TRAVEL MEMOIRS

FEATURE: HAWAII My wife Annie and I are immersing ourselves in the history and culture of Hawaii's less crowded “outer” shores, far from the lights and traffic of Waikiki. It is like opening a Russian doll, so many hidden dimensions are revealed. We keep getting vivid glimpses of long-vanished ways of life. full story >>>	GREECE On a bright May afternoon, I travel by train across the lush Thessaly Plain in central Greece. Suddenly, out of the plain, gigantic spires of rock emerge, some higher than 400 meters, their strange shapes jutting up out of the fertile soil. Nothing I have seen in pictures has prepared me for this sight. Few places I have seen in Greece are so intensely dramatic. full story >>>
NEPAL Well over a half century ago the inveterate British mountaineer and travel writer, H.W. ‘Bill’ Tilman (b.1898), was the first European to trek across some of the highest parts of Nepal. To be sure, it is an alluring and austere place, but why did he call it a “resort”? full story >>>	INDIA When Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj calls, you just get up and go. The excitement at visiting a place that I had been trying to visit for the past twelve years, but somehow had never managed to do so, for a variety of reasons, was palpable. We finally reached Pachad at the base of the famous Fort Raigad. full story >>>
SLOVAKIA My wife I are visiting the Spis region in northeastern Slovakia, which is for her the “old country.” This makes the trip a special occasion: returning to her roots, getting to know the rich culture, stunning traditional architecture and spectacular landscape that her parents and grand-parents left behind. full story >>>	BANGLADESH Virginia had read my expat piece about rickshaws in The Oldie, and liked it. In her e-mail she explained that she had been in Dhaka a few years ago, and had bought some rickshaw art - paintings on tin plate. She had given them away. Would I be able to find someone who could locate some? full story >>>
RUSSIA It depends on the person. Karelia is not sunny and friendly most of the days. It can be rather rigorous and austere. Nevertheless it recharges you with vital energy, makes one strive for life, be grateful for small favors made by nature and notice sun even during rainy days. full story >>>	ENGLAND One third of the world’s population tuned in to watch the Royal Wedding coverage on TV, and nearly one million people took to the streets of London on Friday April 29th, 2011 just to be at the epicenter of all the festivities. Luckily for me, I was one of those people. full story >>>