Old and New Philadelphia. Built in 1747, Independence Hall has been the focal point of Philadelphia for 275 years. Oblivious to the surrounding high rise office buildings, people from all over the world line up to walk through the diminutive chambers were history was made. By Rich Grant It’s become fashionable of late to denigrate…
By Karin Leperi It’s not often you arrive in town and your first thoughts are, “Get thee to a nunnery.” Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city, is one of those unexpected exceptions where that saying holds true. It’s a fascinating place where culture, history, religion, architecture, and stories from the past come together to define the…
By Rich Grant “Wild Bill” Hickok, of Dakota’s most boisterous boomtown, was such a romantic figure that it is hard to believe he really existed. Of course, through dime novels, movies, HBO, television shows and merchandising for 155 years, his image has become a caricature of the real thing. Look back at what contemporaries wrote…
Four of our greatest presidents. Or two slave owners, a racist and an Indian killer? Will a Minnesota beat cop’s act of brutality change America’s perception of its past? By Mark Orwoll There are countless paths across America. I’ve followed many of them. Route 66, with its tepee motels, trading posts, and homey cafés. The…
A wave of terror washed over me as I squinted through the windshield and drove a Trabant in Berlin, Germany. There were other cars on the street around me, and hordes of pedestrians crowded the sidewalks. This was no time to be faint-hearted! My damp hands clutched the steering wheel with a death grip as…
“Three cities, two countries, one region”, remarked former Texas State Senator Jose Rodriquez referring to El Paso Texas, Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua Mexico, the United States and Mexico. The saying is something you hear a lot in these parts, especially when it comes to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican city just across the…
By Kirsten Hahn This is not the summer for elaborate, extended vacations. Expensive family outings to Washington D.C. or Mt. Rushmore don’t make sense in the middle of a global pandemic. You can’t drive to St. Louis or Chicago to see the Cardinals and the Cubs when their ballparks are closed. So why not go…
Not your average Mardi Gras. Malta’s pre-Lenten Carnival emphasizes history and culture over skin and pulchritude. But revelers dressed as Queen Victoria and her court have a grand time nonetheless. By Liz Campbell The music is upbeat; the busy streets are overflowing with garishly costumed revelers. Nearby, a giant Sean Connery is playing the bagpipes,…
By Jacqueline Swartz I am floating like a cork on the salty Dead Sea, 1,400 feet below sea level, thinking about mud and history. Earlier, at the spa in the Hotel Dan, I was slathered in the mineral-rich ooze, said to be a remedy for arthritis, skin ailments and even wrinkles. Not the usual pampering…
Baden-Baden, the idyllic spa town at the foot of Germany’s Black Forest, draws spa-goers to its thermal waters and wine enthusiasts to its nearby vineyards. Walkers stroll the flower-dotted paths and hikers can trek up hills or attempt to summit the 2,191-ft Merkur Mountain.
The Romans discovered the thermal waters 2,000 years ago, as