Three American-born tour guides who have settled in Europe tell us what it's like to make a new home in a foreign country. Then, a lifelong resident of Italy's Veneto region helps us explore the Venice Lagoon as an ever-changing ecosystem shaped by climate change, local history, and the distinct cultures of its islands.

• Amanda Buttinger, tour guide based in Madrid
• Jim McDonough, tour guide based in Berlin
• Tim Tendick, tour guide based in Rotterdam
• Venice-based tour guide Igor Scomparin

• Amanda Buttinger offers tours of Madrid, Barcelona, and surrounding areas.
• Jim McDonough provides custom tours in Berlin and Potsdam, and is a founding member of the Berlin Guides Association. His direct e-mail address is [email protected].
• Tim Tendick blogs about life in Rotterdam, with observations from the tours he leads in Romania and Cuba, on his Vagabond Urges website.
• The Erasmus-Plus program is sponsored by the European Commission, to give students opportunities to live and study in other European countries from their own.
• Tour guide Igor Scomparin is a life-long resident of the Veneto region. Details about his excursions to the islands in the Venice Lagoon are on his website.