Editor’s note: I’ve barely scratched the surface of Oceania, and the Cook Islands aren’t even on my radar. Until now. I mean, just read Hedy’s descriptions of the beauty and culture, and you’ll want to go, too. For more of Hedy’s writing, click here to visit her index page. Until a year ago, I didn’t…
There is no shortage of places of historical interest in England. But here in the north, one city shines above the rest in that respect: York. Well preserved, beautiful, and fascinating, York could easily be a destination in and of itself, with more than enough to do to last a week or more. Well, I…
Editor’s note: I’ve been to Tzfat twice, although not since I was much younger. My tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) is from here, and is one of my most valued possessions. For Jews, or for those who seek to learn more about Judaism, it is an amazing place to visit. For more of Rabbi Sam Spector’s…
Few things both unite and divide the United Kingdom (and especially England) more than football. European football, soccer to us in the States. England is home to nearly 100 professional football clubs (with a few in Wales) arranged in four levels, and a whopping 5,000 clubs in the amateur levels below that. It is absolutely…
What do you get when you cross a reclaimed storied industrial area with the single most famous thing to ever come from your city? It sounds like a joke in need of a good punchline, but it’s actually a totally rhetorical question. The answer is that you get Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock, Britain’s historically most…
If I’m going to be completely honest, Manchester blew away my expectations. I booked my trip as a stopover point, an easy gateway to fly into before heading to Scotland. Sure, it makes up a large portion of the UK’s second biggest metro area. Yes, it has been an economic and industrial power, so dominating…
In recent decades, Sicily has become a top tourist destination. And really, why not? Mediterranean coastline, mild winters and hot summers, good food and wine, fascinating ancient history and some reasonably exciting more modern stories as well… what else could a traveler want? Add to that reasonable prices in comparison to most of Western Europe,…
It is impossible to speak of one without speaking of the other: Catania, Sicily’s second largest city with a metro population around a million, and Etna - called Mama Etna by the locals - the mighty volcano towering over it. For as long as there have been humans present in eastern Sicily, Mt. Etna has…
I wasn’t planning to write about this. When I travel, I tend to outline what I feel my articles will be. So when my Sicily tour scheduled a morning to visit a Roman villa, I thought, ‘I’ve seen Roman villas before. This won’t be exciting enough to write about. I’ll focus on Greek and Phoenician…
Editor’s note: I’ve been to Japan twice, but have not made it down to Hiroshima. It is the single top place on my Japan bucket list for my next trip, and I’m grateful to writer Sam Spector for his brief but awesome guide to a visit. For more of Sam’s adventures, click here to visit…