Taipei: To The Top

Posted on November 1, 2012 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Take in Taipei’s monumental treasures, from old to new.

Photo: © Minyun Zhou | Dreamstime.com

When Chiang Kai-shek’s army fled from China to Taiwan, soldiers brought along the best of their culture from the mainland. Besides absconding with 3,000 cases of art that belonged to the emperors, the refugees brought local foods from all over China and an energy that built one of the world’s most important capitals. A day in Taipei offers the opportunity to sample superlatives: the world’s most exquisite Asian artworks, the best cuisine from all Chinese regions and a zoom to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the world. Continue reading →

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The Songs Of Nova Scotia

Posted on September 21, 2012 by debbie

Published in Huffington Post
The music is splendid and the setting is spectacular — with a picturesque harbor and charming Victorian houses built with signature “bump” porches, Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, is a charming vacation destination any time of year. But the attractions of the UNESCO World Heritage fishing port proliferate every August when the village hosts the Lunenberg Folk Harbour Festival. Throughout four days in early August, outstanding musicians from across Canada and the U.S. bring fiddles and pipes, banjos and guitars, voices and dancing feet for hoe down sessions held in picture book sites. Continue reading →

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The Titanic Road Show Goes On

Posted on May 15, 2012 by debbie

Published in Huffington Post
After a month of centennial ceremonies, voyages, 3-D movie re-releases and think pieces, you might feel overwhelmed — or immersed, if you will — by the anniversary of the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage. There’s no question that the lure of the ill-fated ship, like its musical theme, is bound to go on and on. In the wake of the April 15th anniversary, tourists can still indulge their fascination by visiting cities that the ship passed through, many of which are focusing major tourist campaigns on “Titanic” attractions.

Belfast, a boomtown shipbuilder of the era, still boasts that her dockworkers built what was the largest man-made moving object on earth. In its reviving Titanic Quarter, walking tours and boat cruises pass the Harland & Wolff offices where the boat was designed, the docks where she was outfitted, shops where her engines were fabricated. On the very spot where the 880-meter hull was built, an interactive multi-media showhouse with exterior prows designed to duplicate the Titanic’s size shows off three floors of exhibits. Continue reading →

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W St. Petersburg

Posted on April 15, 2012 by debbie

Arrival/Check-In: In keeping with its self-consciously stylish image — “luxury meets cutting-edge cool” — a simple W on an exterior wall of the renovated structure dating from 1775 is all that announces you’ve found St. Petersburg’s trendy W Hotel. Young men uniformed in jersey shirts open the doors, and a narrow purple carpet leads to the reception area where efficient clerks are stationed at glowing desks in front of a crackled-glass wall. While the clerks do the paperwork, guests nibble on chewy peanut candies and sip refreshing water flavored with citrus and mint. Continue reading →

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Grand Margherita Hotel, Sarawak

Posted on April 15, 2012 by debbie

Arrival/Check-In: The cool, modern lobby, infused with the scent of tropical flowers, is a welcome refuge from Borneo’s predictably humid weather, and the three people at the desk couldn’t have been more accommodating. Within minutes they sent me up to my room, which was perfectly lovely — but it was on the street side of the building. I returned to the reception desk. Was there any chance I could switch over to the river view? Yes, hesitation, but then you couldn’t have a king-sized bed — riverside rooms are outfitted with two queens. Since even a single queen-sized bed is more than adequate, within minutes I was moved across the hall to a room overlooking Kuching’s picturesque Sarawak River and the hotel’s namesake, historic whitewashed Fort Margherita, positioned on the far bank. Continue reading →

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G Hotel Penang

Posted on January 15, 2012 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Arrival/Check-in: Stretching almost 46 feet, the atrium lobby is designed to be an extension of the G Lounge, furnished with giant shaded chandeliers and island groups of upholstered ottomans and distinctive curvy chairs — named the Spoon, Capellini and Shell — created by noted designers. Guests can sip a signature cocktail or nibble sweet mousse cakes or other snacks while efficient attendants at the shimmering blue and lavender back-lit reception desk check them in. Continue reading →

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Belfast: Unsinkable Belfast

Posted on January 15, 2012 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Bring the family to Northern Ireland’s buoyant city.

Taking the theme song literally — the Titanic’s heart “will go on and on” — the city that built the classic liner is embracing the Titanic’s past and gearing up to acknowledge the April 14th centennial of the ill-fated voyage. There are plans for exhibits, tours, events and meals aimed at every age group. Adding in the city’s intrinsic wealth of historic attractions, Belfast is poised to be an ideal destination for the family. Continue reading →

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Culture Near the Northwest Corner

Posted on August 28, 2011 by debbie

WE SPEND A WEEKEND EXPLORING CULTURAL OPTIONS JUST ACROSS THE BORDER

Sharon King Hoge


FRANK GEHRY’S WHIMSICALLY ROOFED FISHER CENTER IS THE SETTING FOR THE ANNUAL BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL
PHOTOGRAPH BY NOAH SHELDON

While summer in New York City offers the cultural richness of Shakespeare in the Park, Mostly Mozart and the Fringe Festival, try eschewing urban offerings and head north, where a plethora of cultural opportunities is giving Manhattan a run for the money. I just spent a weekend at a classical concert, a folk hootenanny, a film, a museum, a musical play and a jazz concert—all within an hour’s drive of rural Litchfield County. Continue reading →

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Chennai: Warp And Weft

Posted on July 15, 2011 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Chennai weaves an intricate fabric of history and heritage.

Photo: Photo: Dmitry Rukhlenko, Dreamstime

Dusty and littered, muggy in the high heat, congested with traffic that chugs fitfully past fading colonial monuments, it’s a far cry from your idyllic tourist retreat. Yet I’d always wanted to go to Madras, the historic capital region of India’s southeastern coast, and it turned out to be a worthwhile trip. While we tend to link the city with its namesake preppy plaid, there’s a new post-colonial moniker — Chennai — and it’s one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. Fabric is still an important local industry, but today’s Chennai is a flourishing business center for software, financial services and hardware manufacturing. It’s the setting for “Kollywood,” a major segment of the Indian film industry; and as home to a third of the country’s automotive and automotive parts business, the city is also dubbed “India’s Detroit.” Continue reading →

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Ningbo: Delta Dawn

Posted on January 15, 2011 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Ningbo rises to a new day in the prosperous Yangtze Delta.

Only in China is it easy to overlook a city of 5.5 million people, but recent Frommer’s and Rough Guide volumes about China don’t even bother to mention Ningbo. It’s an oversight that might surprise Dow Chemical, DuPont, Hearst, HSBC, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Burberry and dozens of overseas companies with operations in this major port city on China’s east coast. Briefly in Shanghai’s shadow, Ningbo is re-emerging as an important export and economic hub, included this year in the China Travel Channel’s listing of “Cities of Best International Image.”

Situated 250 miles south of Shanghai around Hanagzhou Bay, Ningbo lies about 12 miles inland on the Yangtze Delta where the Yuyao and Yong rivers meet to flow into the East China Sea. Named for its “Calm Waves,” Ningbo’s deep, natural harbor has been its focal point dating back to the seventh century, when it emerged as the country’s trading center with Korea and Japan for tea, ceramics and silk. Continue reading →

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Paris: Paris Sizzles

Posted on August 15, 2010 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Always a hot tourist destination, the City of Light is ablaze with business development.

Along with the Eiffel Tower, the cancan, superb gastronomy and “April,” add an additional attraction to iconic Paris: business. Already one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, with 45 million visitors a year, Paris is also home to Fortune 500 companies — 37 of them. Landmarks joining the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre Museum include the headquarters of L’Oreal, Air France, Renault, Vivendi, Total, Coca-Cola Europe and other international firms. Continue reading →

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Houston: Mission Control

Posted on July 15, 2010 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Houston has a firm grip on its super-sized economy.

Start off with “the biggest city in the biggest state in the Lower 48,” and superlatives abound in the sprawling metropolis that is Houston, Texas: “energy capital of the world,” America’s No. 1 port in international commerce, an emerging leader in alternative energy, home of the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions. And its name was the first word spoken from the moon: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Continue reading →

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Cartagena: Night And Day

Posted on March 15, 2010 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

A colonial walled city, Cartagena rocks around the clock.

With guidebooks gushing that it’s the “crown jewel of Colombia” and “the belle of the ball” and even “one of the greatest cultural treasures in America,” first-time visitors are apt to approach Colombia’s Caribbean seaport city with a skeptical eye — how could any place be worth such accolades? Not to worry. Cartagena lives up to its billing as one of the hottest, most vibrant, seductive and beautiful cities in South America. Continue reading →

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Kaohsiung: Getting To Know Kaohsiung

Posted on December 15, 2009 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Taiwan’s sparkling seaport goes all out to become a more familiar name.

Asked to name the Asian city that is one of the world’s busiest container ports, the second-largest city on its home island and the host to the 2009 World Games, most Americans draw a blank. A thriving modern center for shipping, fishing, manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, technology and other light and heavy industries, Kaoshiung, Taiwan, has a low — but growing — profile. Continue reading →

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Manitoba: Polar Pursuit

Posted on November 15, 2009 by debbie

Published in Global Traveler

Adventurers brave the Arctic cold to observe the annual awakening of the great white bears.

No roads lead to Churchill. Freight trains haul loads of grain to boats at the Hudson Bay dock on the edge of town, Canada’s only Arctic seaport. But the road ends at Thompson, 250 miles away, and travelers can arrive only by train or plane. Unsteady tracks restrict locomotive speed to 15–20 mph, so the VIA Rail trip from Winnipeg, 1,000 miles south, takes about 46 hours, and only local puddle jumpers Calm Air and Kivillaq fly in from the likes of Winnipeg, Calgary and Thompson. Yet for six weeks every year, tourists flock to this remote outpost in northern Manitoba because it is one of the only places on Earth to watch polar bears in the wild. Continue reading →

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