THE NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL, WASHINGTON D.C.

THE NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL, WASHINGTON D.C., April 10-15, 2018 (All photos are by the author. Click on them to enlarge and read the captions). Washington DC is always a delight for travelers, but so much more so during the annual cherry-blossom festival. The problem is knowing when to book your hotel and flight, less of…

LOS ANGELES: A CULTURAL & CULINARY WEEKEND, Nov. 8-12, 2017

(All photos by the author except those of the Farmers Market. Click on a photo to enlarge and read the caption, then scroll through a photo series using your forward arrow). What with budget cuts and earthquake recovery, cultural life in Cuernavaca had gotten rather meager.  It wasn’t the monotony of one beautiful day after…

DAMAGED BUT UNDAUNTED,  MORELOS BECKONS TOURISTS, October 3, 2017­­­

On September 19, 2017, an earthquake struck Mexico causing severe to moderate damage in Mexico City and the states of Puebla and Morelos. The estimated 7.1 Richter-scale quake damaged about 150 thousand homes, some completely destroyed. Government sources confirm 366 lives lost, including 225 in the capital and 74 in Morelos.   Mexican first responders, the army,…

A DUORO-RIVER CRUISE with CROISIEUROPE, May 22-29, 2017

(All photos by the author. Click on them to enlarge and read the captions. Forgive me for not switching to a Portuguese keyboard so the text is missing proper accents and diacritical marks).  I spent four days in Lisbon in May 2016 and it sparked my interest in seeing more of Portugal.  Additionally, my bio…

THREE NIGHTS IN THE PORTUGUESE PARADISE OF FUNCHAL, MADEIRA

(All photos by the author. Click on them to enlarge them and to read the captions, and use your arrows to scroll forward and reverse. I did not switch to a Portuguese keyboard so the text lacks proper accents and diacritical marks). Friends who had visited the Portuguese island of Madeira had raved about it…

NORTHERN ITALY: MILAN, GENOA, & STRESA SEPTEMBER 11-21, 2016

(Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions, then use the forward arrow to scroll through the others in each series). The rise of the dollar against the euro has made travel to Europe somewhat reasonable again. And who doesn’t love Italy? I had traveled extensively there a dozen times including leading…