Category: Europe

Barcelona, the French Riviera, and “The Walking Dead” – All in One Blog Post

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe

If you’ve read some of my previous blog posts, you know that I was a big fan of The Walking Dead television show. Although the series ended a few years ago, there have been various spin-offs and though none of them have quite measured up to the original, I think The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has been the most interesting of the bunch. For those of you who don’t know anything about the Walking Dead universe, it’s set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse where humans must fight off cannibalistic zombies – and one another – to survive in a brutal, post-apocalyptic world. Most of the original series’ action took place in Georgia and Virgina, though more recent spin-offs have ventured to Los Angeles, Mexico, Texas, New York City, and the Pacific Northwest.

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A Merry “Litli” Christmas Eve: Iceland, November 2025

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe, Iceland

Back in November of 2024 I visited Iceland and one of my planned stops was the town of Geysir, home to a whole slew of the phenomena we know as geysers. To call it a “town” would actually be an exaggeration; other than the field of geysers themselves, there is only a Visitor’s Center that attracts dozens of buses coming up from Reykjavik on a day trip, and two hotels, the mammoth Hotel Geysir and its neighbor, Litli Geysir. The difference in price between the two is considerable, with the big hotel being more than double the price of its smaller neighbor. When I learned that those staying at Litli Geysir are sent to the big hotel for the complimentary breakfast, I decided to save my money and stay at the smaller property.

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A Long-Awaited Return to Iceland

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe, Iceland

My first trip to Iceland was in June of 2008, and it was among my most favorite travel destinations. The scenery was other-worldly, the peace and quiet appealed to me, and the food, though expensive, was top-notch. Unfortunately, my travels over the years never seemed to bring me back to Iceland, but as I began to plan a European getaway for this fall, the new Icelandic airline called Play offered fares so low that it made my trip entire trip feasible. Since all of Play’s flights pass through Reykjavik, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to revisit Iceland for a few days after visiting Italy and London.

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A Beautiful Reunion with an Old Friend: Italy

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe, Italy

Thanks to the gigantic monkey wrench that COVID threw into all of our lives, I haven’t traveled abroad since the summer of 2019. To some, this may not seem like such a big deal, but for me, who was once described by Diletta, my former Italian teacher, as someone who “goes to Europe the way some people go to the grocery store,” this hiatus from international travel was a huge change in my life. Ambiguous and ever-changing COVID restrictions that varied from country to country, uncertainty about the economy and my own finances, and the threat of a larger war developing in Europe all made me wonder whether I would ever get back to Europe, and especially to my beloved Italy again.

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Budapest: Glorious Bridges, Spas, and No Goulash!

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Budapest, Europe

Every year when graduation ends and I take my summer trip to Europe, I’m drawn back to the same places that I have grown to love so much: always Italy, usually Paris and Greece, Britain or Ireland. But I also try to add a new place to the mix that I’ve never seen before. Last year was Portugal, which I adored. This year I decided to visit Budapest, Hungary.

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Never did I imagine that Budapest would be so magnificent!
Let’s go to Budapest…

The Powerful Pull of Portugal’s Algarve

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe, Portugal

After a week in Europe, the first rain of my trip came on the day I was driving from Lisbon to the Algarve region in the southwestern part of Portugal. It was the perfect day to be in a car, as I could only imagine myself slipping and sliding up and down Lisbon’s precarious hills on slick, unevenly tiled sidewalks.

Inside a sea cave, Algarve
Praia da Marinha, Algarve
The Algarve is calling… answer the call!

Music, Graffiti and Custard, Not Necessarily in That Order: Lisbon

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe, Portugal

I grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a city where 30% of the residents are of Portuguese descent. I grew up with many Portuguese friends, my favorite pizza was covered with linguica, a Portuguese sausage, and every Easter morning my mom would stand in a long line at the bakery to pick up the Portuguese sweet bread that she’d ordered weeks in advance. Ironically, while I have traveled across Europe from Iceland to Turkey and Finland to Spain, I had missed Portugal, so this summer I decided it was time to make my first visit. After a few days in England, I flew into Lisbon and got my first taste, literally and figuratively, of Portugal.

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More on Lisboa…

Northern Ireland: Land of the Giants

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, British Isles, Europe

One of my dearest friends in the world is Maggi, an 86-year old woman I met back in 1976 in my Freshman English class at college. A housewife and mother of two, Maggi was born in Belfast, Northern Island and moved to Massachusetts when she married an American in the 1950s. Maggi is a rather famous storyteller who shares traditional folk tales, sentimental and thought-provoking reminiscences of her childhood in Belfast, and traditional folk songs and rhymes. She has performed all across the U.S. and in Britain, has won many prestigious awards in the folk world and recently published a book of her stories, Belfast Girl.

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The Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland
Don’t be a

Corsica: Land of Pristine Beaches and Pristine Rental Cars

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Europe, France: Corsica

For years I’ve wanted to visit the French island of Corsica, intrigued by stories of its incredible natural beauty. I’ve been to 10 of the Greek islands and to Sicily and Sardinia in Italy, and have loved the scenery and amazing beaches to be found on all of them, but people assured me that Corsica trumps them all. Corsican culture is a mixture of Italian and French influences and so I assumed that I would feel right at home there, so I was eagerly anticipating my 5 day visit to this Mediterranean paradise.

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The Amazing Beaches of Corsica’s West Coast

Read on!

Exploring the Christmas Markets of Europe, December 2016

by mattathomeintheworld, posted in Blogs, Europe

Christmas Market at Vienna’s Castle

After a whirlwind first leg of my European travels in early November, which took me through Wales, England, Finland and Italy, I raced home to New England to grab some Thanksgiving turkey and a whole lot of birthday cake and spend the week seeing all friends and family, along with practical things like doing laundry and planning for Europe Part II in December.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Let’s go to the Christmas Markets…