Columns

by Yvonne Michie Horn

I’d come to the city of Oaxaca, southern Mexico’s cultural treasure, for a two-week immersion in Spanish. During that time, I wandered around the Old City in my off-school hours, jumping at every opportunity to practice my emerging language skills. As I walked cobbled streets, I kept running into the name of Francisco Toledo, Oaxaca’s reigning contemporary artist.

“Toledo is a seed,” my teacher told me. “Toledo has insisted that our total culture be preserved, and now nearly every art form is flourishing here, creating an ambience, a sense of the entire...

Part 3 of 4 on India & Nepal

It is an impossible task to convey in these few pages any real detail concerning the numerous varied attractions of the four distinct destinations in central India that are the subject of this column. My goal, instead, shall be to convey essence and hopefully inspire readers to further explore this important region.

I will proceed in the order of my visitations during a May 2008 individual tour of India and Nepal hosted by SITA World Tours (Encino, CA; 800/421-5643, www.sitatour.com).

Agra and the Taj Mahal

Driving from Jaipur...

(Part 2 of 2 on the Azores)

The second portion of my November ’08 sojourn to the Portuguese Azores with my wife, Gail, focused on the capital city of Ponta Delgada and the main island of São Miguel. The three days we spent on the island, hosted by Azores Express and the Azores tourist office, resulted in our having a capsule view of a lifestyle we found to be enviable.

Arriving in Ponta Delgada on our interisland flight from Pico in late afternoon, we were met by our guide for the next three days, Eduardo Almeida. He would prove to be exemplary and the key to our fast-...