An interesting couple of sentences appeared in practical nomad Edward Hasbrouck's newsletter this morning, as he was examining the gaming strategies of an Amazing Race pair:

The consequences of other travel mistakes are generally limited to minor delay and discomfort. Travel stress can easily lead us to invest travel decisions with much more practical and emotional weight than they deserve (emphasis all mine).

This is in line with what I've been warning about for years. Don't plan too much. Allow for late planes and trains. Allow especially for extraordinary detours that open up a new world to you. Don't get stressed out over missed connections. A missed connection can be your friend--if you let it.

Way back when I was intending to travel from Barcelona to Milan on one of Europe's then premier trains, the Trans European Express, TEE. Along the way, the train went progressively slower and by the time we got to the Italian border it was very, very late. We were loaded onto what appeared in the dim light to be a cattle car with wooden benches along the walls. It took us 20 miles to the Italian Riviera town of Ventimiglia, where it pulled into the station and stopped. Or expired; it was hard to tell which. The conductor then informed us that it was so late that the station in Milano would be closed, so we couldn't go further.

There were lots of American tourists on that train. Now they were up in arms, demanding to be taken to Milan. While they talked loudly to mask their inability to speak a word of Italian, I snuck off and got a hotel, reasoning that the massive influx of unexpected visitors would threaten the supply of rooms. Besides, it was The Italian Riviera, how bad a stop could that be?

And I awoke the next morning to twittering birds in the gardens I hadn't noticed in the darkness the night before, right outside my hotel room. Ventimiglia was beautiful on a shining, clear morning. I found out later that it was a resort stop for the middle class, not expensive but bounding on the same shimmering sea as San Remo or Monte Carlo. I liked it.

Today, when I'm tired from driving or from a long flight and I'm heading into Italy, I always stop at Ventimiglia. It's become like an old friend you met on a journey unexpectedly, warm and forgiving of trespasses.

I often wonder about those other people, though. Did they make it hard on themselves? Did they sleep on a bench in the little station so they wouldn't miss the first train to Milano, or did they pay through the nose for a cab to get them back on track?

We were both late to somewhere--but they were miserable as well.

Suckers.

What to do in Pistoia, Italy when the bells of the Duomo ring once? I'd head over to LaBotteGaia restaurant for lunch with hopes of snagging a table behind the the 14th century Gothic Baptistry. If it's traditional Tuscan cuisine done right you're craving, read our review of La BotteGaia restaurant.

Does sleeping in those ever shrinking economy class seats in an airplane interest you, but you haven't found a way to keep your head tethered so it doesn't wake you when it decides to flop around? Well, you might try the TravelRest travel pillow.

Lille isn't one of Europe's best known cities, at least to American tourists, but it's France's fourth largest metropolitan area, it has a wonderful medieval core, and it features the oldest Christmas market in France. There's lots to do in Lille for the tourist.

In fact, if it's an easy and compelling vacation itinerary you're looking for, doing the Eurostar route: London, Lille, Paris, and Avignon isn't such a bad idea.

Find out more about Lille, France, then take a look at the Lille Picture Gallery.

Also See: Rail Map of France | France Rail Passes | France Map | Eurostar Information

It seems the folks in and around Bern have been busy this fall season. They're planning the Onion Market, which, I'm told, is THE traditional folk festival in Bern, which means that farmers will be plaiting onions for the end of November show. 100 tons of the plaited strings of onions are expected to be sold on the fourth Monday of November. Still, the onion market is a dying tradition, as this interesting YouTube video mentions.

The Bernese have also been quick in building a 5 meter tall tower out of Toblerone packaging. "Why would they do this?" I hear you ask. Because that's what won Bern the right to host the Toblerone Chocolate Festival on Münsterplatz on October 4th. Toblerone is 100 years old this year, you see. Not the package you're digging into right now, but I mean the concept is quite old.