I wrote about Cartagena in 2015 (see my post “Colombia’s Hidden Secret”) and now, on my third visit to this beautiful city, I am still captivated. Forget what you might think still exists about gangs and drug lords of the past. Cartagena de Indias, as the city was known in the colonial era, has been…
Continue reading →The third most photographed home in America, after the White House and Graceland, Villa Casa Casuarina regularly attracts a throng of tourists and curiosity seekers at its address on Ocean Drive in the swank and wealthy neighborhood of South Beach, Miami. Perhaps due to its opulent Mediterranean revival architecture that stands out among the Art…
Continue reading →Bonaire is the “B” in the ABC islands, along with Aruba and Curacao. It is a small island with a desert landscape of succulents, cactus and eroded coral cliffs, conquered by the Dutch in 1636. Bonaire is not for everyone, but it is for divers and snorkelers who want to immerse themselves in the vibrant…
Continue reading →The “C” in the ABC islands is Curacao. You might know the name better from the local liqueurs, with the same name, that the island is famous for. The largest of the three islands, Curacao also has the biggest population and one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean due to its well-developed…
Continue reading →The western-most Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, in the Leeward Antilles off the coast of Venezuela, are collectively known as the ABC islands. They share a Dutch colonial history, a West Indian heritage, and are fortuitously situated outside the tropical hurricane belt, making them an attractive playground for laid-back globetrotting sun seekers and snowbirds….
Continue reading →There is nothing like being a tourist in your own country. But in our very own Miami, everyone seems like a tourist in this melting pot of a city, with people from everywhere including Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Europe… and, did I mention Cuba? Our hotel was right on the Miami waterfront where…
Continue reading →In ancient Greek mythology, a jealous competition arose among the gods to become the patron deity of the beautiful and prosperous city of Cecropia. The story tells of Poseidon, who presented the gift of water to persuade the citizens to choose him. They were at first thrilled, until they realized that, as god of the…
Continue reading →Only a two-hour ride from the port city of Volos, on the fringe of the flat fertile plains of the Thessaly region of central Greece, the town of Kalambaka lies beneath the spectacular windswept monolithic pillars and rounded rocks of Meteora, also known as the Grand Canyon of Greece, rising abruptly from the flat fields…
Continue reading →The small geographic area where Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East converge is, arguably, the epicenter of world history and religions, existing together in guarded harmony. In November of 2016, our cruise from Rome to Dubai took us on a journey to this region where it was revelatory to see the diversity of…
Continue reading →For reasons I cannot explain There’s some part of me wants to see Graceland ~ Paul Simon The only time we were in Memphis, we did not go to Graceland, which I thought was just wrong. Now once again, we have headed south to escape the midwest winter gloom on a meandering drive destined for…
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