Posts/Entries
All posts/entries, for now, from over two decades of global travel. And a few colourful tags, too.
Saint Lucia
Country Music bars in rustic fishing villages, towering UNESCO-listed peaks piercing the azure Caribbean Sea, & an age-old fort protecting one of the largest sheltered bays in the Caribbean. And you thought St. Lucia was all flashy resorts, glamorous weddings & once-in-a-lifetime honeymoons.
Dominica
The Caribbean’s out-of-the-way & coma-inducing Nature Island offering a reprieve from the all-inclusive beach resort, palm-tree-heavy, rum-swigging Caribbean norm.
Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
“Saint Martin or Sint Maarten? French frolic or Dutch debauchery? In a region of island contrasts this one takes some beating. Forts, cruise ship hordes, duty-free shopping, casinos, condos, resorts, nightlife &, of course, the world-famous & unrivaled aviation thrill of the island’s Maho Beach, the most intimate plane-spotting location on planet earth.”
Puerto Rico
Isla del Encanto, the Island of Enchantment. The Caribbean’s US-sponsored economic powerhouse that’s broke as a joke. It’s America transported to the hot & steamy Caribbean.
Dominican Republic
From the New World firsts of the historic capital Santo Domingo, the oldest European settlement in the Americas, to the idyllic resort-heavy beaches of Punta Cana. Five days was nowhere near enough time in charming Dominican Republic, but as it turned out it was one day too many.
Haiti
The Caribbean anomaly, regional whipping boy & the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, one still recovering from the 2010 earthquake.
Jamaica
Rastafarians, reggae, dreadlocks, Red Stripe & jerk. An exploration of the longstanding resort-heavy jewel in the Caribbean tourist industry’s crown.
Grand Cayman
The largest of the three Cayman Islands, an uber-rich tax-free banking haven & glitzy shopping mecca that is luxury personified, a UK overseas territory that’s more Miami than Manchester.
Cuba
Cigars, rum, Castro, Che, classic cars, neglect & salsa. A look at travel in go-now-before-it-changes Cuba, the indefatigable Caribbean time warp & a country truly like no other.
Paris 2015
God bless you Paris, you iconic metropolis by the Seine. You are (still) beautiful, but boy you know it & flaunt it.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
”It’s historic, but about the only discernible purpose it serves today is to appease tourists, a sole function it fulfills with aplomb. Make no mistake, and regardless of the time of year you drop by, you won’t be alone sampling the so-called Pearl of The Adriatic. But sample it you must, at least once in your lifetime.”
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
A once-important Ottoman Empire crossroads settlement & location for the iconic Stari Most (Old Bridge), the oft-rebuilt bridge over the Neretva River.
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
“I find it somewhat ironic that a city in which Muslims, Jews, Orthodox Christian & Catholics have lived in harmony for centuries should have such an unenviable and undeniably tragic past – Sarajevo was both the birthplace of World War I & the location for the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.”
Belgrade, Serbia
The Balkans Party central situated on a confluence of the mighty Danube River. A quirky & likable city still bearing very visible scars from the 1999 NATO bombing during the Kosovo War.