Untouched by the glaciers that leveled the northern part of the state, Southern Indiana swells and ebbs against an unending sky, forested hills, and ancient farms. On its winding two-lane roads, it unfolds like a good story… slow turns, familiar scenes, a feeling that you’ve been here before, even if you haven’t. Santa Claus, Indiana,…
The Guadalupe River appeared benign – quiet, slow-moving, fishy-looking. It was just what a visitor from a thousand miles away expected in the Central Texas Hill Country, a region of big skies, gentle hills and open land that native son President Lyndon Johnson loved. The Hill Country is north of San Antiono and south of…
By the thousands they came, between 1880 and 1920, fleeing poverty and starvation in Southern Italy to power America’s factories, build roads and dig tunnels. Like every wave of newcomers, the hard-working Italians found comfort in recreating the familiar recipes and cooking techniques they’d left behind. Little did they know la pizza, the humble flat…
In the valley of Viñales, the smoke from Cuban cigars mingles in an atmosphere rich in history and contradiction. Join writer and photographer Robert Holmes as he explores how this humble agricultural region in Cuba has become the heart of a luxury export trade, and the exotic visage that masks the reality of rural hardship, outdated infrastructure, and the heavy weight of a global reputation.
By David DeVoss It was the opening game of the baseball season and the atmosphere at Legends Field, home of the Kansas City Monarchs, resembles that of a carnival. Four skydivers dressed in bright primary colors started the festivities by parachuting onto center field. Action then shifts to the infield, where a handful of Little…
By Jacqueline Swartz New Orleans is not the only French city in America. From the cafes near the French Consulate to the celebration of Bastille Day; from the Museum of the Legion of Honor (a copy of the one in Paris) to the Matisse paintings donated by the Gertrude Stein family to the Museum of…
Leipzig hosts the world’s largest annual Bachfest featuring roughly 3,600 musicians. More than 76,000 Bach fans attended BachFest in Leipzig in 2024. Photo by Philipp Kirschner, courtesy of Leipzig Travel. By Teresa Bitler If Johann Sebastian Bach could join the tourists and university students in Leipzig, Germany’s City Center today, he’d struggle to recognize the…
Although Phnom Penh dates its origin from the 14th century, it wasn’t until 1863 that the city began to take its modern form. That was when Cambodia became a French protectorate, following King Norodom’s request for assistance in deflecting the armies of Thailand and Vietnam. In 1866, Norodom moved his capital from rural Oudong to the confluence of the Mekong, Tonlé Sap and Bassac rivers. Four years later, he built a Royal Palace in the iconic style of the Khmer Empire. Its spires still soar skyward, its sacred elements reflecting Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Few organized tours in contemporary Phnom Penh consider the colonial architectural heritage. This is a shame. It can easily be explored in a stroll of only about 10 minutes from Wat Phnom, the medieval pagoda that is, in its essence, the center of the city.
Caskets in the shape of fish, tennis shoes and ice cream bars crafted by Accra carpenter Eric Kpakpo Adotey, who designs made-to-order fantasy coffins. Photo by Charles Cecil. By Charles Cecil People go to Ghana to see historic coastal slave castles. Others come to buy kente cloth for a colorful wall hanging. Reasonably priced tailors…
Today’s visitors to Turkiye’s Cappadocia come for two reasons – spectacular sunrise ascents over the rugged terrain in hot air balloons and stooped-over descents into underground retreats that protected residents from ancient predators traveling through the Tarsus Mountains. These hand-dug hideouts were elaborately engineered, multi-layered warrens of tunnels and rooms, some of which descended more than 275 feet into the earth. Among the people who hunkered down in them were early Christians determined to spread their faith across Asia Minor. The existential threats in the early centuries following Jesus’ resurrection came not only from Roman governors and Jewish Pharisees but also from Silk Road highway men passing through Cappadocia. Disputes could be doctrinal, territorial, or simply monetary. Regardless, the early Christians were not the first to seek underground shelter here.