Eva Sandoval

Proudly "untrendy" designer Myung-Il Song tells you how to bypass the chain stores and shop for authentically Viennese handcrafted wares, from clothing and art to holiday gifts.
Navigating Vienna's 23 grätzels (districts) can be overwhelming, especially when they're so diverse – encompassing medieval alleys, magnificent monuments and quaint village squares. So when it comes to shopping, many visitors tend to stick to the beautifully walkable historic centre, Innenstadt, which is home to the H...

An icon in its native land, the Guatemalan tamale is wrapped in a striking green banana leaf that gives way to an airy corn dumpling stuffed with spicy pork, peppers and olives.

A fashion expert's insider guide to shopping in New York City

Al Gatto Verde in Modena, Italy, redefines barbecue with a wood-burning oven, conceptual fire cooking techniques and passionately sustainable practices.
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I'm three dishes deep into the tasting menu at Al Gatto Verde – Massimo Bottura's new "Not Barbecue" restaurant at Casa Maria Luigia, his intensely stylish guesthouse on the outskirts of Modena, Italy – when the cotechino sangue di drago arrives.
Cotechino, a Northern Italian pork sausage flavoured with juniper, cloves and garlic, is the qu...

I'm a food writer based in Italy who loves grabbing snacks from Trader Joe's when I come to the US.
On this trip, I made sure to add the jerk-style plantain chips and chile-lime almonds to my cart.
I find that it can be difficult to get good Mexican food in Italy so I buy some mini tortillas.
I'm an American food writer based in Italy, and every time I come to the US, I leave with a suitcase full of Trader Joe's snacks and condiments.
I usually ping-pong between the St. Petersburg, Florida, G...

From night tours to the catacombs, here’s how to enjoy Europe without melting under the midday sun.
The sun is shining, and the kids are finally out of school, so what better time to hop across the pond and visit Europe? High-season crowds and prices aside, there’s a special thrill to visiting the Old World during the summertime when the ancient city sidewalks are alive with street performers and the coasts are drenched with sunshine.
But with great sunshine comes great heat. In the popular S...

In Lonely Plan-It, we take you step by step through how we put together some of the most complicated travel adventures. Here, Eva Sandoval explains how she planned her hike on the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast.
As soon as you arrive on Italy’s Amalfi Coast – before you’ve even uncorked your limoncello – someone will ask, “Have you done the Path of the Gods?”
The concept doesn’t sound so odd in this heavenly landscape, where each rock and body of water has a Greek origin story. Known in...

Shell-o! I’m Eva. I have two legs, but I’m really a mermaid. Or at least I’ve always thought I was, ever since I grew up a bespectacled fish-out-of-water in Crystal River, Florida – a small Nature Coast town nicknamed ‘Home of the Manatees’.

When Disney’s The Little Mermaid was released in 1989, I believed Walt Disney had X-rayed my nine-year-old soul. A decade later, as a fledgling writer in New York City, I lived for the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade – strutting down the boardwalk in m...

Living in a tourist hotspot made me realize I miss being a tourist.
Last year, I went to Venice for my birthday. I always celebrate getting older by going somewhere new. Coming out of the Venezia Santa Lucia train station to be greeted by a view of luscious, pastel-hued homes lining the Grand Lagoon was like stepping into a watercolor fever dream. Like a newborn baby deer, I stalked through the narrow streets clumsily, peering over bridge railings to watch the gondoliers drift by.
In Southern...

Because nothing sours the milk in your cappuccino faster than fear of getting scammed.
Italy is a relatively safe country in terms of violent crime, but times are tough, people are shrewd, and there are a few common (yet frustratingly ingenious) tourist scams to be aware of. Some may even go so far as to call it a game: scam the foreigner–except no one tells you when it’s in session.
Be on alert in the major tourist trap cities and attractions as well as in the smaller towns where tourists ar...

A beautiful winery is never more than a stone’s throw away in Italy.
According to a 2022 Unione Italiana Vini (Italian Wine Union) report, an estimated 255,000 cantinas are found throughout the boot. Quite honestly, anyone—from the big names to humble roadside shops—will deliver that dreamy dolce vita combo of beautiful views, tasty homecooked meals, and tipsy tastings. But for every gaggle of traditional wineries (yes, “dreamy” is the standard here in Italy), a handful deserves special recog...

Summertime on the Amalfi Coast might be crowded and expensive, but there are still ways to enjoy a visit.
The sun-drenched Amalfi Coast—with its dramatic cliffs, 800-year-old villas, and endless expanses of the ink-blue sea—is everyone’s favorite version of Italy. How could it ever disappoint? Easy. Just go during the summertime.
Hoo boy, here come the @s. Look, the Amalfi Coast is indeed exquisitely beautiful. Of course, you want to stroll the whitewashed streets of bougainvillea-draped Posi...

In Lonely Plan-It, we take you step by step through how we put together some of the most complicated travel adventures. Here, Eva Sandoval explains how she planned a trip around the Amalfi Coast using only public transport.
Wine-dark seas, lemon groves and stacks of pastel-hued houses perched perilously on a stretch of craggy coastline. It’s not a dream: you’re on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
Now your only worry is reaching its most stunning destinations. Maybe you love driving overseas; maybe you, ...

Life is full of pasta-bilities!
Surprise, surprise! Spaghetti is the most popular pasta in Italy–at least according to a July 2021 poll by the Unione Italiana Food ranking the country’s top ten pasta shapes. Spaghetti nabbing the number one spot will hardly come as a shock; it’s undoubtedly the pasta shape most strongly associated with Italian cuisine. It tops the poll just ahead of the also internationally-beloved penne rigate and fusilli, followed by rigatoni, farfalle, linguine, lumachine,...

Mountainous Abruzzo might just be the Italy that time — and tourism — forgot. This under-visited region is a sprawl of Apennine landscapes dotted with lakes. It’s interspersed with medieval hilltop villages that often have pre-Roman, tribal origins. It’s also home to extensive protected areas of land and three national parks, including the Parco Nazionale della Majella. And it’s in Italy so, of course, there are incredible culinary experiences on offer, such as saffron-steeped risotto and liq...