By Kerrick James Later this summer, Americans will begin celebrating Route 66, America’s Mother Road. It was formally established on November 11, 1926, in the heart of the Roaring Twenties, when newly affordable automobiles like Ford’s Model T and Model A offered unparalleled freedom. Its mythic aura and worldwide fame have only swelled since the…
As a much younger adult, I was cash-strapped but thrilled to pay one affordable price for pretty much everything needed in a vacation: lodging, meals, beer and easy access to a swimming pool, walkable beach, perennial sunshine. But the longer the stay, the more restless my guy and I became with a confined location, the…
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.
By Marlene Goldman Towering above Uptown Oakland’s Broadway corridor, an Art Deco masterpiece still holds its head high nearly a century after its grand debut. The Paramount Theatre, now a National Historic Landmark, was built as a movie house with intricate decor to rival any theater in America. The majestic lobby evokes a South American…
Ah, to be in Holland when tulips burst into flower—Holland, Michigan. That is in Holland, Michigan, and it would be the first week in May, when the entire community and thousands of visitors turn out to immerse themselves in bloemen abundance at Tulip Time. So it has been since 1929. Given such longevity, Holland has its…
Baseball draws together all generations and classes in the timeless celebration of the game known as America’s Pastime. Stadium screens may pulsate with pixels, but baseball remains proudly analog, played by rules largely codified in the 1800s. Americans learn them at an early age, as players and spectators. That familiarity and sense of continuity fuel the game’s widespread popularity. Major League Baseball, with its grand, big-city stadiums and lucrative TV deals, gets most of the attention. But most fans agree that minor league teams are more fun to watch. They play in smaller, more intimate ballparks with less distance between players and fans, who pay much, much less for a summer evening’s entertainment.