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 …
History
Perusing Poland
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 …
April 11, 2013
Louisiana's Great River Road
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 …
April 9, 2013
Krakow: The “Real” Europe
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 …
March 26, 2013
A Discovery: Prague's Josefov
“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 …
March 21, 2013
Trip to Basel, Birthplace of LSD
Behind Basel, Switzerland’s bourgeois persona is a mind-blowing history currently experiencing its 70th anniversary. Inside the walled-off compound where multinational pharmaceutical giant Novartis (formed when Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz merged) is headquartered is a futuristic glassy-steel …
March 21, 2013
Motorbiking the Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail follows the infamous supply route created by the North Vietnamese guerrillas during the Vietnam War. We began our motorbike journey from Hanoi (left), headed toward the south to Ho Chi …
March 14, 2013
Kibuye, Rwanda: Three Days Out of Thirty
MONDAY I could write for hours, but I am toast. The Kibuye stadium is being torn down; the walls are gone and only a portion of the stands remain. It is best that the horrible …
Celebrate Amsterdam
Though it can be fairly said that Amsterdam is always ready for a party, this year the city is really celebrating. 2013 is the 400th anniversary of its famous canal ring, now a UNESCO World …
March 7, 2013
Israel… A Tale of Two Cities
In no other country in the world are the two largest cities such polar opposites. Jerusalem, Israel's ancient and current capital city, is both informed and haunted by its history. Tel Aviv, on the other …
March 7, 2013
Cultured Staunton, Virginia
Why are people from around the world flocking to Staunton, Virginia, a little railroad town nestled in the Shenandoah Valley? Staunton, pronounced “Stant-on,” isn’t content to merely be a scenic historic stop 10 miles west …
February 22, 2013