Of the more than 10 million visitors to Japan, destinations like Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima. and Okinawa obviously rank among the better-known names. But there are small cities and towns spread among the beautiful islands of this singular country which are off the…

Itapuã is a legendary beach in Salvador de Bahía, one of the last before the city´s perimeter was extended to Lauro de Freitas, which is famous for being the great bohemian stronghold of the 70s. Vinicius de Moraes and the great Bahian singer-songwriter Dorival Caymmi both sang about it. Caetano Veloso also paid…

Somewhere in the Caribbean, between Puerto Rico and St Lucia, is the archipelago of Guadeloupe (pronounce gwa-de-loop). The French West Indies or French Caribbean are currently two territories (St Barthelemy and St Martin) and two overseas states -“départements” in French- (Guadeloupe and Martinique). The French West Indies have always looked towards the old continent rather towards their Caribbean neighbors. Flying from the USA, a long journey and a couple of connected flights will…

I'm something of a language geek, and I'm particularly fascinated by the linguistic patchwork of Europe. I mean, many of us know about Spain's regional languages like Catalan, Basque, and Galician. But when it comes to, say, Germany, Italy, or France, I've found many people tend to assume everybody speaks…

I wasn’t familiar with the Denbighshire area at all, so when I had business there, I really didn’t know what to expect. But, as I drove over the Welsh border, I’d hardly taken on board that the road signs were now bilingual, than I passed a brown sign saying I was entering an "Area of Natural Beauty".



This is countryside as it…

Interesting day hikes can be found anywhere, even in Paris. Here’s one, in its western suburbs of Le Pecq and St Germain-en-Laye. It is a fairly urban walk – you will have mainly asphalt under your feet, not grass – and quite an easy one,…

At first glance, Wildwood, New Jersey is the exclusive province of motel balcony parties, boardwalk vices like corn dogs, cheap T-shirts, and fried dough along with Morey's Piers grand amusement park rides on the beach. You're getting a roller coasters, booze, and crashing-on-the-beach vibe until you start walking down some quieter residential streets like the corner of…

This time of year, the crisp fall weather of the north sends birds packing south to warm tropical climates. Bird migration season in…

PHILADELPHIA: THE STRANGE ADAPTATIONS OF JEWS TO AMERICA

Unlike most other Jewish museums, Philadelphia's…

Central Florida boasts a range of the world’s best theme parks. But it’s also home to a selection of the best animal attractions and wildlife destinations. So if you're coming to Orlando for the parks, try to make some time to stay for the critters! Here are several of the best places for doing that: …