I did not think that olive oil would alter my perspective on culture. But in a restored mill in Urla on the Aegean coast of Turkey, it did. Pelin Omuroglu gave me a little blue glass of olive oil and bade me not to gulp it down. “Smell,” she said. Then, “slurp.” It was initially confused, but soon I understood her intentions and began to savor the oil.…
It was only after getting out on the water that I truly realized how big Lake Powell is. When the Colorado River streams down behind the giant sandstone walls, it becomes not a place but an ever-changing environment, a world of time, drought and silent water persistence. You read about such places in travel news…
The situation did not interest me when it was first encountered. I came to Dachau by train, which is the typical route that visitors take before they begin their bus journey through peaceful bucolic areas. The path included residential areas together with several retail outlets and one educational institution. The path did not provide any…
This day of February 22 started just like any other travel day I have learned to like. We were driving along Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacan, passing through silent artisan villages that seemed to be miles away in time. The village of Erongaricuaro possessed that comfortable, inhabited quality that I seek on my Central America Travel…
The period of 1880-1920 saw the influx of immigrants from Southern Italy into the United States in great numbers, carrying their simple food traditions with them. One of these was pizza, a humble flatbread with small portions of cheese, sausage, or tomato sauce. Initially, a convenient, cheap meal, pizza, over time, has developed into a…
The downtown Havana hotel room was smoky, and the smoke lingered on the clothes long after a visitor left the room. I stood still and saw a group of full-throated European and North American men going around with cigars and glasses of rum, as if it were the city ritual. It was luxurious, almost extravagant—but…
A bull elephant is not an animal you take lightly—I had known that long before I found myself standing in front of one in northern Thailand. But knowing and experiencing are two very different things. In many Asia Pacific travel recommendations, encounters like this are often described as unforgettable, but nothing quite prepares you for the reality. When brother elephants Kham Meun and Dodo…
From Sky to River to Road: My Ultimate Safari Experience I would imagine an African safari to be a jeep tour through an open grass field. But it was far more when I was doing it myself. Africa has some of the most amazing wildlife sightings in their natural habitats anywhere on our planet. From…
I would have thought that the only way to see infinite tulip fields was to travel to the Netherlands. But it was not the case when I had visited Holland, Michigan, during the first week of May. I entered when the town was taken over by the Tulip Time festival. Tulips were everywhere. They were…
In the past, travel and interest in culture directed me to deserts and crowded cities. But I did not have a lot of expectations of Antarctica. Icebergs were not essential to the enjoyment of travel and cultural analysis. It started with two days of open sea sailing across the Drake Passage from Ushuaia, Argentina to…