Category Archives: Uncategorized

After leaving the Trapani Salt Flats on the western coast of Sicily on a late November afternoon, I maneuvered our vehicle down yet another remote, unmarked dirt road and passed dozens of vacant houses. No one was on the streets. It had been 10 minutes since we had seen another car. Sunlight was at aContinue reading “Travel Technology”

HATTIESBURG— As I sit down to write this first column in a wrap-up series of the six-month, 17-country, two-continent research tour through Europe, I am struck by an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I am grateful to the employees and managers of our restaurants who did an excellent job keeping the wheels in motion during myContinue reading “Gratitude”

PARIS— While staying the City of Lights, I could write about the Louvre, Versailles, and French food. But as I start to wind down this six-month trip, I catch myself in a reflective mood looking back over the journey. Back in Greece, I watched several college-age kids ride up the ramp of our ferry onContinue reading “Family Travel in France”

GENEVA— Switzerland was never high on my list. Sure, it was on the original itinerary, but if I had ranked the 30 countries we were to visit at the start of this journey, Switzerland would have probably been in the middle of the pack. Before we left our home and said goodbye to life asContinue reading “The Alps, Oil Changes, & Charades”

BILBAO— During the two and a half years I spent planning this trip, the most common question people asked was, “Which country are you looking forward to visiting the most?” The answer was always twofold: Italy, because I was going to be working on a book with my friend Wyatt. And Spain, because of everythingContinue reading “Spain”

The last thing anyone needs this time of year is another best-of or top-ten list. Too bad, I have been doing this for twelve years, so I get to claim some type of seniority or year-end-column-list squatter’s rights on this one. Every year I publish a year-end top-ten list of the best meals I’ve enjoyedContinue reading “Robert’s Top Ten 2011”

MALAGA, SPAIN— Ten years ago, if someone posed the question, “Where do you think you will spend your 50th Christmas?” My answer would have been quick and certain, “At home.” A decade is a world away in Malaga, Spain. I have worried about Christmas since August. The original itinerary had the family spending the entireContinue reading “A Spanish Christmas”

MADRID— I love my hometown of Hattiesburg and my home state of Mississippi. For the last four months I have been on a one-man PR, marketing, and promotional tour touting the joys and benefits of living in South Mississippi to any European who asked, and many who didn’t. Over the years my kids have askedContinue reading “Spain”

List the correct reason why the Eating Europe Tour has been changed from 30 countries in 12 months, to 23 countries in six months: a.) The European Union only allows visiting non-residents to stay up to six months without establishing temporary residency. b.) The Volvo company will only allow us to drive the newly purchasedContinue reading “Multiple Choice”