If comparisons between Lisbon and San Francisco are to be believed - and I heard many such statements before coming here, from friends and Rick Steves - this is where they come from. Walking up hills on winding, narrow streets while dodging street cars that rattle by does indeed remind me of San Francisco, at…
"It's just a stone circle." "It's too crowded." "I don't see what the big deal is." These were the things people told me before I went to Stonehenge. And... yes, it's a stone circle. Yes, it's crowded, even in the pouring rain. But Stonehenge is absolutely a big deal. For that matter, so is Salisbury,…
The Wren Library is bright, despite its complete lack of electric lighting. Even on this cloudy day, its huge glass windows allow more than enough sunshine in for the eight or so researchers and librarians lucky enough to work here, and the fifteen visitors allowed in at a time. It smells of old books, of…
"Where are you going in England?" all my friends asked me as I planned my trip. "London," I said and they nodded. "Bath, Cambridge, Stratford-Upon-Avon," to more nods and grins. "Norwich," I told them. This time, the looks were more puzzled. I mentioned that my cousin Anisa (of Two Traveling Texans fame) lived there, and…
Tourism to religious sites normally isn't associated with America. The holy sites of Jerusalem, St. Peter's and the Vatican, the mosques of Istanbul, or temples and shrines of Japan or Thailand, these are known around the world for being destinations in and of themselves. But in the US? It's hard to imagine someone visiting Washington…
Cincinnati. Queen City. Once a hugely important river port and cultural hub of the Midwest, it has since faded mostly to obscurity. Nationally unimportant, it is, in a word, pleasant. Cincinnati isn't at the top of many tourist lists, and perhaps it shouldn't be, but a few days here can provide for a truly delightful…
For many people, visiting Los Angeles means the beach, Hollywood, or Beverly Hills. Too many overlook downtown, or DTLA as it's called by locals. That's a shame, as downtown offers some truly awesome sights, especially those with cultural significance. In this itinerary, we bring the incredible arts scene of downtown LA into the center of…
Sometimes, it seems that the places closest to us are the biggest unknowns. I've lived in Los Angeles for the majority of my life, and yet it is only now as a writer that I am beginning to see many of the sights here in my hometown. Over the past year, I have explored ancient…
If ever the name of a place could conjure up specific imagery, Tombstone, Arizona is such a place. The town, a silver boomtown in the late nineteenth century, has been sensationalized in books, songs, and films as a rough and tumble western outpost, with its entire history summed up by a singular event: the gunfight…
The last time I was here I was maybe eight years old. I was not the same person and this was not the same Watts, a neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles best known for a series of riots in 1965. But these are the same Watts Towers. The soaring man-made pinnacles, the tallest of…