Globe Corner Blogs

Dancer and Mask--photo by Lisa

Last week I had the rare opportunity to leave rainy Boston and head to sunny Seattle. Thankfully the weather was perfect for my family, friends, and me to take a cruise to Blake Island State Park in Puget Sound. Our main objective was to go to Tillicum Village for a traditional Northwest Native American Potlach.  Traditional Potlachs are ceremonies practiced by Native Northwest Indigenous Peoples where the tribal leaders would gather guests for a redistribution of wealth; they usually included dances and feasts. We went to see the tourist-friendly modified show.

Potlach Dinner--photo by Lisa

Blake Island is a beautiful island that is only accessible by tour or private boat. Among the many attractions are hiking trails and a long house that was built in 1962 to help showcase Northwest Native American Culture for the Seattle World’s Fair. Today the long house still serves as a showcase and there are tours of it during the summer. Boats leave from Pier 55 and there is a narrated hour-long cruise through Elliot Bay into Puget Sound all the way to Blake Island. We were greeted with a cup of clam nectar and then led into the long house for a “smorgasbord-style” salmon dinner. After the dinner the lights dimmed and the dancers began to demonstrate different dances from the region. The masks were impressive and one even weighed more than 55 pounds.

It was a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon and the views of the Seattle skyline were picture perfect. I was so surprised to return from Seattle with a tan.

National Geographic Central America map

I recently returned from a trip where I drove through Mexico and all of Central America (sans Belize): Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, back through Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and finally Panama. Browsing through the Central America section of the store, I came across Joan Didion’s Salvador. As always, Didion captured her subject through her lens of unsettling physical disconnection. Given the country’s violent, bloody, and war-torn history, this lens was a perfect fit.

In planning our El Salvadorian itinerary, we found the Pacific coast to be a much more pleasant option than the north, where the main attraction, according to both the Rough Guide and the Lonely Planet guide, was the Genocide Museum. We opted instead for two days on the beach. And they were very pleasant.

Despite the bad rap El Salvador gets, or maybe because of it, we were able to find not just beach front, but “beach on” accommodations for the night. The highway simply ended at the water and opened up to a series of colonial homes converted into restaurants and sleeping accommodations. Families frolicked in the water, while street vendors shooed the stray dogs hoping to catch a bite of their french fries. At high tide, the veranda-style restaurant where we ate was surrounded by the ocean. One had only to walk down three steps to be in the water. We shut the joint down with drinks and fresh seafood only to find that the entire beach front area was closed by 7:30 pm.

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Cape May Inn--photo by Llalan

Walking amongst the inns, hotels, and bed-and-breakfasts that line several streets in Cape May, New Jersey is like walking through Candy Land. The giant old mansions ramble around the blocks with their wrap-around, plant covered porches, intricate lattice-work, and what one can only describe as outrageous paint jobs. I saw yellow and orange, orange and blue, blue and pink, and pink and pink. The bright colors towered above us on gables and turrets and shown through the trees that lined the narrow streets.

Originally a whaling town, Cape May started to become a resort town in the 1850s. The Moon Handbook to New Jersey says that such “luminaries” as Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Harrison, and Franklin Pierce visited the vacation spot. And now it’s one of my favorite spots. I’m guessing none of them got as sunburned as I did…or even body surfed the icy waves. But I do wonder how Abe would fare against me in a game of bocce. Beating people in the game is one of my favorite new Cape May traditions.

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Swiss Alps--photo by Kate

Switzerland is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

In some ways, the beauty here is almost frustrating. I can’t find the words to describe how amazing it is, and constantly find myself saying, “Oh, that’s so pretty,” “Wow, look at that,” or something similarly inadequate.

Sometimes, it’s so darn pretty here that it’s nearly comical. Yesterday, on the train from Lucerne to Lugano, there was a lush green valley to my right with a crystal-clear brook running through it, and tiny colorful houses all around. On my left was a mountain rising sharply, towering over the train. Emerald green, covered with countless evergreens, two glacier-fed waterfalls tumbled down its sides. At a rocky precipice near the base, the waterfalls came near each other; they had the audacity to crash off the rocks and meet, mid-air, over a grotto of craggy rocks. I think I saw a rainbow.

It was all so ridiculously beautiful, all I could do was laugh. Where did this place come from? I began to wonder if this was some kind of Toblerone-induced mirage.

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View of the Potomac--photo by Nastia

First woman (very slowly): He called to say that they been in the sun for three hours… He said they’d be like lobsters!
Second woman (in the same manner): Well…Some people like lobsters!
(Overheard on the Potomac River beach)

For those of us who appreciate history, sun, beaches, and wine but aren’t heading to Côte d’Azur, Greece, or Croatia this year, I highly recommend visiting…The Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Southeast of the United States still remains for me a largely unexplored area, and although I have been traveling to the Richmond area of Virginia regularly, there is always something inspiring, curious, and quite often endearing to see and experience.

My latest trip turned out to be a delightful journey, relaxed and peaceful. The good times started in Colonial Beach, and specifically at the Wilkerson’s Seafood Restaurant, where I tried a seasonal dish: soft shell crabs. After the meal my friend and I headed down the Potomac River to find a quiet spot on the beach and watch the waves. The town of Colonial Beach is tiny, so tiny in fact that if you want to get around and do not have your own car, you can rent a golf cart. You are bound to see a lot of those riding around carrying kids, or an occasional older police woman patrolling the area.  Make sure you disembark and take a close look at Alexander Graham Bell’s house (now a small hotel), because it indeed looks like a candy house. I bet staying there for a couple of days is a thrill!

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Basel, Switzerland--photo by Mark

On our way from Germany to Italy, we decided to spend a night in Basel, Switzerland. The drive to Basel, however, took longer than we thought, even though we made an extended stop at one of the multiple rest areas that pop up along the highway. The delay was due to two things: a wonderful playground, perfect for our toddler, and a very good German cake selection, perfect for my husband. Once the guys on the expedition were satisfied and content, we could take off again.

Basel is one of Switzerland’s largest cities. Located on the Rhine River, in the so-called Rhine knee, and the city is divided by the river. From our hotel room balcony, we could see the largest part of the Old Town across the river and the bridges connecting both sides. We decided to start our evening by crossing the bride to downtown and the City Hall. The sky looked overcast, but the temperature was pleasant. It looked like the people had decided to enjoy the last moments of the weekend, strolling near the water or just sitting in the riverside cafés. After a very short walk, we arrived at the main square and found City Hall just in time to escape the rain. Continue Reading »

Classic Switzerland--photo by Kate

Notes from Zürich:

I have one serious recommendation for visitors to Zürich: eat as much chocolate as you can. Since waking up to a Toblerone on the empty seat next to me on the airplane, to the Swiss chocolate ice cream I just had at the Mövenpick, to the shared café mocha from this afternoon, every taste has been simply amazing. Take every opportunity you have to eat this stuff. They really know what they are doing here in Switzerland.

Also recommended: checking out the Freitag flagship store, located just past the hipster Züri-West neighborhood. Made of stacked shipping containers to create a 7-story building, after browsing their awesome bags, you can climb up to the rooftop. Enjoy a great view of Zürich and an even better glimpse of the Alps through the binoculars provided.

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Downtown Lich--photo by Cecilia

Two years after our last visit to Germany for Christmas, we are back again. We got to the Frankfurt airport at 5:30 am, our family waiting for us already, and we drove home to Lich in the state of Hessen. Lich is a small and nice medieval city about 45 minutes from Frankfurt that was founded as a small community around 790 A.D. A castle was erected in the 12th century and the town gained the right to be called a city in the year 1300. You still can see the history on a short stroll through downtown in its beautiful half-timbered houses and the castle. If all this is not enough to make one to visit Lich, knowing that this city is home of Licher Bier, one of the best known beers in Hessen, will do it.

This time, we are there in spring and we notice already on our way from the airport that everything looks so green and seems fresh and colorful. The colors come from the flowers and vegetables we see in the fields. And among them, I can see what makes me think of spring in Germany as “Spargelzeit,” literally “asparagus time.”

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Moon Handbook to New Jersey

I will soon be leaving the greater die-hard Red Sox fans area for a much needed escape from the city: in a few weeks I will be headed back down to Cape May, New Jersey. I went there last summer, and was so enchanted I can hardly wait to return.

Everybody has at least one place in the world that they go to in their heads to retrieve some quiet, relaxation, pleasant memories. Be it a seaside room from a honeymoon or a lush garden from childhood, this place exists for you alone and provides a sense of peace. Cape May is one of these places for me (and Erieau, of course).

On days when I need a reprieve from reality I can slip back into the hushed house near the beach, make myself a gin and tonic and sit on the porch. Or I can carefully apply suntan lotion to every exposed inch of fish belly-white skin and lie on the beach absorbing the warm sunlight, orange behind my eyelids. I can prove again my superiority at bocce ball while smelling our dinner of fresh fish on the grill. I can even watch the bats flit about above my head in the purple dusk and later amble down the darkened beach, sit in the life guard’s chair, and listen to the waves come ashore.

…Excuse me, I wandered there.

Great News!!! Reif Larsen’s new book, The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, lets you in on the four things needed for an adventure: “Guns & Knives”, “A Magnifying Glass”, “A Map!”, and, of course, “Adventure Pants”! (Be sure to pick a good pair.)

I have recently finished reading The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet and was not disappointed in any way. In fact, I am able to say that it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is packed with amazing illustrations and maps, as well as a great story. With my new found discovery of “The Hobo Hotline”, I am now able to travel across the country by train with the knowledge of where each specific car is going. I am also now aware of how to go about mapping a mustache and that a flashlight really has futuristic healing powers. His cross-country journey takes him on a great adventure filled with questions about the world that you should really be asking yourself.

This might sound like a bunch of nonsense, but it is truly spectacular nonsense! For example, I guess that every twelve year old boy knows that Winnebago’s have their own personal names, such as Valero, and can talk to you. In order to fully grasp the whole situation of young Mr. Spivet, I highly recommend this book to you and suggest you then pass it on to everyone you know. Not only for the read but also for the visual understanding of how car alarms can affect your brain.