Tourist First

Travel notes and advice from around the world. Above, the daily flight from Managua at the San Carlos, Nicaragua, airstrip.

Monday, September 1, 2025

Contents & Quick Links

  Travel in 2025:  A spring trip to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Old and new favorites in Paris. In Nantes, a switch from building ships to having fun.  Oysters in Cancale. The wonder of Mont Saint-Michel. History lessons in Bayeux. Lupin still inhabits Etretat. The unexpected in Rouen. The best of Lyon. More than mustard in Dijon. Exploring the Champagne towns of Epernay and Reims. The best of Belgium: Brussels, Ghent, Bruges. The joy of architecture in Rotterdam.  Canals and more in Amsterdam.

Travel in 2024:  A spring (November and December) trip to Chile including Santiago,  Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Atacama,  Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.  One night at Usuaia, Argentina. Buenos Aires, in brief.  San Diego's big swinging organ. A family visit to Milwaukee.  A quick visit to Red Rocks outside Denver. A July visit to San Francisco and its oyster bars. Six weeks in Spain, with links to Madrid, Valencia, Seville and other cities. Plus Joshua Tree and Death Valley, two California desert wonderlands.

Welcome to Stephen M. Bailey's Tourist First! I hope these photos and impressions from my travels will help you plan your own trips. 

These blog posts are not updated once they're posted. For example, my post about a July 2019 visit to Venice does not reflect the terrible damage done by flooding in November 2019. And some hotel links may no longer work, though I try to delete them when that happens. Small hotels and lodges, especially in less developed destinations like Nicaragua and Laos, often are short-lived and the ones I've visited may no longer exist. Please leave a comment or email me (stephenmbailey@gmail.com) if you have questions about any post or if you see errors. 

General Travel

In the Air, a Caste System
Here's What I Want in a Hotel Room 
And see what more than 1,000 of my New York Times readers want in a hotel room
Favorite hotels: Tripadvisor's list 
Travel Experiences With Minimal Expense
Strategies for Saving on Travel
My 2008 New York Times column on travel in a motor home or RV
My 2004 New York Times article on eco-resorts in the Caribbean (not all are still operating)
It's Easy to Avoid Credit Card Ripoffs Abroad
Road Trip: Though the Rockies on Interstate 70

Weekend Homes
This blog is primarily devoted to tourist trips and vacation explorations, but some people prefer to make the same trips over and over ... to their weekend homes. Instead of a month in Italy, they choose almost every weekend at the lake or in the mountains. Here are some of my New York Times articles about weekend homes: 
A Chesapeake getaway is an HGTV Dream House. 
A weekend home without beeps? Ditching technology.
Owning your own place in Mexico or Canada.
Thinking of a weekend home at a lake?
Dealing (or not) with problem guests.
Always pampered: A weekend home at a resort.

African Safaris
Itinerary for Six Weeks in Africa
My 2019 New York Times Article on Tips for Your First Safari
The Safari Experience
Botswana: Kalahari Desert
Botswana: Okavango Delta
Namibia: Chobe River
South Africa: Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Tanzania: Ngorongoro Crater
Tanzania: Serengeti

Argentina
Buenos Aires: Cafes and More

Australia
Itinerary for 10 Days in Tasmania
Freycinet National Park: Beaches, Trails and Shellfish
Lake St. Clair: Not a Platypus in Sight

Belgium
Brussels: Whimsical City.


Britain
Wales: "Retiring" to a Canal Boat

California
Road trip: San Diego to Healdsburg
Anzo-Borrego State Park: A Desert in Bloom
Central Coast: Big Sur and Route 1
Idyllwild: Mountain Retreat
Joshua Tree: A Desert Adventure
Lassen Volcanic National Park: The Landscape of Disaster
Malibu: The Getty Villa and More
Palm Springs: A Fall Getaway
Paso Robles: A Focus on Wine
Point Reyes National Seashore: Isolation on a Grand Scale
San Diego County: Potato Chip Rock
San Francisco: Oysters and Alcatraz

Cambodia
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia
Elephant Valley: Saving Asia's "Living Tractors"
Kep: The Place for Crabs (My Apologies to Chesapeake Bay)
Phnom Penh: Where the Past Is Past
Siem Reap: Gateway to the Angkor Region
The Angkor Temples: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Banteay Srei, and Ta Prohm. 

Canada
Montreal: Frenchy but Not Exotic
Niagara Falls: The Canadian Side, Please
Toronto: First Impressions
Toronto: Second Impressions

Chile
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Spring (November and December)

Colorado

Mont Saint-Michel: The Wonder of It All
Greece
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Athens: Better Than I Imagined
Chania: Walls and Charm on Crete
Delphi: The Oracle is Silent
Heraklion: The Capital of Crete
Hydra: Quiet and Carless
Santorini: Island as Shopping Mall
Thessaloniki: A Party Town With Few Foreigners

Iceland
Reykajavik: Geothermal Wonderland

Iran
A 2016 Family Visit
What to Expect If You Visit Iran

Italy
Itinerary for a Three-Month Visit
Agrigento: Sicily's Valley of the Temples
Alberobello: Home of the Trulli
Capri: Another World
Catania: Gateway to Mount Etna
Lecce: Baroque Wonderland
Maratea: Italy for Italians
Masala: More Than Wine
Matera: Modern Cave Dwellers
Naples: One Night Isn't Enough
Palermo: Beyond "The Godfather"
Pompeii (and Herculaneum): What Vesuvius Wrought
Rome: The Palaces
Rome: The Churches
Rome: The Ruins
Rome: Dining
Rome: Walking
Siracusa: Outpost of the Ancient Greeks 
Taormina: Mountains and Sea in Sicily
Trieste: The Least Italian City in Italy
Trani: On the Adriatic
Venice: A Summer Visit

Laos
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia 
Luang Prabang: Monks and Tourists 

Maine
Georgetown: Do it for the lobsters.

Maryland
Assateague: A Fall Afternoon
Annapolis: My 2008 New York Times article on Maryland's capital city
Baltimore: My 2002 New York Times "36 Hours" article on Charm City
Blackwater: My 2012 American Forests article on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Chesapeake Bay: A Fishing Trip
St. Michaels: My 2004 New York Times "36 Hours" article
Tilghman Island: Where I Lived for 10 Years

Mexico
Ajijic: Expat-Friendly Town on Lake Chapala
Baja California: Cabo Crowds and Peaceful La Paz

Minnesota
Boundary Waters: My 2011 American Forests article on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

Mississippi
Ole Miss: My Alma Mater
Oxford: My 2008 New York Times article on Faulkner, Football and Food  


Montenegro
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Kotor: Small but Choice 


Morocco
Itinerary for a Three-Week Visit
Ait Benhaddou: Kasbahs and Movie Locations

New York 
Finger Lakes: My 2012 American Forests article on Finger Lakes National Forest
Rio San Juan: Howler Monkeys and River Huts
Selva Negra: Ecology-Minded Coffee Plantation
Solentiname Islands: A Poet-Priest's Art Project
Solentiname Islands: My 2012 New York Times article and a photo slideshow

Panama
Bastimentos: Nature Inn and Chocolate Lodge
Bocas del Toro: Surfers and Backpackers
Boquete: A Coffee Estate in the Mountains
Panama Canal: An 11-Hour Trip Through an Engineering Marvel
Panama City: My 2014 New York Times review of the Panama City Waldorf Astoria 
Kuna Yala: A Cabin on the Water

Pennsylvania
Adamstown: My 1999 New York Times  article on Shopping for antiques in Amish country
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob

Peru
Itinerary for One Month in Peru
Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu: Mountain in the Rain Forest
Amazon: River and Wildlife Cruise
Amazon: Fatal Fire on a River Cruise Boat
Arequipa: Juanita's Story
Colca Canyon: In Search of Condors
Cusco: The Inca's Capital
Lima: Museo Larco's Amazing Pre-Colombian Pottery
Lima: Ancient Culture, Modern Life
Ollantaytambo: Life Amid the Ruins
Paracas: An Ancient Mystery Beside the Sea

Portugal
Itinerary for a Three-Week Visit
Belmonte: Mountain Retreat
Evora: Cusine and Cork
Douro Valley: Where the Grapes Grow
Lisbon: Riverfront and Seafront
Obidos: Old Walls and New Buddhas
Porto: The Sweet Life
Sintra: Royal Aerie

St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Bequia: The Moonhole Experience
Bequia: A Happy Island
St. Vincent: My 2004 New York Times article on Petit Byahaut and Other Eco Resorts
St. Vincent: My 2004 New York Times Slide Show on Petit Byahaut

Slovenia
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Ljubjana: Cozy Capital
Piran: At the Concrete Beach

South Africa
Robben Island: A Visit to Mandela's Prison
Sabi Sand: Safari Satisfaction Guaranteed
Western Cape: Beyond Cape Town and the Wine Regions

Spain
Itinerary for Six Weeks in 2024: Madrid, Valencia and Southern Spain
Valencia: Is There a Better City in Spain for Food?


Tanzania
Zanzibar: As Exotic as Its Name

Thailand
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia 
Bangkok: River Metropolis

Turkey
A 2010 Vacation, Istanbul and Beyond
Aboard a Gulet for a Blue Cruise
Istanbul: Seth Kugel Does It on the Cheap
Istanbul: Visiting a Hamam

Utah
The Marvels  of Arches National Park

Vietnam
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia 
Ha Long Bay: Two Nights on a Junk 
Hanoi: Swarming and Sophisticated
Hoi An: Fine Dining, Fine Silks 

Virginia
My 2008 New York Times article on Virginia's Eastern Shore

Washington, D.C.

Washington State

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park: Morning Glory Pool and Other Wonders   

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Netherlands: Laid-back Amsterdam

 

I believe I was born to live on a houseboat in Amsterdam and own an old Citroen. 
Someone else is living my life!

The last stop on our spring 2025 trip to Europe was a city neither Jane nor I had ever visited: Amsterdam. We arrived on Sunday, June 8, after a one-hour train ride from Rotterdam.  We stayed four nights at  The Hendricks, a small harborfront hotel, giving us three full days to explore this unusual city of almost a million people. 

Amsterdam often is on lists with Venice, Barcelona and other European cities where overtourism has become a problem for fulltime residents and other tourists as well. The only seriously dense crowds we encountered here were that first Sunday afternoon as we were swept along through the heart of the tourist district. Even this part of town was bearable on other days and the streets just a block or two away seemed relatively unaffected. 

I had expected Amsterdam to be more like Venice, where all the traffic of daily life is carried on the water.  There are no cars or trucks. But every building in Amsterdam has a street (and sometimes a canal, too) in front of it and can be reached by car. The canals seem to be used only by houseboats tied up along the banks and by sightseeing boats. 

Here we had two things to see.  Ann Frank House and the Rijks Museum. Other than that, we mostly wandered around, took a 90-minute canal boat tour and enjoyed the relaxed ambiance. The pilot on our Those Dam Boat Guys tour made a point of saying that it was OK to smoke "whatever you want" as long as it didn't bother the other passengers. No one lit up, and I think the pilot was a bit disappointed. He explained that Amsterdam has been a live-and-let-live city for centuries, offering refuge to groups scorned in other parts of Europe. Indeed, Ann Frank's family moved to Amsterdam after fleeing the rise of Hitler in their native Germany. 

The interior of the Ann Frank House appears today much as it did during World War II. Her story, being captured as the war was nearing its end and then dying along with her sister of typhoid in a concentration camp, is well presented and understandable even if one has not read the famous diary. The museum does not allow photography, so though I have no photos here, you can see much of the house on the museum's web site (link above). 

The Rijks Museum is a huge place with corridors and corridors of Old Masters along with some 19th century works by Van Gogh. It would seem a shame to visit Amsterdam and not see one of the world's best art collections, but many of the works are so well known that seeing them in person doesn't add a lot. 

One thing I had been looking forward to in Amsterdam was dining at a rijsttafel, a Dutch restaurant offering small plates of Indonesian food. The Dutch colonized much of Indonesia in the 1700s and imported its cuisine.  Max may be an excellent rijsttafel (it means rice table) but it somehow wasn't the exceptional meal I had expected. Two other dinners were at the same Chinese restaurant, Oriental City, where we found Peking duck that we both thought better than that in New York City's Chinatown (and that's a high bar). It may seem odd to seek out Asian food in the Netherlands, but Dutch cuisine is pretty nondescript. We did try bitterballen, which are like crusty meatballs with beef stew inside. "It's interesting" is the polite response to "did you like it?" 

Then it was time to go. We flew nonstop to San Diego on KLM on Thursday, June 12, leaving at 11:10am and arriving home at noon on the same day. 

Here are some photos:

Bicycles park where they can all over Amsterdam.

We toured the canals on a much smaller boat. Ones
 like this are more typical.

The canals are home to more-or-less permanently moored houseboats. We were told they are
often moved only when their keels need to be repaired or repainted.

We arrived at this huge train station from Rotterdam
to start our visit here. This was taken from LuminAir,
the rooftop bar at the Amsterdam Doubletree hotel. 

The Rijks Museum is housed in this sprawling 1885  building..

Galleries combine paintings with other historic objects.

Johannes Vermeer's "The Milkmaid" (c.1660) is among the Rijks Museum's
most treasured holdings. 

The model of the Dutch warship William Rex was made in 1698
at the same shipyards where real warships were built. It's
at the Rijks Museum.

The model is one-twelveth the size of the real thing. It has 74 guns, and you
can see five of them here moved into position to fire. 


I asked the pilot of our canal boat tour why so many buildings
in Amsterdam appeard to tilt. He said they were all 
perfectly straight and perhaps I had been drinking.

I think some of the buildings look a little drunk.

An angel watches over Amsterdam from high
atop a canalside building.

Some of the streets of Amsterdam are as interesting as the canals.

This is the so-called Tower of Tears, part of a 
defensive wall built in the 1400s. It was from
this tower in 1609 that Henry Hudson departed
in his ship De Halfe Maen (The Half Moon) to
go to the New World where he laid the foundation
for Dutch colonization of what is now New York. 

We were told that a crazy artist lives in this building.

This tree is in front of the artist's building.

Another decorated tree on another canal.

Warm sunny days are not terribly common in Amsterdam,
so when one occurs people try to enjoy it.

Bitterballen are like deep-fried breaded spheres of
beef stew. They're a staple of Dutch bar menus. 


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