When most people think about New York, they think of Manhattan, or maybe even Brooklyn. But there is another borough that is worth checking out: Staten Island. Staten Island may share the “718” area code with Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, but it distinguishes itself with its own unique … Read more
Bigger is Better Kodiak Island, Alaska, is where the American frontier ran out of land and went to sea. For a tourist it is the unheralded gem of the state, a wild, primeval combination of big mountains and big ocean. Its history is rich, too, first settled 7,500 years ago … Read more
Beyond Hong Kong, What a Difference a Day Makes Soaring skyscrapers plastered in neon, 24-hour nightlife, fabulous shopping that ranges from the suspiciously cheap to the seriously glamorous, and some of the best Chinese food in the world. For most visitors this is Hong Kong, and to be fair, it’s … Read more
“Beyond Angkor Wat” No trip to Southeast Asia is truly a trip without a visit to Cambodia, particularly to Siem Reap, home of the magnificent and awe-inspiring Angkor Wat temples. Not only have these UNESCO world heritage sites outlasted monsoon rains, various wars and the Khmer Rouge regime, they … Read more
Lush Valleys to Snowy Peaks From my front-row seat at “Pure Energy, Pure Chile” – a multimedia light show celebrating Chile’s Bicentennial – the presidential palace in the capital of Santiago was a spectacular site, illuminated in vivid purple. The building became the backdrop for a visual history lesson … Read more
LA Local: A Tale of Six Neighborhoods Sunset Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, the Hollywood Hills—it’s all quite glamorous. It’s also your typical LA story. As a new resident of Southern California, I owed it to myself to dig a bit deeper. What I discovered is that the real stars of Los … Read more
Rhett Butler was not exactly being cynical when he made up his mind in Gone With the Wind to leave Atlanta. “I’m going back to Charleston, back where I belong,” he said. “I want peace. I want to see if somewhere there isn’t something left in life of charm … Read more
As surprising as it may sound, Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, Ludacris, and The Charlie Daniel’s band all have something in common. They all wrote songs about the Empire State of The South, The Peach State, Hot ‘Lanta, or as it is most commonly known to outsiders, Georgia. With a population … Read more
What’s Going On A Mile Above The Rest As a former resident of Denver, it was easy to take for granted the beauty and simplicity of the city where I lived. But as a New Yorker going back to visit Denver, it’s easy to see why Denver has been … Read more
Stepping into a Postcard Machu Picchu ends up on most of our “someday” lists at one point, and I just got to check it off mine. Though my husband and I didn’t hike to it via the Inca Trail, we still worked up a trip full of adventure and magic, … Read more
When Detroit, the Motor City, morphed into Motown, the automotive capital of the world became Hitsville, U.S.A., as the phenomenon of the pop-soul sound was unleashed on the world. Today Detroit is on the cusp of a 21st-century transformation, as urban agriculture puts down roots in this post-industrial landscape, a … Read more
U.K’s Little Secret Photos © Crown copyright (2010) Visit Wales Being of Irish descent with family both in Ireland and England, I’ve been to those countries on many occasions, each time seduced by the beauty of areas like Connemara or the Cotswolds. Over the years, I’ve also visited Scotland and … Read more
A Red Star is Reborn “Are you ready to get into the time machine?” Zsófi our tour guide said.“Look around you and we will soon discover what Budapest used to be like, but before we start what year do think it is?” she continued.Everyone in the group answered “the 50’s, … Read more
What’s New in Belgrade Let’s get straight to the point: there are certain things that could happen only in Belgrade. In many capital cities, a usual meeting point is by a monument of a local historic figure. Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia and Montenegro, is no different. However, instead of … Read more
It is a city full of mystery, full of life, full of history. When one sees Prague for the first time, you might even say it’s hard to believe that it’s a real city — not some movie backdrop of a made up fairy tale European wonderland. While most cities … Read more