Most Recent Articles
North America’s first Europeans: evidence of Vikings in Newfoundland
St. Anthony is the gateway to L’Anse Aux Meadows, the first and only authenticated Norse settlement in North America. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its significance in the history of worldwide exploration and the movement of peoples. In 2000, it attracted attention and large crowds when the landing of the Vikings 1000 years earlier was celebrated.
Read MoreVoyage of the Vikings aboard Holland America’s Amsterdam: Iceland
It is said that when the Vikings first saw Iceland–with volcanoes, black lava fields, sulfurous steam, and bubbling mud pools– they thought they had discovered the entrance to the Netherworld.
Read MoreCruise ports in Norway: Holland America’s Voyage of the Vikings
The oldest of the Scandinavian capitals, founded over a thousand years ago, Oslo was an important center of wood trade. In the 1600s, after yet another devastating fire, King Christian IV, ruler of Denmark and Norway, rebuilt the city in brick and stone closer to Akershus Fortress and named it Christiania after himself. The original name was not restored until 1925.
Read MoreTreasures of the Rhine
On our “Treasures of the Rhine” itinerary, we unpacked once and sailed past enchanting fairytale castles, romantic medieval villages, verdant vineyards, and pastoral landscapes–living history from Switzerland to the North Sea.
Read MoreQuebec City: French culture without the transatlantic flight
The flight from Boston was just an hour—and voila! We were sipping café au lait on Grand Allée, this continent’s Champs Elysées, in the capital of the province of Quebec, the cradle of French civilization in the Americas, swept up in the city’s romance and Old World charm.
Read MoreOases in the desert: our favorite Arizona resorts and spas
The red rocks of Sedona create a spectacular approach to this 70 acre luxury resort. Once inside the resort gate and Boynton Canyon, it’s the feeling of being in a cocoon that glows with the sun.
Read MoreCape May, New Jersey: sun, sand, and sea and more at America’s original Seaside Resort
We were sitting in the parlor of the Queen Victoria Bed & Breakfast sipping the evening sherry when we heard the clippity-clack of a horse and carriage passing by. If not for the electricity illuminating the antique chandelier we might have been experiencing the Victorian Age.
Read MoreHoliday on the Hudson: a Dutchess County Treat
What grander way to celebrate the season than amidst the splendor of some of America’s finest mansions? And what better time to step back to the Gilded Age and inside the homes of some of the most talked-about people of their time?
Read MoreHudson River Valley: A Dutch Treat
It was 400 years ago that navigator Henry Hudson set sail on an expedition that took a surprising turn. He had twice sailed into Arctic waters and failed to find the Northeast Passage, a route north of Europe and Asia connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, for his native England.
Read More