Tag: Europe

• December 28, 2025

  #57: Swarovski

  This blog is a continuation of #56: The Heart of the Alps in which we visited Innsbruck, Austria. To begin, a relevant and humorous scene from the popular series Yellowstone:  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tprs0QrUthg In the early 1890s, Daniel Swarovski registered a patent for a state-of-the-art machine designed to cut crystal with unprecedented precision.  Born into a glass…
• November 29, 2025

  #56: The Heart of the Alps

  Success was found in Zurich, Switzerland in Blog #45, but unfortunately there was a bust in Hallstatt, Austria in Blog #48.  What do you say we return to Europe and give Austria a second chance?  After all, large foreign countries are no different from the United States in the sense that there are multiple regions…
• February 8, 2025

  #48: Hallstatt

  One or two pages worth of an internet query and it’s easy to understand why nearly 10,000 tourists flock to a town of barely 800 residents on a daily basis each summer.  The fairytale Austrian village of Hallstatt has quite the reputation:  “The most beautiful village in the world”, “One of the world’s prettiest places”,…
• November 25, 2024

  #45: Zurich

  As the largest city in Switzerland and a worldwide financial hub, Zurich lives up to a reputation described by one travel agency as “A sophisticated city with cosmopolitan luxury and an incredible atmosphere.”  Statements like these are commonplace on the websites and brochures of hospitality industry businesses looking to claim a percentage of a person’s…
• July 13, 2024

  #39: London

  The center of the world.  At least, that’s what it felt like.  Coming from a relatively new country like the United States, the history of London England is too much to fathom.  Experiencing the traditions and architecture of “The Square Mile”, as the City of London proper is occasionally referred to, is something one could…
• March 24, 2024

  #34: Pretzels and Beer

  Continued from Blog #33: Munich Security Conference Hallway reputation.  Personal brand.  Leadership shadow.  Regardless of the buzzwords we use to describe the way others think about us in the workplace, a bad reputation can be hard to shake.  The concept isn’t exclusive to humans, either.  Amsterdam banned the smoking of cannabis in public in an…
• March 3, 2024

  #33: Munich Security Conference

  “Rechts!” barked the man sitting in the backseat with me, craning his neck to look out the rear window.  Upon hearing this, our driver firmly tugged the steering wheel with a smooth confidence that could only come from highly specialized government training.  The vehicle lurched into the lane to our right and the engine revved…