Blog
“Faces Are Windows into Cultures Around the World” a Talk with the Philadelphia Society of Photographers
Watch a virtual presentation of my work for the Photographic Society of Philadelphia. My talk, titled “Faces are Windows into Cultures Around the World,” uses informal portraits of people I’ve taken around the globe to highlight local architecture, religion, customs, and a sense of place.
Visiting Évora’s Chapel of Bones
“What are we going to do with all these bones?” Sixteenth century Franciscan friars must have asked themselves this challenging question once the bones were dug up from cemeteries and local churchyards throughout Évora, Portugal. The bones and skulls of thousands of dearly departed must have created quite a huge pile. How did this situation come to be? And why here? A look at Évora’s history reveals the answers.
The Spring Garden Pops with Chartreuse
Six different species of chartreuse plants glow in the garden right now: a small tree, a shrub, two perennials, and two ground covers. Altogether, they make the garden pop. Each one attracts the visitor’s attention to admire its form, distinctive leaves, and in some cases, dramatic flowers. They brighten spaces, and by their presence, highlight their more subtle plant neighbors.
Getting from Here to There: Shakedown in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Just over two years later Rick and I joined Eva and Suresh, our Indian travel pals, for a month in their home country, including a nine-day visit in the middle of the journey to the island country of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), located off the southern tip of the subcontinent to the east. Aware of the 30-day restriction for re-entering the country, we visited the Indian Embassy in New York City a month before our U.S. departure
How to Choose a Local Travel Agency
When we pack our bags and hit the trail, Rick and I enjoy traveling by ourselves, or sometimes with longtime travel buddies Eva and Suresh. A lot of preparation goes into a travel adventure long before we board the plane. On trips to destinations that are culturally more familiar, like North America and most of Europe, we do our own trip planning––what to see, how to get there, and where to sleep. In non-Western countries, private tour companies provide us with professional
El Peñol Erupts from Colombia’s Landscape
El Peñol, a 656-foot granite rock, juts out of the earth. No ordinary rock, El Peñol, a Colombian National Monument, attracts thousands of people daily, many who climb the 708 steps for spectacular views of the region. On its top, vendors sell handicrafts, trinkets, and tee-shirts. One pays for the privilege of experiencing a panorama of the countryside with about a five-dollar admission fee at the bottom of the stairs.
Guatapé, Colombia Embodies an Explosion of a Crayola Crayons Box
Originally a farming town, Guatapé’s future changed forever with the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the 1970s that catapulted the town’s importance as the chief electric production center in the country. The dam created an endless network of interconnecting lakes, with hotels, exclusive homes, marinas and other recreational facilities. At the same time, it secured Guatapé’s prominence as a tourist destination.
From Colombia to the Philadelphia Flower Show: An Industry is Blossoming
Our first morning in Colombia. We arrived in Bogotá yesterday late afternoon, and we’re ready to explore this capital city with our guide Tomás Vargas. Eleven-and-a- half million metropolitan residents fill an eastern Andean plateau at an 8600-foot elevation, and oxygen-sparce air challenges breathing for us sea level dwellers. Our driver deposits the three of us at the entrance to Paloquemao Market.
“The Clark” and Mass MoCA––Two Outstanding Art Institutions Along the Mohawk Trail
After Olana, we headed east on NY-Route 66 towards Western Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains to peep at the changing leaves of the deciduous forests. I covered that extraordinary experience at the beginning of this series. We didn’t expect to also enjoy impressive and provocative art as well at two lauded art institutions along MA-Route 2, also known as the Mohawk Trail.
Olana State Historical Site Captures America’s Idyllic Nineteenth Century
After spending time with the Roosevelts in the early mid-twentieth century, the next day we drove north along the Hudson River and stepped back further in time to the mid-1800s at Olana State Historic Site.
I confess I wasn’t familiar with the Hudson River School art movement before this trip. Yet the river’s mist that envelopes the Hudson Valley’s towns, vistas, and historic places, especially in the evening or after a rainfall, evokes the dream-like landscapes created by artists of
Romania’s Merry Cemetery: Finding Humor In Death
What’s so funny about death?! After all, it’s no laughing matter, right? The ritual trappings of death in our western culture demand solemnity, as we lay to rest the recently expired and speak only of the best aspects of their earthly lives.
Thailand’s Buddhist White Temple Dazzles the Senses
Our van pulled away from Thailand’s beautiful northern city, Chiang Mai, on the pot-holed road heading towards the neighboring city, Chiang Rai. At our midday lunch stop for a Thai buffet, a large billboard advertised Cabbages and Condoms, a Bangkok restaurant that promoted family planning. (It must be in a theme category all by itself.) The billboard was a harbinger of sorts to the surprising spectacle awaiting us.
Traveling to Japan: Insights, Cultural Impressions, and Must-Know Tips
KONNICHIWA! A three-week dive into the wonders of the Land of the Rising Sun–– Japan––introduced me to a society steeped in rich tradition, yet at the forefront in twenty-first century modernity. Japan’s bounteous treasures saturated our senses as soon after we deplaned following the fourteen-hour ride over the top of the planet from New York’s JFK International Airport to Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport.
Southwest USA’s National Parks Display Nature’s Eminence
I’m a lifelong Eastern Seaboard resident, and my open space fix is gazing out at the vast Atlantic Ocean, with its uninterrupted, slightly curved horizon. Except for a few trips to California, I hadn’t enjoyed our country’s big skies “out west” (as we easterners refer to it) for many decades; it was time to explore the Southwest’s national parks. A few years ago, husband Rick and I boarded a September American Airlines flight for a ten-day trip to do just that.
Turda Salt Mine: The Underground, Romanian Amusement Park
In today’s colloquial parlance, the phrase “salt mine” conjures up unpleasant or even grueling work. “Back to the salt mines!” goes the phrase as one returns to work after a break. So you can imagine my puzzled reaction to see the Turda Salt Mine near the top of our Romanian travel itinerary.
“Faces Are Windows into Cultures Around the World” a Talk with the Philadelphia Society of Photographers
Watch a virtual presentation of my work for the Photographic Society of Philadelphia. My talk, titled “Faces are Windows into Cultures Around the World,” uses informal portraits of people I’ve taken around the globe to highlight local architecture, religion, customs, and a sense of place.
Visiting Évora’s Chapel of Bones
“What are we going to do with all these bones?” Sixteenth century Franciscan friars must have asked themselves this challenging question once the bones were dug up from cemeteries and local churchyards throughout Évora, Portugal. The bones and skulls of thousands of dearly departed must have created quite a huge pile. How did this situation come to be? And why here? A look at Évora’s history reveals the answers.
The Spring Garden Pops with Chartreuse
Six different species of chartreuse plants glow in the garden right now: a small tree, a shrub, two perennials, and two ground covers. Altogether, they make the garden pop. Each one attracts the visitor’s attention to admire its form, distinctive leaves, and in some cases, dramatic flowers. They brighten spaces, and by their presence, highlight their more subtle plant neighbors.
The World’s Largest Hindu Temple Outside India is in New Jersey
Gazing at its majestic monumentality, you might think you’ve been transported to Delhi, India. But this Hindu mandir (temple) is not half a world away. It’s in Central New Jersey’s Robbinsville Township, just a quick one-hour drive from my Center City Philadelphia apartment. And it’s the largest Hindu temple in the world outside India.
San Miguel de Allende: One of the World’s Best Cities?
San Miguel is one of several sixteenth century Spanish cities established in what’s called the Colonial Crescent in the Central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano mexicano) a few hundred miles northwest of Mexico City. San Miguel carries the reputation of Travel+Leisure Magazine’s 2021 designation as the Best City in the World. That could be a burdensome responsibility for a town to measure up to, but so far, San Miguel continues to wear the mantle well.