You know by now that my mission with Deep Culture Travel is to write about meaningful, transformative travel experiences. Recently, I am finding it a real challenge to stick to that purpose in my own travels––it seems I’m so “busy” these days and finding it difficult to focus on what I live for, which is making every daytrip, weekend getaway and vacation a real pilgrimage from which I return home a wiser, better educated and more enlightened and empathetic person. Gotta give myself credit, though, for seeking purpose in travel over most of my career as a travel writer. The…
Author: Deep Culture Travel
A DAY AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE Spend a day wandering eye-poppingly lavish state rooms and roomsful of paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Verneer, and Canaletto; and priceless antique furnishings, glorious gardens and a charming cafe. Don’t miss the Throne Room (maybe she’ll be sitting there . . . ). It’s all narrated by Prince Charles; this year, a special exhibition marks his 70th birthday! (the Palace Tour is about $30US pp). PERUGIA Insight Vacations’ “Luxury Gold” tour of Italy guides guests to an exclusive visit to Italy’s most celebrated hand-made textile and weaving workshop, Museo-Laboratorio di Tessitura a Mano Guiditta Brozzetti, where…
By Karen Misuraca and Jessica Misuraca Mother and daughter, we embarked on a three-week tour of Vietnam with Intrepid Travel, expecting a tropical paradise, some good Pan-Asian food, and remnants and reminders of ancient civilizations and of the American war debacle. From the beaches of the South China Sea to the river towns of the Mekong Delta, from ancient Chinese traders’ villages to Ho Chi Minh’s hometown, we found all of that in a fragile, leafy, lovely kingdom, and a surprise––a veritable tidal wave of affection and hospitality from the Vietnamese. Ho Chi Minh City Before we met up with…
Flores: Here Be Dragons (Part II of two parts—click here for Part I) Save a couple of days to see the Komodo dragons, the glorious waters and islands of the archipelago, and the quiet cultural pleasures of Flores Island, reached by an hour’s flight from Bali. In the main port town of Labuan Bajo and environs, major touristic development is underway, so NOW is the time to get here. On that note, the airport is expanding, to accommodate charter flights. My guide/driver on Flores was Aloysius Sambut (“Alo”), who will arrange daytripping; diving and snorkeling off idyllic beaches, and Komodo…
Beaches, boardwalks, history and culture are on the menu for a long weekend in San Diego, the iconic Southern California beach town. Your flight touches down within minutes of sandy shores and palmy vacation resorts, historic sites and amusement parks. A great way to kick-off your culture and history weekend, just west of the airport, Sunset Cliffs Natural Park affords dazzling sunset views from a high bluff above the Pacific, and a relaxing stroll along the seafront footpath (watch for the famous green flash just as the sun hits the horizon). Far below, surfers glide and waves crash into rugged…
(This is Part I of Best Bali Daytrips. Click here for Part II) Your dream of Bali may not be as dreamy as you imagined it when you arrive on the island to find that it has been attacked by tourism and jangled by traffic congestion. My friends told me how idyllic Bali was in the ‘70s, ‘80s and even in the early ‘90s. Well, here I was, lounging in a palm-fringed beach resort (not so bad) and longing to find the old soul of Bali. I had a hunch that the authentic culture and tropical beauty of the island…
Don’t we all have our favorite “away from home” Christmas and holiday stories? Here are some precious memories of mine in Mexico, plus a few enticing travel ideas for your holiday season. No, it’s not too early to make your plans! Mexico’s Sparkling Silver City Some of our best Christmases ever have been in San Miguel de Allende, one of Mexico’s most culturally rich and romantic cities (you likely know this, since it was recently declared “Best City in the World” by Travel + Leisure. (I wish they wouldn’t do that . . . ) The Spanish got rich here…
As a teenager, I stayed with my girlfriend, Martha, and her family in Santa Barbara in the summertime. Every morning, we spent hours doing our hair, putting on make-up and packing up sandwiches, bathing suits and towels, before setting off for the rest of the day, every day. We took the bus all over town and to the beaches, and after three summers, we knew every neighborhood and every patch of sand. The waters off our favorite beaches were warm, calm, and sapphire blue, the same blue as the summer sky, so blue at midday as to appear as flickering…
(This is Part II of “Our Dreams of Vietnam.” Click here for Part I) Old Town of Hoi An A trading port established by the Portuguese in the 17th century, Hoi An is today a UNESCO World Heritage site on the banks of the Thu Bon River––about 800 buildings have been preserved, and many restored. So much to see here, from elaborate Buddhist temples to a 16th century Japanese bridge topped by a pagoda, brightly painted French colonial buildings, museum-like Japanese traders’ houses, Chinese temples, and more evidence of the town’s vibrant, multi-ethnic past. Among several museums, the Riverside Museum…
A short drive south of San Francisco in the heart of the Silicon Valley, the city of San Jose is a weekend retreat for tuckered computer nerds and engineers from the hundreds of high-tech companies in the area, and a nightclubbing and sports hub for students from Stanford and San Jose State universities. Culture vultures in the know stroll around the historic downtown and nearby neighborhoods to discover the city’s quiet pleasures of arts and history. Early Years in San Jose Founded in 1777 along the Guadalupe River, El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe was the first town in…
At last! It’s time to pack up the skis, snowboards and tire chains, (and the kids), as the snow piles up at Lake Tahoe. World-famous for major ski resorts, the lake is also legendary for its apres-ski scene, from “Next Gen” brew pubs to Vegas-style nightspots where snow bunnies shake their booties, and family-friendly fire pits with s’mores and hot toddies. After a long day on the slopes, apres-ski at Lake Tahoe means unwinding with a warm libation or a frosty beer around a flickering fire, as much a part of the skiing culture as the sport itself. There is…
It was March 20, just on the vernal equinox, as we sped toward Yosemite National Park, just over an hour’s drive from California’s Central Valley on Highway 140. The low, rolling foothills merged into the Merced River canyon as we gained elevation. As we drove along, the mountainsides grew higher and more rugged, when suddenly a giant leaned down and painted the hillsides with a brush full of orange and pink. Vivid orange California poppies washed across the hills, and the upward-shooting branches of thousands of redbud trees were bursting with brilliant, magenta-colored bloom. We slowed down. Fortunately for the…
Hankering to sleep in the outdoors and connect with nature in California Wine Country? Seeking that nostalgic summer camp experience without the ants in your pants and the sand in your sleeping bag? If only we could camp out without having to load the car with supplies, haul a trailer, or pitch a tent in the middle of the night. A new way to go camping without having to rough it is called glamping, also known as luxury camping or glamorous camping. The perfect cure for workaday stress and campout envy is sleeping under canvas on a real bed on…
The Big Daddy of all pilgrimages is “The Camino,” also known as the Way of St. James, which is actually several trails that begin in Spain, Portugal and France and end in the city of Santiago de Compostela on the northwestern coast of Spain. In this third in our 5-part series “The 21st Century Pilgrim,“ I describe five Tours of the Camino de Santiago that will enable everyone, and especially culture vultures, to experience this once-in-a-lifetime, transformative adventure. According to legend, in the 9th century, the remains of the apostle Saint James were carried by boat from Jerusalem to Spain,…
Imagine the vivid colors and the pungent scents of Morocco cuisine––saffron, ginger, paprika, turmeric and cinnamon––and the influences of Arab, Jewish, Roman, Berber, and Spanish cultures. Kensington Tours offers the opportunity of a lifetime to discover the exotic flavors of Morocco on an exploration of Moroccan cuisine. One of the most acclaimed luxury-level tour companies in the world, Kensington is famous for their top-notch local guides, impeccable logistics, and cultural immersion. The Taste of Morocco––just a few highlights: From the airport in Casablanca, the adventure begins at once with a visit to Meknes, the walled Ismailia capital, then Bab Mansour…
Meandering through the city center, San Antonio’s 15-mile-long River Walk, or Paseo del Rio, is a green and watery world of footpaths, arched stone bridges and blooming landscapes; in fact, it is said to be is the largest urban ecosystem in the country. You can take a boat tour on the river, hop on a bike from the shared bike program; dine in one of 40+ eateries, enjoy live entertainment, and browse art galleries and shops. A recently added 8-mile stretch called “Museum Reach” now enables culture vultures to wander their way to all five of the city’s 300-year-old Spanish…
South of the San Francisco Bay Area, just below the legendary Big Sur stretch of Highway 1, California’s Central Coast has sunny, sandy beaches and more than enough historic sites and cultural riches for a weekend adventure. A drive from Ragged Point south to Morro Bay turns up quaint villages and seaside towns, a Victorian-era lighthouse, and lots to do, from wildlife watching to seafood noshing, hiking, biking, paddling, and wandering along the gentle coastline––and a “must-do” tour of Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument. Ragged Point is a good place to start, where a high blufftop vista point affords…
If your stopover in Milan includes the last Sunday of the month, amble down to the canals of the Navigli district for the Mercatone dell’Antiquariato del Naviglio Grande–one of the largest outdoor antiques markets in Italy. Along both sides of the canal, more than 400 vendors set up booths to sell artifacts and bric-a-brac, furniture, books, toys, jewelry, clothes and more collectibles. On market day, the line-up of permanent shops, cafes and art studios on the canal are also open for browsing and for taking gelato, lunch and refreshment breaks. Art deco collectors and lovers of vintage posters and vintage…
My first food-focused vacation was with Kandra Kitchen Crete, when the queen of Greek cuisine, Rosemary Barron, held forth in her ancient stone house in the hills above Malia on the island of Crete. Using the AGA, a wood-burning oven and a spit, we learned to make traditional Greek dishes––from moussaka to tzatziki, tyropita, souvlaki, avgolemono, and spanakopita. The very first magical night under the stars, we climbed onto the tarp-covered roof of a neighbor’s house and stomped away on knee-high piles of grapes as the juice cascaded off a corner into buckets below and we sipped last year’s tongue-puckering…
A little worn from weeks of touring around Italy, tired of crowded museums and molto rapiddo Italian drivers, my husband and I turned our rented Alpha Romeo toward the sea and headed for Le Cinque Terre––”The Five Lands”––a string of coastal villages on the quiet end of the Italian Riviera. Riomaggiore From the port town of La Spezia we headed up the winding, rising road to Cinque Terre, which is largely inaccessible except on foot, by boat or by riding a rickety train that runs between the tiny towns of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Arriving above Riomaggiore as…