History

Skeletons in the armoire: Paris catacombs

Under the city's streets is a vast, ancient network of tunnels.

The air was cool and exuded a musty, almost earthy odor. The passageway with squat ceilings no more than six feet high was lit by small dim lights, each bright enough to see only a ...

Secrets of Ghent

Most of us in the U.S. remember the name “Ghent” from the Treaty of Ghent that finally ended the War of 1812 with the British. At the time, communication was slow, and Gen. Andrew Jackson ...

Old-time California in Cambria

A classic coastal town on the PCH.

Unexpected. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think about my recent trip to Cambria, California. Cambria, located roughly a half hour north of San Louis Obispo, reminded me of the Midwest somehow. ...

El Paso from six feet under

No shortage of history in this Texan desert treasure.

I’ve never considered visiting graveyards a “must-see” travel experience, but I’ll have to admit that lately I am finding a wealth of history and a deep sense of place that develops necessarily when jaunting graveyard ...

Outside Central London

Consider these 3 stops for your next UK itinerary.

Central London has so much to offer, most travelers never make it beyond the innermost neighborhoods. Seeing the main sights – like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London – can easily fill ...

Perusing Poland

Gdańsk, Wrocław and more hard-to-pronounce Old World treasures.

A scenic train ride landed us in Gdańsk, at the edge of the Baltic Sea. Our apartment is 60M2. It's basically a two-bedroom apartment with a large living room that includes a third-floor balcony. I ...

The World's Edge: Cape Horn

This is a place of extremes. The name alone brings to mind images of explorers and traders in tall sailing ships working their way against horrendous seas and hurricane-strength winds. Set on its own small ...

Louisiana's Great River Road

Antebellum homes adorn the banks of the Mississippi above New Orleans.

Louisiana’s Great River Road is actually two historic corridors reaching seventy miles from New Orleans to beyond Baton Rouge on either side of the Mississippi. First Spanish, then French, and finally Creole landowners built their ...

Krakow: The “Real” Europe

Street names and more: an analysis of this Old World city's charm.

Krakow is special. Paris is fantastic, but so over-the-top and tourist-oriented that emotional connection is limited. When we arrived in Krakóv, and walked out on the Old Town square (above), my eyes teared up. I ...

A Discovery: Prague's Josefov

Remainders of the Holocaust in one of Europe's iconic cities.

“Josefov.” The center of Jewish influence in Prague. A few other temples are scattered around the oldest part of the city, but Josefov is the vortex of Prague’s Jewish past. It was this name of ...