I used to think there were independent travelers and cruise passengers
-- two mutually exclusive categories. Cruising works especially well for
first-timers as a destination sampler of Europe, enticing you with a day
here and a day there.
While most of Croatia's coastal towns seem tailor-made for tourism,
Split is real and vibrant. Split has all the trappings of a modern city.
Back in its heyday, the harbor front was Diocletian's back door.
A hundred years ago, bigwigs from London to Moscow began flocking south
to the French Riviera and the sun-drenched city of Nice.
As far as I'm concerned, there are two IQs for travelers: those who
queue ... and those who don't. If you plan ahead, you can avoid nearly
every line that tourists suffer through. Many museums are free one day a
month -- a great deal for locals.
At exactly 10:15 a.m. in the courtyard of the Zwinger palace complex in
Dresden, 40 Meissen porcelain bells began a sweet three-minute melody.
Then I realized I was on a Dresden high.
I'm not naturally a wild-and-crazy kind of guy. When you're traveling in
Europe, make yourself an extrovert, even if you're not. Be open to
encounters as you visit a city. Take a class at a cooking school.
