Colombian Hospitality: Intro to Bogota
Hospitality Every culture has its own form of hospitality. Some people make us feel at home right away, while for others it takes more time to warm up to new people and new situations. As an exchange student in Japan, my “favorite” host family, the one I still keep in touch with, welcomed me as […]
Don’t Skip: Qingdao, China
Intro to Qingdao We visited Qingdao quite unintentionally, but it turned out to be a great stop. Located at the southern tip of the Shandong peninsula, this charming port city has a different feel than any other place we visited in China. From 1897 to 1914, Germany administered Qingdao as a concession, and made a […]
Galveston Island Day Trip
Galveston Island Located about an hour south of Houston on the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Island is a barrier island that has been hit hard by powerful hurricanes and storms. In 1900, Galveston was a wealthy seaport with 38,000 residents, many of whom had prospered from the cotton trade. In fact, Galveston was the first city in Texas […]
Don’t Skip: Gyeongju, South Korea
Intro to Gyeongju Once the capital of the ancient Silla Kingdown, which ruled most of the Korean peninsula from the 7th to 9th century, Gyeongju maintains a concentration of temple and palace remains, Buddhist art, statues, pagodas and other historical sites is unparalleled elsewhere in the country. We spent our time in Gyeongju wandering among […]
Don’t Skip: Bundi
Intro to Bundi The region in the northwest of India known as Rajasthan has long been a favorite base for cultural and historic exploration. Most popular routes include the three J’s: the Pink City and capital, Jaipur, the Blue City, Jodhpur, and the Desert City, Jaisalmer, along with Pushkar and Udaipur, the City of Lakes. […]
Edinburgh
With a castle that sits atop a dormant volcano, countless historic places and spaces, Gothic cathedrals, amazing architecture, modern museums and galleries, and ghostly underground vaults, Edinburgh has a lot to offer! The Royal Mile The Royal Mile, which runs between the Castle at the top down to Holyrood Abbey, is geared toward tourists, and […]
Don’t Skip: Bikaner, India
Desert Outpost Bikaner Firmly planted in western Rajasthan Bikaner has a distinctly different feel from the other Rajasthani cities we’ve visited thus far. It’s a big city, but one that seems more like a desert outpost than a modern urban center. Camels are everywhere, used here mostly for pulling carts and work in agriculture. Hauling […]
Udaipur, City of Lakes
Udaipur is known as the romantic City of Lakes. Throughout Rajasthan, people kept asking when we would visit this quaint, yet well-touristed spot. The city is as picturesque as promised, oriented around Lake Pichola. Bathing and clothes washing ghats are always in use, while a major temple, the City Palace, hotels and restaurants enjoy lovely […]
Jaipur: A New, Rosy Outlook in the Pink City
Rajasthan Arrival On the road leading to Jaipur we pass fields of bright yellow mustard. Bullock carts are replaced by camel carts. Some camels have intricate designs shaved into their fur, or brightly colored pom poms, streamers or bangles to make them more beautiful than the competition. Occasionally, desert girls peer from draped headscarves, revealing […]
Avoiding Aggravation in Agra
Forewarned and a little nervous, we arrived in Agra by train after dark. Stories of scams, being overcharged and harassed abound: gem scams, fake marble souvenirs, aggressive vendors, unscrupulous drivers who just want to take you to shops, hotels or restaurants where they get a commission. As much as we wanted to see the Taj […]