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…
Some things just fascinate me, and become consuming, burning desires. Such it has been with this corner in Los Angeles, the corner of Adams Boulevard and Figueroa Street, which has long been on my list of places I just had to visit and write about. The story is shockingly uninteresting. Early on during the pandemic,…
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 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.…
If you visit Vienna, you’ll be faced with world-class tourist sights: grand palaces, vast parks, lovely museums covering impressive history. So what is the top thing, the single most important item any visitor to the Austrian capital just has to do? The answer is simple: eat cake. Vienna is known for its cafe culture, and…
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…
Editor’s note: I spent a couple days in Istanbul a decade or so ago, and will be returning this coming year with TRT writer Dan Warren. This itinerary by our traveling rabbi Sam Spector is a perfect starting point for my trip, and will be for yours as well. For more of Sam’s amazing adventures,…