Travel through Europe by country:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San-Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Sweden, United Kingdom, Vatican City
Travel through Europe by popular city:
Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Ibiza, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, Zagreb
Travel through Europe by popular things to do:
Acropolis, Anne Frank House, Eiffel Tower, London Eye, The Louvre
Travel through Europe with our writers:
Across Northern Europe, Balkan Odyssey
Thanks to the crumbling dollar, the US is losing yet another transatlantic battle of the richest. According to The Guardian, it is no longer home to the world’s most expensive shopping street. New York’s Fifth Avenue was replaced by London’s Old Bond Street, where annual rents per square foot are $1,400.
Bad news for the competitive New Yorkers. Good news for shopaholic Londoners, already booking their Christmas-shopping air tickets to New York.
Mexico may be the best place to retire, but a Reader’s Digest study claims that Finland is the best place to live.
So, what makes Finland so special? Among other things, the Scandinavian country boasts great air and water quality, low rates of infant diseases, and protection from water pollution and natural disasters. Although it wasn’t mentioned in the article, universal health care is always important to me, and Finland, like all Scandinavian countries, takes care of its citizens’ health.
| Hey! Don’t miss Gadling’s coverage of the world’s best places to live! |
Following Finland on the list were Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Austria. The U.S. ranks 23rd, Britain was 25th, and China 84th.
The study was conducted by U.S. environmental economist Matthew Kahn, who looked at issues such as quality of drinking water and greenhouse gas emissions as well as factors such as education and income.
%Gallery-8389%
Don’t want to live overseas? Be sure to check out Money’s list of the best places to live in America!
[via Reuters]
Wasabi (aka the lump of green stuff that comes with sushi) is not horseradish. Wasabi is a plant that grows primarily in Japan but now also in the Pacific Northwest of the US. It is difficult to grow and can cost up to $100/lb. You see where I’m going with this…
In order to meet the rising demand for $6 supermarket sushi, the green stuff you are most likely getting with your sushi is American horseradish, mustard and coloring, hopefully at least mixed with the real stuff.
If you would like to be sure what you have, Sushifaq.com suggests, you can ask your wait staff if what you are served is ‘real wasabi’ or ‘fresh wasabi’ and if not, if it is available. If you are served putty, more than likely it is not real. Real wasabi is grated (traditionally on a sharkskin grater called an oroshi) and looks as such. Fake wasabi is not and does not. Just ask your wait staff for ‘fresh wasabi’ and if they have the real thing, they will usually return with a dish with a grated pile of the real thing, which is a very different experience from fake wasabi. If you are buying wasabi in store, read the label to determine if you have real wasabi or something else.
There was a time not so long ago that train travel was the only way to travel Europe; planes were prohibitively expensive and only used by businessmen.
Obviously this has all changed with the arrival of budget airlines. Super low fares, some as low as a euro, now make plane travel the obvious choice.
Or does it?
Tips for getting around Western Europe by plane & by train is an LA Times article which tackles the modern day euro-conundrum: train or plane?
To answer this question, Journalist Jane Engle went on assignment, traveling through four countries in four days using a combination of budget airlines and high speed trains. I wasn’t too surprised with the eventual outcome of her journey; planes are better for long distances, trains are better for shorter ones.
The problem with many budget airlines, she learns, is that they normally fly into smaller airports that are usually further from the city center and more expensive to get to. In addition, there are the security lines to deal with as well as getting to the airport an hour early. Trains, on the other hand, simply pull into the center of town, and you’re there!
Giving the option, I personally will always opt for train travel; it’s more scenic and relaxing and is part of the journey itself; plane travel is nothing more than transportation.
Fodor’s Travel Wire recently put out a comprehensive list of sites and activities in London that are free, or close to it. I’ve never spent as much money in as short amount of time as I have when I’ve been in London. The last time I was there the dollar was significantly stronger than it is now, yet I managed to blow through my (admittedly meager) savings in a weekend.
Fodor’s list includes free or cheap art museums, free concerts, and cheap theater, opera, and movies. The “offbeat experiences” are the best: look up ancestors in a public record office, visit Hyde Park or Covent Garden, or watch fishmongers in Borough Market.
Don’t forget to account for the cost of transportation when planning your budget — the Tube is not cheap, although it’s the least expensive way to get around London besides walking.
