Doorways decorated for Dia de Muertos. Picture by Ramaa Reddy

Spain’s Colonial Heart Beats Seductively in Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende

Culture, History, North America, Travel

San Miguel de Allende lies in the Eastern part of Mexico’s State of Guanajuato, about a three-hour journey from Mexico City. It’s a cobblestoned colonial town with pastel-colored buildings that has changed a lot over the past century yet remained remarkably the same. The city’s main square, or Jardin Principal, is canopied by trees. It’s a popular local hangout where Mariachi bands roam about awaiting paying customers. On the Northern corner stands the majestic Catholic church, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel.

mall corridor

Maybe it Isn’t The Worst Thing to Spend Time in These Airports

Business, Travel

There are over 40,000 airports worldwide where passengers are likely to spend multiple hours before their departures. That assumes that the flight is on time, which it’s often not. Not many travelers enjoy sitting around a packed airport waiting anxiously. Fortunately, a growing number of airports today are taking steps to provide a more pleasing experience, attracting in the process many people who aren’t even ticketed passengers.

CASTLE DOME_CANTINA

Dead Yet Still Alive, Three Western Ghost Towns Beguile Intrepid Visitors

America, History, Travel

When gold was discovered in a frigid creek running through the Sierra Nevada foothills in January of 1848, a headlong Gold Rush began that soon would change the American West. By the following year, hardscrabble prospectors called “49ers” were discovering gold, silver, copper, lead and other valuable metals in isolated canyons bypassed by earlier pioneers. Today, many 19th-century mining communities are eerie ghost towns whose storied pasts consist of crumbling foundations, swirling dust and dangerous fissures. And yet, over the course of time, as decades become eras before turning into centuries, a few towns have survived the sun, storms and inattention.