Georgia: Black wine, polyphonic sounds
Some travel experiences leave a warm glow long after the event, and an evening spent in Georgian wine country last fall is in that category. The setting was a cozy restaurant in a hill town named Sighnaghi, and the after-dark hours spent there involved dinner, a wine tasting and an
Hungary: Horsemanship on steroids
I have from time to time seen photos of Hungarian horsemen riding their horses while standing on the horse. Finally, a couple of years ago, I had the chance to see this. I was traveling with a few other travel writers. Our excursion from Budapest was typical of what any
Germany: Now about that Onion Festival
There are a lot of onions at a festival that celebrates the onion. So, I suppose it sounds a bit odd when I say I thought I would see even more at the Onion Festival in Weimar, Germany, in the fall of 2015. There were countless stands displaying and selling
Germany: The pleasantest surprise
This fall (2015), a friend and I aimed to spend a weekend in Weimar, in the former East Germany, when the Onion Festival was on there. But we could not get a hotel room in Weimar. Erfurt, a larger city about a 15-minute train ride from Weimar, was our fallback.
Connecticut: Where the ‘glass’ is marble
I read this week that Yale University is buying a huge collection of photos, mostly focused on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era. To be more precise, it is Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and Yale University Art Gallery that are acquiring the collection, which includes 57,000
Traveling with teenagers in Italy, France
I’ve been clearing out old files, all to reduce clutter and, no doubt, to make room for more of the same. Rifling through old papers has jogged many a memory, recalling long-ago trips to destinations no longer safe to visit and, in particular, the trips I hosted to Europe for
Estonia: A squishy stroll
In early September of 2014, I walked on a bog in Estonia. I hasten to add that, given I was not adept at this, the walk was very short. Within minutes, I had gotten my boot buried past my ankle in the waterlogged moss that I was supposed to stay
New York: Touring the 9/11 Museum at Ground Zero
The 9/11 Museum, which opened in 2014, is underground, reaching down about 70 feet to bedrock. It extends under the two memorial reflecting pools that mark the footprints of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, destroyed by terrorists in 2001. The museum had to go below ground because it is
New York: Tickets for the 9/11 Museum
Last year, at my sister’s request, we booked a timed visit to the World Trade Center site in New York where I live, but this year (2014), with the 9//11 Museum now open, she wanted to return to see the new facility. So, we did just that. Timed entry tickets
Kenya and the world’s largest land mammal
I have a foster elephant, and her name is Kamok. Actually, quite a few people are foster “parents” to the same elephant. This youngster, born in September 2013 in Kenya, was orphaned at birth (natural causes, it says on her paperwork). David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s orphanage for elephants and rhinos,
New York: The Guggenheim and Italian Futurism
This past week (summer 2014), I had the great good fortune to participate in a guided tour of the current exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue in New York. The show is “Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe.” I was part of a press group, and our narrator
Kenya and a brilliant idea
On previous trips to Kenya, my game viewing was confined to national parks and national game reserves. Early this summer (2014), I returned with a press group. We did some of our game viewing in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Amboseli National Park, but we did more of it
Kenya in the news
This summer (2014), I watched two impalas butt heads while another closely guarded his harem, giraffes munch in the treetops, wildebeests run across a river by the hundreds, a young orphaned elephant drink milk from a bottle and sleepy lions yawn so broadly you could count their teeth. And one
Korea: Kings, queens and passengers
No one wants a long layover or a long wait for a flight anywhere for any reason. However, my recent several spare hours at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul, Korea, were about as good as a long wait gets. With time to kill, I stumbled onto something called the
Washington: A bloomin’ city
Cherry blossoms are always a winning sight, but they were especially enchanting this spring when, with a couple of friends, I spent a weekend in Washington, in 2014, during the city’s two-week National Cherry Blossom Festival. We went into full tourist mode, watching the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade (on
Switzerland on a budget?
Rex Fritschi is a long-time travel agent, now based in Wisconsin. But he was born in Switzerland and he occasionally returns to the homeland. He called me after a recent trip to discuss prices, meaning high prices. Mind you, he knew about the prices — after all, he is an
New York: Farm to table in Lake Placid
Asgaard Farm & Dairy in New York’s Adirondack Mountains is pretty picky about the products it will sell. Caitlin Aherne (who makes caramels — and soap — from goat’s milk at the farm in Au Sable Forks, N.Y.) said the proprietors recently fed an entire batch of below-standard goat cheese
Chile: Atacama, a desert with many faces
I did a lot of research about the Atacama, the world’s driest desert, for my book of travel trivia, but nothing beats seeing the place — which I finally was able to do when visiting Chile in 2012. My press group saw a wide range of “wondersome” natural attractions as
New York: The Village, tasty and charming
I have found the best-ever chocolate chip cookies. That is my opinion after a three-hour walking tour in New York’s Greenwich Village operated by Foods of New York Tours. Those cookies, especially good when warm from the oven, can be had at Milk and Cookies (19 Commerce St). Our tour
Montana: ‘Teepee capital of the world’
I write this in the wake of the annual Crow Fair, held in Crow Agency on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. The fair site is often called the “teepee capital of the world” because so many of the cone-shaped tents dot the grounds. Part of the time, I was
