New York is experienced best by foot
Walking tours are one good way to see a city up close and personal. And that's true even for a city as big and as intriguing as New York.
Going Mobile Dan Webster
SUNDAY, NOV. 26, 2023
MONDAY, NOV. 20, 2023
Cuba: Education is a key to its complications
There are several ways to visit Cuba. Going there on a Road Scholar tour is one good way to understand its complicated history.
MONDAY, NOV. 13, 2023
Hemingway's spirit haunts his Cuban home
A trip to Cuba offers the inveterate traveler a number of experiences. But for those who grew up reading Ernest Hemingway, a visit to the late author's house just outside Havana is a special treat.
SUNDAY, NOV. 5, 2023
Portofino: Where Italian stereotypes turn into dreams
Popular culture typically portrays Italy in clichés involving pasta, cigarettes, hand gestures and more. The reality is far richer, as one day spent in Portofino can show you.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1, 2023
California: far more scenic when the sun shines
Monterey's 17-mile Drive is a must-see for those visiting the central California coast. But it's a far better experience when the sun makes an appearance.
SUNDAY, OCT. 29, 2023
To the rich, home is where the big house is
California's central coast is the site of a number of mansions. But few are grander than Hearst Castle and the Winchester Mystery House.
TUESDAY, OCT. 17, 2023
Objective: Searching for the perfect sunset
No matter where you go in the world, you're apt to find a beautiful sunset. In the Northwest, though, weather sometimes gets in the way.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 11, 2023
Iceland: Welcome to the land of windy beauty
Driving Iceland's Ring Road is a challenge, but it's full of starkly gorgeous scenery, the occasional rainbow and some pesky high winds.
SUNDAY, OCT. 8, 2023
Sydney's Opera House: majestic is the word
No trip to Australia would be complete without a stop in Sydney to tour one of the world's great architectural wonders: the city's famous Opera House.
SUNDAY, OCT. 1, 2023
Sicily: the island that Camilleri captured
Andrea Camilleri set his "Detective Montalbano" novels on the island he loved. And one 10-day road trip more than two decades ago told us why.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 26, 2023
Argentina's Iguazú Falls: movie made real
Little did I suspect that nearly two decades after seeing Roland Joffe's 1986 movie "The Mission" that I would one day visit the magnificent spot where it was filmed.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20, 2023
Venice: the movie city of canals
Venice is the site of Kenneth Branagh's mystery movie "A Haunting in Venice." But the atmospheric Italian city is threatened by the very water that makes it special.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 17, 2023
Suck at golf? Play with good friends
The Inland Northwest boasts a number of fine golf courses. Their beauty, and the companionship of good playing partners, can make you forget just how hard the sport is to master.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13, 2023
Travel means living, learning and giving back
It’s no secret that the mindset here at Going Mobile central involves travel. However it’s accomplished, though, the travel we all do is fueled by an abiding interest in new places and the people who inhabit them.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 10, 2023
Exploring Spain and Portugal: final thoughts
You can see a lot of Spain and Portugal in 18 days. Traveling by train, by bus and by car, my wife and I managed to squeeze as much as we could. Here are the highlights.
MONDAY, SEPT. 4, 2023
Portugal's Algarve: It all ends here
Though several million Antarctic penguins would argue, Portugal's Algarve was once thought to be the "end of the world." Yet this much is true: The view from the Cabo de Sao Vicente (Cape of St. Vincent) is both "immense and dramatic."
MONDAY, AUG. 28, 2023
Salema is a slice of Portuguese paradise
The Mediterranean has a number of fine beaches, as the residents of Italy's Cinque Terre know well. But to Rick Steves, Portugal's Salema Beach "may be the most purely enjoyable beach in all of Europe.”
MONDAY, AUG. 21, 2023
Appreciating the good life at Praia da Nazaré
While the draw in recent years of this one-time sleepy fishing village is its big waves, the Portuguese town of Nazaré offers wondrous views and a number of welcoming restaurants.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 16, 2023
Nazaré: where the BIG waves loom
Anyone familiar with the HBO series "100 Foot Wave" knows that Nazaré, Portugal, is where big-wave surfers converge every winter. But the town has attractions for tourists of all types.
MONDAY, AUG. 14, 2023
Porto's train station: history depicted in tile
It's not often that you find art in places designated for public transit. Yet in Porto's São Bento train station, not only are the walls adorned with artistic blue tiles but they depict stories of Portugal's history.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 9, 2023
Like its signature sandwich, Porto is unique
It's arguably not be as scenic as its southern counterpart, Lisbon, but Portugal's northern city of Porto has a popular riverfront setting -- and a tasty specialty sandwich that will take years off your life.
MONDAY, AUG. 7, 2023
Getting around Portugal: Bus thrills and more
Traveling by bus can be an efficient, and cheap, means of getting around Portugal. It's how we traveled from Lisbon north to Porto. But you better pay attention to the driver's instructions. "Cinco minutes" means exactly that.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 2, 2023
Always leave something left to see in Lisbon
Beginning the day with tasty pastries, passing up "must see" sites but choosing to mingle with regular folks, then topping the day off with a sumptuous meal ... well, you can't see all of Lisbon in two days. But you can always return.
MONDAY, JULY 31, 2023
Riding a Tuk-tuk is a fine way to see Lisbon
Unsure about how to proceed, and knowing that walking up and down Lisbon’s steep streets would prove a bit too arduous for our aging legs, we asked the employees behind the Lisboa Carmo Hotel desk for advice. And they suggested taking a Tuk-tuk tour.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2023
Two and a half centuries later, Lisbon endures
On the morning of Nov. 1, 1755, a major earthquake hit the Iberian Peninsula and nearly leveled Portugal's capital city, Lisbon. Rising from that disaster, today's Lisbon is one of Europe's more scenic capital centers.
Dan Webster has filled a number of positions at The Spokesman-Review from 1981 to 2009. He started as a sportswriter, was a sports desk copy chief at the Spokane Chronicle for two years, served as assistant features editor and, beginning in 1984, worked at several jobs at once: books editor, columnist, film reviewer and award-winning features writer.
In 2003, he created one of the newspaper's first blogs, "Movies & More." He continues to write for The Spokesman-Review's Web site, Spokane7.com, and he both reviews movies for Spokane Public Radio and serves as co-host of the radio station's popular movie-discussion show "Movies 101."