Please note that this article addresses a particular aspect of the Argentine economy pertinent to tourists. It is not meant in any way to make light of the very real economic issues faced by locals, especially those who struggle to begin with. When traveling, the subject of how to exchange currency can have some complications.…
Editor’s Note: I had a single day in Charleston before I started The Royal Tour, a day that was so rainy and foggy that I couldn’t even see the water from a waterfront walkway. Even soaking wet and cold, Charleston was beautiful, and this longer look into this historic city from Sam Spector is making…
When I was a child, I had a book of humorous poems about the American Presidents. From Washington to Reagan (wow that dates me), the book had an entry for each, some discussing aspects of their terms and others just talking about them as people. In writing this article, I searched my childhood bedroom for…
It’s been a week (as of writing this) since I got back from Santo Domingo, after an amazing two and a half weeks in what can only be thought of as chaos in paradise. I’m sitting at a local coffee shop in Los Angeles, reflecting on the trip, on what I saw, what I experienced,…
It can be hard sometimes to take a long look at oneself in the mirror and to admit fault. It can be harder still for an institution to do so, and yet even more difficult for a nation. But that is exactly why it is so important. Washington, DC has no shortage of world-class museums…
To say that the Dominican Republic has had an unstable political history is an understatement. The country gained independence in 1844, and since then, 54 individuals have served as President over a total of 66 various periods, not including military juntas, councils of state, or other interim leaders. And this isn’t even speaking of the…
It is no question that in the 1920s, the Dominican Republic was in bad shape. Political instability is an understatement; the country had 28 revolutions in a 50 year span. The country was in debt to the US, for which repayment the United States took over the Dominican militarily, as well as taking control of…
This is, without a doubt, one of the ugliest monuments I’ve ever visited. The Faro a Colon, or Columbus Lighthouse, is a masterpiece of brutalism, a $70 million towering edifice of cement, visible from all over the city. It is perched atop a hill in eastern Santo Domingo, just across the Ozama River from the…
It is impossible to miss the statue. Almost brutalist in its stone starkness standing atop a square building, it was lit up at night as my Uber from Santo Domingo’s airport took me into the city, skirting the Colonial Zone on my way to my hotel. I dismissed it. A few days later, passing by…
The festival is small, but cute. I am in Newberry Springs, California, about twenty minutes east of Barstow along Interstate 40, on a crisp November morning, joining literally thousands (not at one time) of locals and visitors honoring the little green nut, the pistachio. Here in California’s high desert (high referring to the elevation, significantly…