history (107)

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Certainly 
Cuba has no shortage of charming Spanish colonial and early post-colonial architecture, from Pinar del Ríoout west to Santiago in the east. But for me the place that most makes me feel like I’ve actually stepped into the past of a century or more ago is Trinidad (Spanish for “trinity”), an almost ridiculously photogenic UNESCO World Heritage Site which in 2014 will commemorate its 500th anniversary.  In the province of Sancti Spiritus, on the south coast of the island’s midsection, i

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I’m standing on the deck of a mighty wooden treasure ship, 170 feet long and 495 tons, watching tourists amble and poke about – but I admit, in my mind's eye I’m picturing pirates, sailors, and skeezy, barnacle-encrusted zombies from Davy Jones’ locker slashing, parrying and whizzing through air filled with flames and cannonballs. 

Forgive me, I’m afraid that over the years, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has wormed its way all too far into my head. But enough - a shake of the head, an

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In France, Graffiti Circa 18th Century

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There it was, high up inside the 12th century bell tower of the church of Saint-Emilion...evidence that there are some things that never change. Names and dates are carved into the ancient limestone, where people throughout the centuries have left their mark and, thereby, have become a part of the history of a medieval village.

 

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9008602284?profile=originalby Wendie Hansen with Kaleel Sakakeeny

Please watch the 1-minute video postcard at the end of this Blog

It was a pilgrimage of sorts, this visit to the old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, where one of the first battles of the American Revolution was waged on April 19, 1775.

I went to reclaim something.

The  minutemen, and the occasional trek to this iconic bridge, was part of my  historic narrative, just as it is for all Americans. Or should be.

But the loyalty I had felt in the naiveté of y
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9008601089?profile=originalRivers of wine streamed down craggy roads lined with grape vines and surrounded by mountains. At Casa Lapostolle, 350,000 bottles shattered as scores of oak barrels rolled off their rackings. It was February 27, 2010, in the Colchagua Valley (right) Chile’s main wine region. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake had just rippled in from the coast where a tsunami had caused considerable havoc. With tremors lasting 90 seconds, the earthquake turned out to be among the country’s most destructive—third only t

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Valentine's Day Carnival

In view of the fact that the feast of St Valentine's Day falls on a Monday, the owners of hotels in Venice, trying to persuade any price love that regardless of where it spent the day preceding the weekend. Offer one night free.

Venice did not want to give up their "romantic role" and, therefore, Chile's tourism industry, as reported by the local newspaper, decided to propose a series of activities to invite as many people in mid-February. Those who come to the hotels on the weekend of 12-13 Febr

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Key West’s Colorful Cuba Connection

9008596097?profile=originalOne of Florida‘s — and for that matter, the United States’ — most unique towns/islands, Key West is known for lots of things: its whiff of tropical paradise; historic architecture; diving and boating; major-league gay-friendliness; the boozy tackiness of upper Duval Street; and, last but not least, for being the closest point in the United States to the island of Cuba — 90 miles, famously marked at the corner of South and Whitehead Streets (aka the end of U.S. 1), the “Southernmost Point.”

On my

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Lynchburg, Virginia Has It All

My playmate’s father walked with a stiff leg from the D-Day invasion of World War II. At the age of seven, we all knew the basics of what this meant – we also knew older kids still without fathers. We boys all talked about what our fathers had done in the recent war. Knowing these men puts faces on the deeds they did as exhibited by the National D-Day Memorial near Lynchburg, Virginia.
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Visitors at the D-Day Memorial experience a powerful tribute to the young Americans of the Allied landings in

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Chances are you’ve heard of Hannibal, and maybe even that he and his Punic army tried to invade Italy by crossing the Alps with elephants. The city-state he fought for, Carthage, was classical Rome’s biggest rival in the Mediterranean, and one of the big kahunas of the entire ancient world. Even if you’re coming to Tunisia mainly for a warm beach vacation (as so many do), you owe it to yourself to not miss this important UNESCO World Heritage Site (especially if you’re staying in the popular r

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9008751655?profile=originalLounging by the pool and yacking it up can get old, so here is something untypical to do when killing an afternoon in Palm Springs, CA. Open to visitors is a real B-17 bomber from World War II with access throughout from the nose to the tail. This is one of the few displays that let people go inside a restored aircraft that still flies. When seeing this airplane, it brought home a small part of what a relative had gone through behind a .50-caliber machine gun at a waist gunner station over Germa

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Under water Ship Wreck


A little over 300 years after it was scuttled and left to lie at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the Quedagh Merchant was discovered in 2007 just off the coast of the Dominican Republic's Catalina Island, off the southeastern coast near La Romana. Four years later, this famous shipwreck was opened up to the diving public as an imaginative new attraction, the Museum of the Living Sea. The story of how it got there is a real life tale of Pirates of the Caribbean and one of which Captain Jack Sp

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Great Travel, Great Stories

Author's blog

9008748491?profile=originalTraveling through space is geography.  Traveling through time is history.  I just finished reading the Travels of Marco Polo and Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux simultaneously; okay, actually I was alternating between them.  As fate would have it, they’re traveling somewhat the same route, at least part of the way.  No I didn’t plan it that way.  If I had, then it wouldn’t be serendipity.  I like that word, and I like the meaning behind it—the happy accident, the brilliant mist

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by Nellie Huang

Spain, a Western European country rich in Mediterranean flavors and Arab influence, is actually a few countries packed into one. With its location in the southern end of Europe and just a hop away from North Africa, Spain serves as Europe’s link to the Arab world. This link has been running strong for centuries: With large swaths having been ruled by the Moors for centuries as al-Andalus (origin of the name of today's southern Andalusia region), evidence of Arab influence is st

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Have you ever stayed in a convent?  Surprisingly, many of our fellow travel fanatics out there have shared with us that they have, indeed, spent some time staying in converted nunneries or convents.  Besides the inherently peaceful aura that seems to surround these modernized convents, many of them are located in absolutely gorgeous locations, and offer the traveller a different perspective.  I'd like to share our experience at El Convento, a gorgeous hotel in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Read

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Banteay Srey, Angkor's 'Women's Temple'

"This Camdodian temple, in the Angkor region, is undoubtedly a woman.

One begins to realize it even before finding out the translation of its name: Banteay Srey means "refuge of women," and it was built for them.

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

It is small and elegant, like a genuine woman.

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

Every line is well-balanced, every angle is magnetic like a genuine woman.

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

It is neat and clean like a genuine woman.

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

Banteay Srey - woman temple in Angkor Cambodia

It has smooth and soft skin, like every woman has.

Though everything is made of stone, one can believe, that it is a soft spon

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by Nellie Huang

Mention Mexico and you often conjure images of mustachioed heroes roaming the Wild West on horseback, armed with rifles and big straw hats. While this era is long gone, legends from those revolutionary days have been passed down from one generation to the next.

The best representation from this period of Mexican history is Pancho Villa, a hero honored by people around the world. Known as the Robin Hood of Mexico, Pancho robbed the rich and distributed the wealth among peasants and

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Most tourists to Costa Rica never see San José. They are whisked off from the Juan Santamaria International Airport outside the city to the “pretty” sights of the country; or they fly into the northern Guanacaste international airport at Liberia and don’t go anywhere near the Central Valley. That’s too bad. San José has a lot to offer … from museums to art galleries, plazas, walking boulevards, shady green parks, hidden architectural gems and great restaurants … you just have to know where to lo

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The King of Piel

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A television programme dealing with the some of the thousand-odd islands around the British Isles caught my attention. Brief visits were made to many of my favourite islands, including one to my very favourite, the little-known but fascinating Piel.

Piel lies off the Cumbrian coast, at the mouth of the Walney Channel, near Barrow in Furness. It isn’t a large island. It’s only 19 acres in area, and barely 500 yards across at its widest. But it has a king.

He doesn’t gain his title by inheritance, t

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Weston, Missouri: A Window to the Past

Sitting among the bluffs of the Missouri River is the quaint little city of Weston. Now the streets are always bustling with tourists and shoppers making their way to shops such as the Celtic Ranch and the Bella Company. What a lot of people do not know is that the town of Weston has ties to the likes of Buffalo Bill Cody and descendants of Daniel Boone, and was once a major river port that supplied Fort Leavenworth.


Although business is booming in Weston it was not always the case. The Missouri

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During the early 1800s, central and western New York State were called the “burned-over” district because so many religious groups were formed during this time period. The term came from the idea that there were so few of the unconverted population (referred to as the "fuel") left to be converted or "burned" that the area had been “burned-over.” The Mormon religion is the best known of the many religious groups formed during this time period; but the Oneida Society also began during this perio

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