Travel Blog

Mandrogy Collective

Even though there is an extensive Vodka Museum at Mandrogy, there are two inviolable rules: Nobody drinks alcohol and nobody steals in the village. This collective on the Volga River is complex of farmstead-type ornate houses, craft workshops, a school, a mill, horse stables, and a rabbit farm.

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Keys to the Outback

By Laurie McAndish King. The instant we climbed out of the car, flies covered us. Making themselves at home on my bare arms, crawling up my legs, doing their best to creep into my eyes and mouth. Billions of them live there; maybe trillions. There are more than 650 separate species…

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Palau: A Living Eden

By Suzanne Rodriguez. Ever wonder what it’s like to hang out with aliens from another planet? It’s easy enough to find out: just spend an afternoon snorkeling in Palau’s Jellyfish Lake…

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Casa Luna, Our Favorite Place to Eat in Ubud

Casa Luna is one of the best restaurants in Bali. Adding to the already-great ambiance, owner Janet De Neefe (who founded the Ubud International Writers Conference, recognized world-wide for the top writers it attracts) pulls in literary friends from around the world.

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Best Mother’s Day Present: Napa

Napa Valley is more than a place to taste excellent wine and enjoy famous California cuisine; it’s also sublimely beautiful, with roses alongside winding roads, Spanish moss dripping from sturdy white oaks, and red-tailed hawks soaring above charming towns and whispering ghost pines.

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Snow in San Francisco

‘Tis the Season for Science at the California Academy of Sciences, as the popular exhibit celebrating the science behind holiday traditions returns for a second year. Enjoy indoor snow flurries twice an hour in the Piazza. View taxidermy specimens of the real birds mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” …

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Museo Storico Navale, Venice Italy

By Jim Shubin.

Venice is a city where one can wander with no set plans, and so it was with us. We happened upon a building with a huge anchor in front and letters high above the door reading: Museo Storico Navale. Museo could only mean museum (we hoped) so we walked in. Having fallen in love with Venice’s gondolas…

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Barging Through France

By David Greitzer. Saying you’ve barged through the canals of France is like saying you’ve reached the end of the internet. In a word — impossible. However, it is possible to experience some of what seems a infinite task. It’s kind of like eating an elephant; just take one bite at a time…

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Searching for Sheela-Na-Gig

By Laurie McAndish King. Sheela-na-gig’s invitation is fraught with danger. Our relationship began with my quick peek at a wildly pornographic image in Thomas Cahill’s popular book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. An ancient goddess, Sheela is rendered symbolically, stripped of all but the essential features. She is naked, bald, and breastless, and reaches both arms behind her bent legs, using…

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