Travel Past 50

1 month ago | travelpast50.com | Kristin Henning

Valencia has a story all its own. While it’s the third largest city in Spain, after Madrid and Barcelona, it feels smaller and more rural, surrounded as it is by some of Spain’s most fertile agriculture. The personality of the city is unique; Valencia could live with any number of tag lines. It’s a port city, a culinary capital, an architecture and design center, a green city, a college town, a beach resort, and home to an amalgam of historic, religious, and secular cultural festivals.

2 months ago | travelpast50.com | Tom Bartel

Every spring, the city of Valencia, Spain, literally explodes into a five-day spectacle of colorful sculpture, sound, and light known as the Las Fallas. Officially celebrated from March 15 to 19 every year, the Fallas (Falles in the Valencian language) are anticipated throughout the year by all Valencianos. The Fallas Festival is one of Spain’s most dramatic cultural events.

2 months ago | travelpast50.com | Tom Bartel

There are 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Spain; four are shared with other countries. Only Italy and China have more. Since we've spent more time in Spain than any other foreign country, we've visited a lot of them. Spain's history is rich. There are recently discovered Paleolithic era caves covered in ancient art. It was a province of the Roman Empire.

Jan 20, 2025 | travelpast50.com | Kristin Henning

Every January we join the universe in pausing to take a look back, just as we're striving to look ahead. It’s supposedly a good time to review and reevaluate. OK, but also it's just fun to recap. You know…lest we forget where we've been and how far we've come. In short, Tom and I covered a lot of ground, traveling to 14 countries on four continents in 2024. That included 57 cities for Kris, and 42 for Tom.

Jan 20, 2025 | travelpast50.com | Kristin Henning

Bratislava, Slovakia, is easy to get to, easy to get around, and filled with interesting historic sights. Just an hour by train from Vienna, Austria, Slovakia's capital city might be just a day trip for some. We were glad to spend three days in Bratislava, soaking up history and bits of local culture, enjoying art old and new, and eating up highlights of the local cuisine. Our hotel played a big part in the Bratislava allure, too, so read on for specifics. We arrived in Bratislava by train.