Features

February 2009 issue

Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova: touring three former Soviet republics

by Claus Hirsch, New York, NY

With many world travelers expanding their horizons beyond the popular tourist spots of Western Europe, increased attention is being paid to the former Soviet Republics and now-independent states of the former Yugoslavia.

Those who have been to places like Croatia and Slovenia, for example, know that those countries have many spectacular sights to lure the curious traveler. So, too, is the case with many of the former Soviet Republics, independent states since 1991 that are now trying to build on their long histories to establish new identities...

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June 2009 issue

Stepping into the past on an independent journey to East Africa

by Jim Sill, Silverado, CA

My self-guided, 7-week summer journey to East Africa was a search for my origins. Since we each are the result of our personal and collective experiences, on this trip I wanted to live life as it is now and as it might have been 10,000 years ago on the continent where Homo sapiens originated.

My itinerary included places and activities that would uniquely weave the past into the present. There was Tofo, a ’60s time warp in southern Mozambique where I could surf, meet other surfers and enjoy uncrowded beaches; Tanzania’s National Museum in Dar es...

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April 2011 issue

Berlin, Munich & Oberammergau: Sampling the sights and tastes of Germany

by Dorothy Chang-Van Horn; Manhattan Beach, CA

My niece, Dorothy, and I used our American Airlines frequent-flyer miles to book a business-class flight to Berlin. We were scheduled to fly from LAX to JFK on June 11, 2010, continuing with Iberia to Madrid and on to Berlin. However, those plans were drastically altered when I received a phone call from American Airlines early the morning before, informing me that our flight was canceled due to equipment failure!

After reviewing several options, we chose a flight departing that night at 11:20.

I called Alex of Cheap...

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October 2009 issue

Awed by the Antarctic on a month-long cruise

by Dennis Sherwood, Gig Harbor, WA

Frigid water sprayed over us as our Zodiac plowed through choppy seas toward Livingston Island in the Antarctic South Shetlands. With every lurch of the small boat, icy torrents splashed the face of our intrepid driver, rivulets streaming from his salt-and-pepper beard, evoking a drenched schnauzer. Shielded by waterproof clothing, we turned from the waves and laughed aloud at our predicament, giddy with adventure!

The tour

As we made our final landing on a 27-day, December’08-January ’09 tour of the South Atlantic, we felt...

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August 2011 issue

A passion for Paris
Pop quiz: What do Bob Dylan, Ernest Hemingway, Cyrano de Bergerac, Queen Victoria’s eldest son, the Bloody Mary and the independent Nation of Texas have in common? Answer: All play a part in the rich lore of Paris, as presented by the outstanding walking tour organization Discover Walks.
January 2010 issue

Pinching pennies in Paris

by Paula Prindle, Orient, OH

On our most recent trip to Paris, in May ’09, my husband, David, and I decided to put to the test all the articles we had read about free things to do in the city. We had never found Paris to be particularly easy on the wallet, and on this trip we were really pinching pennies.

Making arrangements

We started our planning by booking our airline tickets with frequent-flyer miles. These can’t be counted as free tickets, since there were charges, taxes and fees amounting to several hundred dollars, but it was cheaper than buying the tickets...

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December 2011 issue

A month in Mexico City
Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo.
My month-long stay in Mexico City with my friend Carole was an experiment. I had spent Christmas in Mexico City in the 1980s and it became one of my more memorable holiday experiences, so I wondered, ‘Could it be duplicated?’ However, we were up against another memory: a mugging on the Metro there in 1998. Could this December ’10 experience override our memories from that fateful day in ’98 while re-creating my memories of a magical Christmas?
March 2009 issue

Madrassahs, monuments and mosques — a private tour of Uzbekistan

by Steven Emmet, Solana Beach, Ca.

“Uzbekistan?” “Where is it?” “Why are you going there?” “Is it safe?” These were the questions most often asked regarding my planned April-May ’08 trip.

Where is easily answered by a quick trip to Wikipedia. Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger Central Asian states but the only Central Asian state to border all the other four.

“Why?” is a more difficult question, but the...

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