credit card PIN requirements, making a purchase in many European countries is downright inconvenient. But there ...Schengen and the disappearance of European passport stamps
Creative new use for border crossing posts at German/Austrian border.
In the late 1980s, an American spending a summer traveling across Europe with a Eurailpass would see his or her passport stamped possibly dozens of times. With a few exceptions, every time a border ...Video of the Day: Smuggling marijuana from Amersterdam
Mr. Show with Bob and David is, arguably, the greatest sketch comedy show ever. When they took on the nerve-wracking experience of trying to smuggle marijuana back from Amsterdam, it was hilarious. While the TSA has made the airport experience stressful even if you ...
Valentine's Day tribute: Sex museums around the world
Ah, Valentine's Day. It's a loaded holiday, one with high expectations. This year, though, I got into the spirit of things: I decided to rustle up a list of the world's great sex museums. Even if you can't pay a visit, their websites are informative and loaded with photos ...Budget eats in Amsterdam
Amsterdam isn't known as a dirt cheap place to dine. There are plenty of places to find decent food at affordable prices, however, and not just at those stands churning out cones of frites doused in mayonnaise. (For the record frites topped with mayonnaise are delicious. Eat ...New amenities for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: Wi-Fi and golf!
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has been considered one of the best airports in the world for as long as I can remember - even when I flew in and out of it every week back in early 80's, Schiphol had some of the best airport shopping of any airport.
In recent years, the ...Teen sailor Laura Dekker completes first leg of solo circumnavigation
Dutch teenager Laura Dekker completed the first leg of her attempt to sail into the record books a few days back when she completed a solo sail across the Atlantic, reaching the island of St. Maarten in the process. The 15 year old is attempting to set a new record for the ...Lady Gaga now a waxwork model at eight Madame Tussauds museums
Ah, Lady Gaga, what would we do without your telephone hats and nude suits?
Now the famous wax museum Madame Tussauds has unveiled Lady Gaga models at eight of their branches: London, New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Amsterdam, Berlin, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
The ...European cheeses: holiday entertaining with the taste of travel
I work part-time in a cheese shop, and I'm also a contributing editor at culture, a consumer cheese magazine. I can't help noticing that, despite a still-sluggish economy, people don't want to do without their cheese. Especially if they've fallen for a specific type during ...Local budget travel secrets
Most countries and territories have their own local domestic budget secrets that don't get a lot of press beyond their borders. To call these local travel habits secrets is to miss the point just slightly, as they're actually widely appreciated and utilized, though by ...New Disney Dream cruise ship sails out to sea
The Disney Dream, the third ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, is now under its own power, conducting tests out on the North Sea.
The Dream left the Meyer Werft shipyard and was towed by tugboats 26 miles down the River Ems to Eemshaven, The Netherlands. ...Scratch and sniff cannabis cards distributed by Dutch police
The new government of The Netherlands has been cracking down on marijuana-serving coffee shops lately, and now it's setting its sights on marijuana cultivation.
Police are distributing 30,000 scratch and sniff cards to homes in Rotterdam and The Hague to help people ...
