Quotes from Rick Steves

Tour the castle (open from 9:30). Then consider catching one of the city bus tours for a one-hour loop (departing from a block below the castle at the Hub/Tolbooth Church; you could munch a sandwich from the top deck if you're into multitasking). Back near the castle, take my self-guided Royal

Kleyweg's Stads Koffyhuis is a local institution that's won prizes for its sandwiches (see the trophies above the counter). This is a great spot for an affordable bite, either in the country-cozy interior or out on a canal barge (€7-10 sandwiches and hamburgers, €6-13 savory or sweet pancakes, big €13 salads, Mon-Fri 9:00-20:00, Sat 9:00-18:00, closed Sun, shorter hours off-season, just down the canal from the Old Church at Oude Delft 133, tel. 015/212-4625).

London is more than its museums and landmarks. It's a living, breathing, thriving organism...a coral reef of humanity. You can enjoy some of Europe's best people-watching at Covent Garden, Victoria Station, Piccadilly Circus, or any of the major stops on London's subway system, known affectionately as the Tube.

Call your debit- and credit-card companies to let them know the countries you'll be visiting, to ask about fees, request your PIN code (it will be mailed to you), and more. See here for details.

Festivals: Porto's big holiday is São João Day (for St. John the Baptist, the city's patron saint) on June 24. Festivities start the night of June 23 with partying and fireworks at Ponte Dom Luís I bridge, and continue on the 24th with a rabelo regatta.

In a café, order something, then ask the waiter for the Wi-Fi ("wee-fee") password ("mot de passe"; moh duh pahs).

While we may all have different wattage in our light bulbs, we all bring light to our communities.

Kun døde fisk flyder med strømmen"—"Only dead fish swim with the current.")

If you can get conservatives to sit down for 20 minutes and listen to you on drug policy reform you might have a good chance to - if not convert them - at least respect your opinion.

Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate sourvenir is a broader perspective.

Self-consciousness kills communication.

Be fanatically positive and militantly optimistic. If something is not to your liking, change your liking.

Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate sourvenir is a broader perspective.

Ideally, travel broadens our perspectives personally, culturally, and politically. Suddenly, the palette with which we paint the story of our lives has more colors.

I believe if you're going to bomb someone you should know them first. It should hurt when you kill someone.

If you don't like a place, maybe you don't know enough about it... Give a culture the benefit of your open mind.

Feed the hungry and you're a saint, ask why they are hungry and you're a communist.

Travel is intensified living … and one of the last great sources of legal adventure.

People everywhere hear the excuse "there's not enough money". In actuality, there is enough money… just different priorities. New stadium, heathcare for all, faster trains, extravagant cathedral, subsidized education, tax cuts, next-generation bomber … each society makes different choices according to its priorities.

As a traveler, I've often found that the more a culture differs from my own, the more I am struck by its essential humanity.

Globetrotting destroys ethnocentricity, helping us understand and appreciate other cultures. Rather than fear the diversity on this planet, celebrate it. Among your most prized souvenirs will be the strands of different cultures you choose to knit into your own character. The world is a cultural yarn shop, and Back Door travelers are weaving the ultimate tapestry.

Fear is for people who don't get out very much.

Europe's reluctance to go to war frustrates some Americans. I believe their relative pacifism is because Europeans know the reality of war, while most Americans do not. …. It's easier to feel detached when a war is something you watch on the nightly news, rather than something that killed your grandfather or destroyed your hometown.

In Denmark, "social trust"—a general feeling that you trust your fellow citizens and the pillar institutions of government, law courts, police, hospitals, and so on—is generally found to be the highest in the world. A perfect example of Danish "social trust" is the image of babies sleeping in carriages outside a restaurant while the parents eat inside. You might say, "But no one is watching!" A Dane will say, "Everyone is watching.