WHITBY, ENGLAND – It was midday by the time we arrived in this pretty Yorkshire fishing town nestled by the North Sea. We had worked up a considerable appetite on our drive from historic York, so, we asked a local man where we might find the best fish and chips?

LONDON – Long before you see Borough Market, you smell it. Good smells. Like the kind produced by hot loaves of freshly baked bread left to cool on a rack outside one of the market's 80 stalls. Or sharp ones that come wafting from a cheese shop at the rear of the outdoor food emporium. And sweet ones rising from a table covered in chocolate truffles.

YORK, ENGLAND – We asked the old man sweeping the stoop outside his medieval shop on one of this city’s famed narrow streets what the area was called. “Shamble." he replies.

CHAGFORD, ENGLAND – The ancient wooden doors of St. Michael the Archangel Church were left wide open the day we stopped to tour this former tin mining town. So we poked our heads inside but recoiled almost immediately.

LONDON – Bond, James Bond. So many people come to England each year looking for anything associated with the suave super spy known to millions of adoring fans simply as 007. And with each new episode and each new Bond (currently it’s heartthrob Daniel Craig who’s playing 007 and still beating off evil agents and beautiful women) more new fans are born and more new film locations emerge for Bond tourists to discover.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – The only thing standing between me and classical music heaven is a crowd of soccer fans – over 2,000 drunken Scottish soccer fans to be exact.

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – There are two stories circulating about why this city suffered little damage during World War II, despite being occupied by Hitler’s Nazi army almost from the outset.

SPLIT, CROATIA - It was mid-May when we boarded a yacht in this lovely ancient city — the second largest in Croatia — so we could explore the enchanting islands off the Dalmatian Coast. A Croatian friend named Denko, who put himself through university running yacht tours like this, agreed to be our captain.

ROVINJ, CROATIA - I’ve sipped many shots in life, including, I must admit, some I don’t remember, but not until I visit Croatia’s Istrian peninsula do I take my first shot of olive oil. It’s only appropriate, as olive oil is as revered here as wine.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – This is not just the capital of the European Union and Belgium, it’s also the fun capital of Europe. And that’s thanks mainly to the city’s cartoon culture.