I stood in Tiananmen Square (above) on a windswept, sunny morning, and gazed at the locals and tourists milling about under the watchful visage of Chairman Mao’s portrait. Having just arrived in China the previous …
June 5, 2015
Go Abroad!
Beijing: first impressions
Craft beer's eastern front
Poland is the forerunner in the Eastern European craft brewing world. Serbia and Bulgaria are right behind.
June 3, 2015
What enters with difficulty goes not out easily
Some men there are whose love becomes true only after long converse, much contemplation, and extended familiarity. Such a one is likely to persist and to be steadfast in his affection, untouched by the passage …
June 3, 2015
After the Wave: Sumatra, Indonesia
While living in Asia I decided to travel a bit. My first stop was the island of Sumatra, Indonesia – devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in 14 different …
May 21, 2015
Grandma drove a tank while pregnant in 1948 Jerusalem
Israel was the first foreign country I visited, in 1980, four months after I was born. Although my Jewish-ish parents didn’t take my brother and me to temple, I went to the Holy Land six …
May 20, 2015
Temple of Wes
Dear Hipster: What would be the ultimate hipster vacation destination for this summer? — Deb, Golden Hill Well, until recently that might have stumped me enough to cop something lamely ironic, and overzealously punctuated, like, …
May 20, 2015
Tour de Belgium: Sax and the saxophone
Last year, Belgium celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax. His birthplace and important milestones occurred in the Wallonia (French-flavored) part of the country. It’s his inventions …
May 12, 2015
The real Chiang Rai
After easing through Phuket and bustling through Bangkok, the Northern mountainous jungle villages of Chiang Rai left the friendly smiles of the big cities behind. My first impression of Chiang Rai? Holy crap! Never before …
May 4, 2015
Rhodes, Greece: island of the knights
Rhodes is probably best known as the island once home to the Colossus of Rhodes, a 98-foot-high statue of the Greek god Helios and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Today, the …
April 23, 2015
Mud and infidels: Djenné, Mali
When the first rays of sunrise strike the great mosque at Djenné, many believers fall to their knees from its beauty. Djenné, Mali, is a fly speck on a map. Overlooked by most travelers, it's …
April 7, 2015
Ağva's "Club Bar"
My friend Saba and I decided to take a trip outside of Istanbul to Ağva, a vacation village in the mountains, by the Black Sea. Saba is a native Turk, but she majored in American …
March 31, 2015
Adventures in Tawi-Tawi
Editor's note: The author visited Tawi Tawi in 2007. There are a few more accommodations there now, it looks like. A few years ago, ignoring the advice of our horrified Filipino friends, my wife and …
March 26, 2015
Switzerland's Jungfrau
Riding the train up to the 11,371-foot Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest point accessible by railway, I fell in love. I first glimpsed her after departing Grindelwald station, when the cogwheel stopped briefly at Brandegg and she …
March 23, 2015
Eating an Iloilo feast by hand
I guess the universe wanted me to learn more about Filipino cuisine. Or at least Yana Gilbuena did. She reached out to tell me about her ambitious Salo Project, for which the chef has been …
March 17, 2015
Sevilla goes to Seville
Like a call from a muezzin when it starts, the tone grows gradually more profound. Rhythm gets stronger and more intense – now accompanied by the powerful stamping of feet from a dancer, whose long, …
March 10, 2015