There is a hot chocolate sipper that is pure decadence, an ahhhhhhh moment, a pound the table scene from When Harry Met Sally moment, savor pure chocolate at its best from a bean-to-bar chocolate shop. This is what I’m looking for, what I can’t forget. How did I get here? When I lived here 20 years ago I could navigate—but never happily. Who, I ask you, likes to drive in Los Angeles? Certainly not me.

I took the "Chocolate Indulgence" tour with Tourific Escapes. After meeting up in an Industrial

The centuries-old traditional music and dance form of flamenco is deeply rooted throughout the culture of southern Spain, and still popular in both public and private celebrations. An inheritance passed down rally through the ages and only more recently via recordings and videos, today it has also become a cultural industry, an economic driver, a subject for study, and a tourist attraction. It is the present, the past, and the future, tradition and avant-garde, and one of world's richest cultura

Every holiday is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture but what happens when good vacations go bad? Common travel illnesses like too much sun and sexually transmitted infections can be easily avoided if you apply common sense. But what about the nasty diseases that you might come across?Here are a few to watch out for:

1. Montezuma’s Revenge aka Traveler’s Diarrhea is probably the most common travel illness, because it can be found anywhere. Unfortunately it is also one o

TRAIN A WHALE IN CONNECTICUT'S GREAT AQUARIUM

Swim with dolphins? Okay, but Mystic Aquarium, a division of Sea Research Foundation and one of the nation's leading aquariums, can top it: Mystic offers encounter programs that enable people to interact with whales. These programs aren't cheap – they cost more or less $100 per person, plus admission to the aquarium – but they are so unique and popular that travelers come from all over to participate in them.

We asked Kelly O'Neil, marine biologist

I never get tired of watching the monkeys in Costa Rica. It is so much fun to watch the cute, miniature-sized Squirrel Monkeys jump and play, and marvel at the ingenuity of clever White-faced Capuchin Monkeys. Spider Monkeys are wonderful to see swinging gracefully through the trees with their long arms, legs and tails. And the haunting call of Howler Monkeys at dawn, dusk, or before the rain, gives you that spine-tingling “I’m in the jungle” feeling.

There are only a few places in Costa Rica

I've always had a thing about the quirky little corners of this continent that’s famously a patchwork of ethnicities and accidents of history, and there are a few bits and pieces scattered across Europe that are quirkier than others. They range from some some you’ll recognize and know something about to some you’ve probably never heard of. I’ve visited many, while several are still on my bucket list. What intrigues me so much about them? Maybe it’s simply the allure of the under-the-radar and o

This small, sleepy town is one of Uruguay's lesser known vacation spots. From green parks, dramatic cliffs along the river, historic architecture to splendid beaches, there exists a wide variety of outdoor activities for summer fun in and around Fray Bentos, Uruguay.

Recognised for "the romance of the sun, the cliffs and the river", the town was conceived as a river port that still preserves its natural features with waters deep enough to allow large ocean going ships. This pleasant Uruguayan cit

srmurphy

La jungla y sus ruidos. Los templos y sus cielos. Los turistas y sus ojos bien abiertos. Tikal, que significa lugar de las voces, es la mayor de las antiguas ciudades de los mayas del período clásico. Aún se puede admirar su monumentalidad, que nos lleva a retroceder en el tiempo e imaginar aquella época del 250 al 909 después de Cristo en que se convirtió en uno de los principales centros culturales de la civilización maya, que hoy atraviesa cinco países (México, Guatemala, Belice, H

I remember from an early age I enjoyed traveling. Anytime my parents would say, “we’re going on vacation” that’s all I could think about. I enjoyed seeing new things and being away from the routine.

Fast forward to today and I still like to travel but my feelings toward it are different. When I moved away from home and got into the workforce travel became my therapy and savior. I worked in high stress environments with a lot of pressure, and I think I wasn’t ready for it. Travel was able to ca

It took me almost one year to get myself to Bern from Zurich, and when I finally did, I found that my expectations couldn't have been kicked harder in the butt. For ages, I had heard about the legendary Bernese – my partner had told me that a study had shown that they, among all Swiss, walk the slowest (how this study was conducted and who had gone around calculating a Bernese’s average distance covered per hour I cannot imagine). I had also personally met quite a few specimens back in the class

After years of bypassing, I spent a week in Yuma—and discovered it is more than a crossing point, more than a refuge for snow birds, more than the America’s winter vegetable capital.  Yuma is history, even its prison is a window to a dustier, sweatier time.  Yuma is for foodies—whether you seek hot Chilies, Tex-Mex, sushi, or fine steak.  Yuma is an outdoor playground, with golf, a beach, wetland hiking, off road racing, and river sports.  Yuma is an urban success, an easy shopping ramble with l

arturobouillard.blogspot.com

When it comes to the pre-Columbian past of Peru, most of us automatically and understandably think of the Incas. But there were many other cultures and civilizations in these lands, some of them much older than the Incas. Several of these elder civilizations originate in what is now desert regions up and down the country's coast north and south of its present-day capital, Lima. One example you've heard about is the Nazca people, because of their now famous artifact

Some hotels and resorts throughout the world make a big deal out of their collections of painting and sculpture. But leave it to the Japanese to go all the way and actually build a hotel around an art museum. The wee island of Naoshima, in Japan's Inland Sea off the Honshu coast between Osaka and Hiroshima, has gotten quite the elegant little rep in recent years for its modern art museums, of all things, thanks to a local textbook publisher called Benesse. That includes the Chichu Art Museum, th

A trip down one of Costa Rica’s rivers, either by raft, canoe, kayak or small boat, is an excellent way to see some of the country’s extraordinary wildlife. The rivers in Costa Rica are as diverse as the terrain through which they flow.

Trees that line most river banks may hold troops of monkeys, lounging iguanas and boas, and birds such as egrets, herons, ibis, ospreys, and colorful kingfishers. Crocodiles and caimans like to sun themselves on muddy banks, or may be cleverly disguised as a floa

by Sheri de Borchgrave

I've faced down grumpy hippos on safari in Botswana's Okavango, dodged camel spit on a trek in Mongolia, and kept my lunch down on a hurtling dogsled driven by ebullient Lapps. But hanging out with headhunters? Less adrenaline rush, maybe. But creep-out factor? Erk...

I was on the world's third-largest island (a bit over the size of Texas) as part of my visit to Malaysia, which shares Borneo with Indonesia and the entire sultanate of Brunei. And it was a far cry from Ku

By Roy Heale

Named in 1865 by the original settlers in honor of a Welsh Baron, the Atlantic coastal town and seaside resort of Puerto Madryn is renowned as the whale watching capital of Argentina. It is also the gateway to the Peninsula Valdes World Natural Heritage sanctuary since 1999 and a major wildlife conservation area. The region encompasses approximately 50 kilometers of beaches and most ocean bays are overlooked by dramatic white limestone cliffs which accentuate the blue Atlantic waters

One fact hit home when visiting Downtown New London's Historic District on the Thames River waterfront just a salty breeze away from Long Island Sound on Connecticut's southeastern shore. New London's entire population is well under 30,000...pretty small compared to other CT coastal cities like Bridgeport and New Haven when exploring urban Connecticut. This town has commuter rail, regular ferry service, and an Amtrak Acela stop all within the District limits.

It all began in this once-upon-a-time

by Tripatini staff

This vegetarian zucchini pancake recipe, delicious whether you're an herbivore or carnivore, comes from the CIA. No, not that CIA; the Culinary Institute of America, which has campuses in New York, California, and Texas.

Founded in 1946, the CIA and its graduates, who staff many of America's best restaurants and include plenty of boldface names, have dramatically raised culinary standards in the United States and beyond. What's more, the CIA maintains five restaurants for