While most of the country is under snow from the recent cold snap, it is a beautiful day in the low 60s here in Los Angeles, sandwiched between a couple of (unfortunately rare) late season rain storms. In other words, it is a perfect day to find a neighborhood to explore, getting to know my…
It is a beautiful fall afternoon in Munich’s English Garden, and the city has come out to enjoy it. An area larger than New York’s Central Park, the English Garden is a vast urban green space of wide lawns, man-made streams created by diverted water from the Isar River, monuments, tall trees, and beer gardens.…
Editor’s note: back before I was a writer, I worked in the Jewish community doing major gifts fundraising. One organization I worked for hosted a community trip to Tbilisi - about two months before I started there. So I missed out. Sam’s article about the city - and all the things he saw in a…
A crisp October morning feels a bit colder in the shadows. While it is already almost 10am, the sun has yet to peek above the mountains marking the border between Liechtenstein and Austria, mountains towering over 8,000 feet, rising steeply from the Rhine Valley below. I crossed the Rhine this morning from my hotel in…
Editor’s note: while a bit out of order with Sam’s Caucuses trip, I felt it important to present his side trip into Armenia after his articles from Azerbaijan. Georgia will be next. For more of Sam’s awesome travels, click here to visit his index page. One of the greatest surprises and inspirations for my travels…
It’s good to be the king. Well, in this case, it’s good to be the emperor. Or empress. Vienna served as the imperial capital of the Austrian Empire (later the Austro-Hungarian Empire), and was the seat of the Habsburg dynasty. This family had titles ranging from Duke/Duchess to Holy Roman Emperor, and everything between, from…
It’s just different here. Just like it’s different having a bowl of pasta in Rome or dancing flamenco in Seville, classical music is somehow different in Vienna than anywhere else. Maybe it’s because there is more of it; pretty much everywhere you go you’ll be approached by people dressed as Mozart selling concert tickets for…
Editor’s note: while certainly not as prominent as Rabbi Sam’s, my Jewish identity plays an important role in both my life and my travels. Before reading this article, I had never heard of Quba. But now, I look forward to one day experiencing a different aspect of the history of my people through a visit…
Editor’s note: the FOMO is real with this one. Not only is Peru a destination right at the top of my travel wish list, but this specific trip was taken by my two best and oldest friends, Ari and Dan. For more of Dan’s incredible adventurous travel stories, click here to visit his index page.…
I love this town, I think for about the hundredth time in the past few days. Whether I’m looking at a cool old - or brand new - building, enjoying a food I’ve never tried before, marveling at a tree lined square with a burbling fountain, or even just pleasantly surprised at a free public…