Travels in the Riel World

So the Winter Olympics are over. After two weeks of marveling at the physical feats of some of the world’s best athletes, it’s time to say goodbye to the skiers, snowboarders, speedskaters and bobsledders for another four years. Unless, that is, you happen to take in some World Cup or X-Games competitions. But fear not, for there are still ways for you to keep the Olympics buzz going.

If you’re a more sedate person and prefer to be an extreme sport spectator, you might want to check out one of the Halls of Fame in North America that are dedicated to some of the winter sports. I just published an article on this topic for Examiner.com. An excerpt:

Figure Skating Hall of Fame - Colorado Springs, Colorado: From Sonja Henie, Peggy Fleming and Dick Button to Katarina Witt, Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton, dozens of Olympic champions and all-time greats are enshrined in the Figure Skating Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The museum also features the world’s largest collection of memorabilia and films related to the popular sport of figure skating.

Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame - Ishpeming , Michigan: Michigan may seem like an unusual choice for the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, but the city of Ishpeming is where the National Skiing Association was first organized a century ago. This Hall of Fame focuses on Americans, but honors more than 300 individuals, from early pioneers to such recent Olympic champions as Picabo Street and Tommy Moe. The museum has 15,000-square-feet of exhibits, including a large collection of skiing memorabilia and archives.

On the other hand, if you want to be involved in some adrenaline-producing activities, then head over to this MSNBC story, which profiles a few of the world’s best activities for thrill seekers. O.K., so you won’t be matching wits with Shaun White on the halfpipe, but there are plenty of options here to get your heart racing.

Rock climbing, Yosemite Valley: They say Yosemite Valley is climbing mecca, with climbs coveted by “rock heads” far and wide, and a degree of difficulty that has necessitated many technical innovations. Even today, as the most demanding ascents have crumbled, aficionados still point to El Capitan, Yosemite’s 915 meter granite wall, as the planet’s greatest rock climb. Be prepared to self-rescue: it is illegal to camp at the base of any wall.

Zambezi Riverrafting, Zambia and Zimbabwe: The British Canoe Union classes this white-water run as an extreme Grade V: violent rapids, steep gradients, massive drops. One of the rapids is called ‘Oblivion’ and is said to flip more canoes than any other on the planet. Commercial operators like Safari Par Excellence operate on both countries’ shores. July to January serves up the best water conditions.

Running with the Bulls, Pamplona, Spain: Ever since Ernest Hemingway popularized the event, running with the bulls through the narrow streets of Pamplona has come to symbolize some kind of macho pinnacle. Bull runs start at 8 a.m. every day from 7 to 14 July; runners must enter before 7:30 a.m. Once you start running it is technically illegal to stop.

Whatever you do, enjoy! And see you in London in two years, or Sochi in four.

Americans love road trips. They love taking them and they often enjoy reading about them, as well. But what are the best U.S. road trip books ever written? Smithsonian magazine took a stab at that question and came up with a list of 11 titles, which are featured in a recent article. Here is an excerpt:

On the Road by Jack Kerouac, 1957
When this semi-autobiographical work was published, the New York Timeshailed it as the “most important utterance” by anyone from the Beat Generation. Though he changed the names, the characters in the novel have real life counterparts. Salvatore “Sal” Paradise (Kerouac) from New York City meets Dean Moriarty (fellow beatnik Neal Cassady) on a cross-country journey fueled by drugs, sex and poetry The novel’s protagonists crisscross the United States and venture into Mexico on three separate trips that reveal much about the character of the epic hero, Moriarty, and the narrator.

Travels With Charley John Steinbeck, 1962
Near the end of his career, John Steinbeck set out to rediscover the country he had made a living writing about. With only his French poodle Charley as company, he embarked on a three-month journey across most of the continental United States. On his way, he meets the terse residents of Maine, falls in love with Montana and watches desegregation protests in New Orleans. Although Steinbeck certainly came to his own conclusions on his journey, he respects individual experience: He saw what he saw and knows that anyone else would have seen something different.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert M. Pirsig, 1974
A deep, philosophical book that masquerades as a simple story of a father-and-son motorcycle trip, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceis Pirsig’s first foray into philosophy writing. Their motorcycle trip from Minneapolis to San Francisco is also a trip through Eastern and Western philosophical traditions. His friend, a romantic, lives by the principle of Zen and relies on mechanics to fix his motorcycle. Pirisg, on the other hand, leaves nothing up to chance and knows the ins and outs of maintaining his bike.

Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon, 1982
After losing his wife and job as a professor, William Least Heat-Moon sets out on a soul-searching journey across the United States. He avoids large cities and interstates, choosing to travel only on “blue” highways—so called for their color in the Rand McNally Road Atlas. Along the way, he meets and records conversations with a born-again Christian hitchhiker, an Appalachian log cabin restorer, a Nevada prostitute and a Hopi Native American medical student.

See the entire list of 11 books in the full story. What titles would you add to this collection?

Maybe you’ve seen the movie Julie and Julia, or have even actually tried Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But have you ever considered moving to France in order to learn how to cook French cuisine? Lynda Balslev did just that one day, in search of adventure and on an unexplainable whim. And so began what she calls her ”French Culinary Love Affair,” in a recent article for NPR’s Kitchen Window. An excerpt:

Each day, I walked across the city from my apartment in the 18th arrondissement to school in the 15th arrondissement. I traversed neighborhoods and crossed boulevards and the river Seine on my way to class. For breakfast, I stopped in cafes along the way and ordered a tartine, a crusty baguette slathered with butter and preserves, and cafe au lait. I passed open-air markets, where I purchased baguettes, fresh fruit and runny cheese for my lunch. I continued on, passing restaurants and bistros, pausing to read menus posted outside their doors, window shopping for dinner just as I would for shoes.

At school, I learned to make sauces, stocks and reductions, how to clean fish and poultry, sharpen and use my knives. I learned the basics of pastry and how to cook an egg. I was instructed on how to cut vegetables, roast salmon, prepare coq au vin. I shared my food from class with the dishwasher, who tirelessly worked in our kitchen, cleaning our pots and pans. I was eager to return home from school without leftovers; I had other plans for dinner. My love affair had started. I had a rendezvous with a French bistro for dinner.

I discovered the neighborhood bistro early on. Accessible, convivial and unfussy, the bistros beckoned to me when I returned home from school each day, tired and hungry with no interest in more cooking. Their entrances were warmly lit and festively decorated. Sounds of conversation, laughter and the wafting aroma of delicious food coaxed me into their cozy environments. I would slip into a seat at a small table in the middle of the bustle, sitting elbow to elbow with my fellow diners. I was alone yet in good company, sharing in the enjoyment of eating.

Travel and food always makes a great combination for both experiences and storytelling. Read more of the rest of the author’s French cooking experiences in the full story, which includes recipes for beef bourguignon, potato gratin, and more.

Do you enjoy food? Are you a traveler who likes to experience a culture through its cuisine? If so, then Syria should perhaps be on your list of future countries to visit. Yes, Syria. There was a great piece recently on NPR about the rise of Aleppo, Syria, as a destination for food lovers.

Aleppo, in northern Syria, is one of the oldest cities in the world. For a thousand years — maybe more — the city’s residents have had food on the mind. Now, this Middle East gourmet capital is registering on the itineraries of food tourists — and giving Paris and New York some competition.

The romance begins at the city’s outdoor food markets — radishes as big as apples; fresh white cheese bobbing in milky water; shiny green and black olives; hundreds of pickles; and thick pomegranate molasses. Then there are the spice markets, with yellow turmeric, pink rose petals and red sun-dried pepper pastes.

Surrounded by olive, nut and fruit orchards, Aleppo is famous for a love of eating. The cuisine is the product of fertile land and location — along the Silk Road, an ancient trading route…

The International Academy of Gastronomy in France awarded Aleppo its culinary prize in 2007. But Aleppo was a food capital long before Paris. Aleppo’s diverse communities — Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Circassians, a sizable Christian population — all contributed food traditions, since Aleppo was part of the Ottoman Empire.

The full story has more information about food tourism in Syria. As well as overviews of such local meals as “fava bean soup with a splash of olive oil, lemon juice and Aleppo’s red peppers,” or “kibbe, a deep-fried oval of cracked wheat with … delicately spiced, fragrant lamb in the middle.” Check it out.

So there are 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, not to mention places to see before they disappear, festivals to experience, destinations for food and wine lovers, and much, much more. But what about places to ride your bike before you die? It’s not a new book, but it is the fun title of a quite interesting online article that I just came across on travellingtwo.com. There are some really great selections listed, so much so that you may actually want to dust off your bike for your next vacation. Here is a sample:

Along the Mekong in Cambodia: Angkor Wat might be Cambodia’s’s most famous attraction but when it comes to really seeing how the local people live, you can’t do any better than by riding your bike along the dirt paths that follow the Mekong River, through a string of small villages that rarely see tourists. What will you see? For a start, there will be more chickens and pigs on the road than cars. Lunch might be some sweet rice and coconut, steamed in bamboo over hot coals (the ultimate energy snack for a hungry cyclist) and the whole way you’ll hear the sounds of enthusiastic kids saying Sua s’dei as you pass. The rainy season brings the added bonus of endless local ferries over bits of flooded road.

Shiraz to Yazd in Iran: Want to feel like a cycling celebrity? Go to Iran. Yes, Iran. This is not the axis of evil but rather a country where passing tourists are regularly hauled into local homes to drink endless cups of tea, then stuffed to the gills with home-cooked delights, put to bed on fine carpets and sent off the next day with panniers filled to bursting with bread and sweets. Friendlier people? You can’t find them anywhere else in the world. Then there are the endless archaeological sites. They’re as glorious as anything you’d see in Rome, only mostly devoid of other tourists because so few people come to Iran these days. Don’t forget the scenery – a mix of mountains and deserts – and some of the world’s most gorgeous architecture. For beauty and tranquility, the tiled mosques of Iran, particularly in Esfahan, are unmatched.

The Island of Tasmania in Australia:If touring cyclists go to heaven, they’d go to a place where the roads are smooth, the traffic is light, the views are stunning, the pies are always fresh from the oven and the camping is free. We can only conclude that heaven already exists and it’s on a small island south of Melbourne. Welcome to Tasmania or Tassieas it’s more affectionately known. Come here for the endless views of the sea, the numerous well-thought-out free campsites, the plethora of bakeries serving up tasty treats and the amazing wildlife. You’re sure to see a wombat or two, echidnas and maybe – if you’re lucky – a Tasmanian Devil.

There are seven more destinations in the full story - encompassing Oregon, Portugal, Kyrgyzstan and more - not to mention links to maps and route notes.

In two days, families around the world will gather to celebrate the Christmas holiday. The traditions that they share will vary by country, region and culture. This includes the foods that they’ll enjoy for a holiday meal. For a glimpse into a few of these holiday dishes, check out this article about Christmas treats and traditions from five nations. An excerpt:

Chile: Pan de Pasqua (Christmas Bread) In Chile , celebrations get going on Christmas Eve. A midnight mass, called Misa de Gallo or “Mass of the Rooster,” marks the beginning of the new day and the birth of Christ. (Those who miss it must wait until late afternoon on Christmas Day for the next service, since the clergy, like everyone else, sleeps in.) After Mass, celebrants feast on a meal of roast turkey or beef and vegetables. Gifts are exchanged, and children often spill out into the streets, enjoying the warm summer air of the Southern Hemisphere and showing off their new toys to friends before finally going to bed.

Bread is an integral part of every Chilean meal, and at Christmas, it’s pan de pasqua, a round, eggy loaf similar to Italian panettone and German stollen. Flavored with brandy and dotted with candied fruit, pan de pasqua is served with the Christmas Eve meal and again on Christmas Day, when friends and family visit one another and enjoy leftovers, sweets, and a creamy drink similar to eggnog.

Norway: Lefse(Flatbreads) In Norwegian folklore, an interesting character exists: the nisse, or gnome. Over time, this figure has merged with the imported concept of Santa Claus, resulting in several versions of Santa in Norwegian Christmas festivities. The Fjøsnisse, or barn gnome, is a mischevious spirit for whom families traditionally leave a bowl of porridge on Christmas Eve, in hopes that he will ensure a prosperous year. The Julenisse is a friendlier fellow who brings gifts to children. Baking is a huge part of Christmas in Norway . Cooks prepare numerous types of cookies such as gingersnaps, along with a spiced cake called julekake. On Christmas Eve, families gather around an evergreen decorated with lights or candles, sing carols, dine on roast pork, and exchange presents. Another popular treat are lefse, flatbreads made from potato dough. Enjoyed year-round, but especially on holidays, lefse can be spread with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, or wrapped around savory foods such as fish or meat.

See the entire story for information on other Christmas traditions, including dishes from Italy, Ukraine and Scotland.

I hope everyone enjoys a lovely holiday season, regardless of what you’ll be celebrating. We’ll see you next week!

West Africa is not a heavily touristed place. It’s also not the first region that comes to mind when one contemplates great musical destinations. And yet there is a thriving music scene in Senegal, and especially in the capital city of Dakar, that would appeal to any musically inclined traveler. The NY Times just ran a travel piece that delves into the musical culture of Senegal.

When the sun dips behind the Atlantic, this gritty concrete metropolis — exhilarating, inventive, emotive — flares into a living jukebox of sounds with few African rivals…It should be a welcome moment in the spotlight for Dakar, one of the globe’s most dynamic yet least touristed music centers. With its bevy of international stars — Mr. N’Dour, the acoustic bard Ismael Lo, the adventurous singer-songwriter Baaba Maal — and an ever-increasing crop of new talents, the Senegalese capital is ripe for discovery.

“Dakar is one of the most musically vibrant cities in Africa,” says Simon Broughton, editor in chief of the Britain-based Songlines magazine, which last year began operating tours of the city and this month features Youssou N’Dour on its cover. “There’s a large number of clubs,” Mr. Broughton says, “and lots of music as part of the fabric of everyday life.”

If you venture to this West African nation, you’ll also be rewarded with a glimpse into the grim but friendly nature of African life, as described here by writer Seth Sherwood.

By day, the Dakar of Awadi’s people — poor, struggling, decaying, determined — comes vividly into view as I step out of the Hotel Farid into the hot, garbage-strewn streets of the city center.

Set against the glittering Atlantic, the grid of wide, French-built boulevards and crumbling narrow streets assaults the sensory apparatus at every entry point: the feel of dust and mosquitoes on the skin; the taste of exhaust fumes in the mouth; the smells of sweat and sewage and grilling meats in the nostrils; the chainsaw buzz of cheap scooters and the booming Muslim call to prayer echoing in the ears.

Even the short walk to the teeming indoor-outdoor Sandaga Market — where I head for local music CDs — brings all of Dakar’s contradictions to life. Gleaming Mercedes-Benzes crawl behind disintegrating jalopies and men pushing wheelbarrows. Art galleries and clothing boutiques nudge against cheap luncheonettes and abandoned storefronts. Suited Senegalese businessmen and Westerners … brush past homeless families sleeping on the sidewalk.

There’s no danger — Dakar by day is largely safe — only the constant scent of desperation mingled with a periodic whiff of prosperity.

At the market, everybody wants a piece of the foreigner’s purse. Roaming hawkers flash me batteries, SIM cards, Scrabble games and cheap backpacks, using every imaginable entreaty. “Hey, Mister! Where you from?” “Ça va, Monsieur? Qu’est-ce que vous cherchez?” “Shake my hand! Shake my hand! Obama! Obama!”

Check out the entire story, which provides an interesting overview of a little visited destination.

Mexican food we know. But how many of us are familiar with the cuisine of the different regions of Mexico? Just as in the U.S., each region of that country has its own unique tastes and dishes. If you’re interested in knowing more about these regional differences, you might check out Patricia Jinich’s essay for NPR’s Kitchen Window, in which she extols the wonders of both the food and the sights in the Mexican state of Michoacan.

It surprises me how Michoacan’s cuisine has remained such a well-kept secret. It has a defined personality and a complex layering of delicious flavors like the more popular cuisines from Oaxaca and Puebla, but its dishes seem to be a bit more comforting and use fewer ingredients.

What’s more, some of Michoacan’s basic ingredients, such as pasilla chilies, tomatillos, cotija cheese and fruit pastes, have become readily available in stores outside of Mexico.

My love for Michoacan is inevitably tied to its food, but it goes well beyond its kitchens. The first time I went to Michoacan as a little girl, it had such an impact on me that whenever our family planned a trip, I begged my parents to return there. It wasn’t only the enchanting cobbled streets, the immense wooden doors framed in cantera stone, the aromas of freshly made breads and ground mountain coffee, or the town squares filled with dozens of home-style ice cream carts and sweets stands, all surrounded with colorful balloons and birdseed sellers. There was something more.

If you read the entire story, it includes recipes for such regional dishes as bean and tomato soup, and guava cheesecake.

Whirling dervishes. The term is a familiar one to many people, but what exactly is a whirling dervish? That is, beyond some exotic Middle Eastern man who twirls round and round while dressed in a white robe and tall hat? Not many people know that the dance of a whirling dervish is actually a spiritual activity, most often performed by Sufi Muslim mystics. The Intelligent Travel blog of National Geographic Traveler recently published a spectator’s view of the whirling dervishes, complete with a video. It’s worth a look.

I first heard the term “Whirling Dervishes” as a young child and, reasonably enough, surmised that they were dervishes who loved to whirl. What a dervish was, exactly, remained a mystery to me until last Friday, when I stepped into a 500-year-old Turkish bathhouse (repurposed as the Hodjapasha Culture Center) in the Sirkeci area of old Istanbul. Here, monks of a mystical Sufi order of Muslims–known traditionally for their spirituality, self denial, and tolerance–perform a centuries-old dance ritual…

I glanced at the notes I had taken as our guide, Etem Öztürk, explained the significance of the dervishes’ clothing: “They wear tall felt hats, white gowns with long skirts, and black capes that they remove,” he said. “The hats represent tombstones. The gowns are burial shrouds. The black capes are the dirt of the grave.” The point of the ritual, Öztürk continued, was to leave everything of the world behind and to become one with God, with Allah. “That only truly happens in death,” he said. “These monks are mimicking death. When they’re performing, it’s as though they are dead.”

Fair enough, though, as we watched, the dervishes seemed quite alive to me, the hems of their gowns lifting centrifugally from the floor as they spun, always counterclockwise, sending a gentle breeze out over us spectators. I watched for the movements Öztürk had described: the tilting of the head, the opening of the arms–the palm of the right hand facing up, the left palm facing down, in order to transmit the positive energy of heaven earthward, spreading peace and wisdom.

Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, and families from Maine to California will be sitting down for a traditional family meal of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberries, and other such food staples of this holiday. But this is an interesting time to take a look at other quintessentially American foods that have nothing at all to do with Thanksgiving. The inspiration here is a recent Parade article about unique regional dishes from across the country. Such as:  

CUBAN SANDWICH (TAMPA, FLA.)
A perfect storm of multiple ingredients, the Cuban sandwich is a sheaf of roast pork chunks, sliced ham, cheese, puckery pickle slices, mustard, mayo, and hot sauce all packed into a torpedo of crusty Cuban bread. It would fall to pieces as constructed, but it attains harmony in a hot plancha, the Spanish toaster that is basically a toothless waffle iron, causing all the flavors to bond together as one yummy chord: a truly heroic hero sandwich!

INDIAN PUDDING (NEW ENGLAND)
This pumpkin-colored porridge, a distant cousin of Southern grits, can be topped with cream or vanilla ice cream. While creative chefs doll it up with fruit or brandy, the rock-ribbed Yankee recipe, going back to Pilgrim days, is little more than cornmeal and molasses. A long, slow bake (up to seven hours) transforms it into a profound comfort food that smells like Grandma’s kitchen and evokes the first Thanksgiving.

GREEN CORN TAMALES (TUCSON, ARIZ.)
For these, you need corn still on the cob, because when the kernels are scraped off, they yield enough juice to make a moist, full-flavored filling. Fresh, just-roasted chilies are laced into the corn dough (often with cheese) and tightly rolled inside a green corn husk, then steamed until the taste of earth and fire are exuberantly married: an inspiration for house parties.

DATE MILKSHAKE (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA)
As intense as espresso and as special as champagne, dates were unknown to most Americans before the 1890s, when they first were planted in California. Roadside date shacks concocted this divine dessert drink by adding finely chopped date crystals or date puree to a blender along with ice cream and milk. It’s a wanton luxury that radiates the taste of sunshine and demands gulping.

What other unique regional dishes can you name? Check out the full story for other examples. In the meantime, though, if you’re in the U.S. then enjoy your traditional holiday recipes tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, Borders or Barnes and Noble can be fine places to shop or hang out. But there is something to be said for the thrill of wandering the aisles of a bookstore with a truly distinctive feel and personality. Places that take on the character and personality of the city in which they’re located. That’s why some bookstores can even take on the feel of a travel destinations by themselves. In pursuit of some of these shops, I just published an article about seven of the most interesting and popular independent bookstores in the U.S.

The Strand in New York City promises 18 miles of books. City Lights Books in San Francisco is still going strong more than 50 years after being at the epicenter of the literary Beat Generation. The Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of several independent bookstores within a few blocks of each other in eclectic Harvard Square. And Powells City of Books in Portland, Oregon, is huge and hugely popular. Then there are these other favorites:

Elliott Bay Book Company – Seattle, Washington - The Elliott Bay Book Company is a quintessentially Seattle book store, with brick-walled rooms and a popular café on site. It’s another store that can lay claim to more than 150,000 titles and a constant stream of author readings and book club events. The shop is located in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square district, surrounded by an diverse collection of restaurants, galleries and retail stores.

 

The Tattered Cover – Denver, Colorado - Nestled in the heart of the Rockies, The Tattered Cover is located in an old theater and is renowned for the comfy chairs scattered throughout the premises, the gas fireplace, and the coffeehouse in what was once the theater’s lobby. For a store that stocks more than 150,000 titles, the style is cozy and comforting. Book lovers are invited to relax as they browse this legendary Denver bookstore, which also claims to have a free special event nearly every day of the year.

 

Politics and Prose – Washington, D.C. - It’s a perfect name for a bookstore in a city that is consumed by politics. The Politics and Prose shop is already well known for being the site of many of the author readings that are broadcast on C-SPAN. But the store is also known for a great selection of books, numerous inviting and comfy chairs for reading, and a great café.

What else would you have included in my story? What are some of your favorite independent bookstores? Which ones would you add to a travel itinerary for a particular city?

You’ve seen The Lord of the Rings and dreamed of traveling to New Zealand, where many of the amazingly beautiful scenes were filmed. You’ve sung along with Meryl Streep during Mamma Mia and wondered what achingly beautiful Greek island was the setting for that movie. Yes, movies can be a great boost to a region’s tourist industry, and a chance to visit the site of one of your favorite films can be a fun activity while traveling. Victoria Brewood recently put together a great article for BootsnAll about seven of the best movie locations around the world:

New Zealand: ‘The Lord of the Rings’  - The stunning scenery in the Lord of The Rings trilogy really put New Zealand on the map as a backpacker location – perhaps it should really be called Land Of The Rings. Kiwi director Peter Jackson didn’t have to look far to find the perfect location for the magical ‘middle earth’ in the three movies.

The Lord of the Rings was filmed over 274 days, using 350 purpose-built sets in more than 150 locations over both islands. It is the first time an entire feature film trilogy has been filmed all at once, making it one of biggest productions in movie history. The rolling hills of Matamata were chosen to house the hobbit holes of Hobbiton and the village now presents itself to visitors with a sign saying ‘Welcome to Hobbiton’.

Tongariro National Park is home to three volcanoes; one of these, Mt Ruapehu, was transformed into the dark and fiery realm of Mt. Doom where the ring was forged. Visitors can also ski on Whakapapa Ski Field on Mt Ruapehu, which was used for Middle Earth’s snowy slopes. Queenstown, New Zealand’s adventure capital, was the setting for numerous scenes including the Eregion Hills, and the Pillars of Argonath. Tourists can also 4X4 across the Ford of Bruinen, which was filmed at the Shotover River near Arrowtown or walk the serene forest of Rivendell which is in Kaitoke Regional Park.

Greece: ‘Mamma Mia’ - The most uplifting things about Mamma Mia apart from the classic Abba tunes and all-star cast dancing around to big show stopping numbers, are the beautiful blue waters, narrow cobbled streets and whitewashed houses of Greece.

Mamma Mia was filmed on the islands of Skopelos and Skiathos, two of the Sporades Islands. Skopelos is about a half-hour hydrofoil from Skiathos, and you can either fly to Skiathos airport or take a ferry from Athens. Skopelos is where most of the locations can be found; that beautiful church where the wedding takes place is Agios Ioannis Prodromos Monastery, which is perched on top of a 100-metre promontory.

Kastani Bay and beach is where the song Does Your Mother Know was performed and it’s at Glysteri, on the northern coast of Skopelos, that Amanda reads the diary to her friends. It’s also where Sophie, Bill, Harry and Sam leap from rocks into the sea during Our Last Summer.

What about The Sound of Music in Austria? The Beach in Thailand? Those are included in the full article, along with several others. Read it and dream.

We’re all familiar with the concept of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which are natural and man-made destinations that represent the history and heritage of the world. Somewhat less familiar to most people are the newer UNESCO designations of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which honor such traditions as native music, dance, ritual or craftsmanship. This is meant to complement the list of physical sites, as UNESCO works to honor and protect the world’s cultural heritage. A number of traditions were recently added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, including the ever-popular tango dancing of Argentina and Uruguay.

The 24 members of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage granted the tango dance and its music protected cultural status at its meeting in Abu Dhabi.

The designation may make Argentina and Uruguay, which both claim to be tango’s birthplace, eligible to receive financial assistance from a specialized fund for safeguarding cultural traditions…

Argentina and Uruguay have long been embroiled in a clash over the birthplace of the great tango crooner Carlos Gardel. They kicked aside their differences last year in a joint effort to persuade UNESCO to list tango among UNESCO’s traditions worth safeguarding for humanity.

India’s Vedic chanting and Japan’s Kabuki theater are among the dozens of U.N. protected traditions.

You should check out this stunning collection of photographs of tango that was recently published on Boston.com. Or go here for a full list of the traditions that have been honored by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

Recently, I showed you a road trip that delved into the roots of American music, with destinations connected to the birth of jazz, blues, soul, bluegrass, country and rock ‘n roll. But what about contemporary music? What are the best cities in North America today for music lovers? The Society of American Travel Writers recently chimed with a top 10 list of “best music cities.” The selections run the gamut of tastes and experiences, from Chicago blues to Nashville country. Here are a few of their choices:

New Orleans, Louisiana- “You can’t go to New Orleans without the music swallowing you whole.” –Lisa A. Tomaszewski, travel editor, HMP Communications.

Austin, Texas- “Austin is home to the yearly South by Southwest Music Festival, where nearly the entire city becomes a music venue for a week. There are hundreds of live shows a day, making it just as fun for locals as for industry executives.” –Joshua Hinsdale, freelance travel writer.

Nashville, Tennessee - “Nashville isn’t just the ‘home’ of country music. It’s the heart and soul of country music.” –Steve Winston, freelance travel writer.

Chicago, Illinois- “Chicago’s reputation as home of the blues can’t be understated, with live shows available at clubs every night. The diverse neighborhoods and city-sponsored events also offer live music, from Old Town School of Folk Music to Lollapalooza in Grant Park and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It’s all here, all the time.” –Laurie Borman, freelance travel writer.

Check out the full article for information on New York, Memphis and other cities.

Happy Columbus Day! That is, if you celebrate it. Columbus Day has been a federal holiday in the United States for several decades now, and the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas is observed in various ways. New York City has a big parade and celebration of Italian-American heritage. Other cities, such as San Francisco and Chicago, do likewise. But some U.S. states don’t commemorate Columbus Day at all, instead honoring other indigenous peoples. And in much of Latin America the day is used to celebrate the encounter between the European and American Indian cultures.

To me, this is a recognition not just of the fact that some people find it controversial to celebrate Columbus Day, but of the diversity of cultures and experiences that exist among the people of the Americas. So I thought you’d find it interesting to see this article I published about the different ways in which Columbus Day is celebrated in North America. Here is an excerpt that discusses the non-Columbus Day celebrations:

Discoverer’s Day and Native American Day - Not everyone celebrates Columbus Day, although some states have come up with their own takes on the holiday. Hawaii, for instance, commemorates Discoverer’s Day. It’s not an official state holiday, but the day is meant to honor the Polynesian discoverers of Hawaii. In South Dakota, meanwhile, there is a state holiday on Monday, but since 1989 it has been known as Native American Day in recognition of the nine American Indian tribes who live in the state.

Dia de la Raza - In Mexico and some other Latin America countries, Columbus’ discovery of the Americas is celebrated as Dia de la Raza (or “Day of the Race”). It’s not necessarily a celebration of Columbus, but rather a commemoration of the encounter between Europeans and Native Americans, since many Latin Americans trace their ancestry to this mixing of cultures.

Canadian Thanksgiving - Finally, although it doesn’t have a thematic connection to Columbus Day, the second Monday in October is also the day of Canadian Thanksgiving. It is meant as a day of thanks at the traditional end of the harvest season. So, although for very different reasons, many Americans, Canadians and Mexicans all have cause to celebrate on Monday.

Meanwhile, it’s also worth noting that Columbus wasn’t the only European credited with discovering the Americas. Part of that honor also goes to Leif Erikson, the Viking who sailed from Greenland to what is now Canada in the 11th century. You may have missed it, but last Friday was actually Leif Erikson Day in the United States.

A lot of great music has been made in the United States, and much of it has roots in the South. In fact, if you journey through just a few southern states, you can have a fascinating time exploring the roots of jazz, blues, soul, bluegrass, country, and rock and roll. You can experience even more of the country’s musical heritage if you extend your explorations into the Midwest.

So if you’re interested in taking a pilgrimage into the roots of American music, you should check out this road trip that I created. It’s a two-part journey that enables you to explore much of the musical heritage of the United States. You can read my description of the trip here (and here), and use these Google maps to follow along.

View The roots of American music in a larger map

View The roots of American music (part two) in a larger map

It’s a way of life in many parts of the world: sharing food and conversation around the dinner table. In a place like Greece, these meals might consist of various smaller dishes, called meze, similar to the Spanish tapas that have become popular in some U.S. restaurants. Joanna Kakissis has a great story up on NPR’s Kitchen Window, in which she reminisces about the meze gatherings of her childhood and talks of how she has tried to re-create these occasions in her own homes and with new friends. The story will surely make you want to invite some people over for dinner this week, or at the very least go out for Greek tonight.

My parents moved from their native Greece to the American Dakotas in 1974, but never got used to the big, stick-to-your-ribs Lutheran dinners in the Midwest. Back in the Mediterranean, evening meals were a collection of small, flavorful dishes called meze, spiced with tiny sips of ouzo or the homemade firewater called tsikoudia, courtesy of my mother’s Cretan family. And the food was always shared with friends or relatives who would stay to talk late into the night…

In summer, the evening meze crowd would gather on the tiny balcony in our tiny house in suburban Athens, savoring cheese and spinach phyllo triangles, minty and garlicky yogurt dips, crispy oregano-dusted fried potatoes, the spicy little meatballs called keftedes, grilled octopus, marinated anchovies and, of course, lots of fresh tomatoes, olives and pita bread. My earliest memories include those deeply comforting scents of meze and the openhearted laughter of people bonded to cuisine, culture and each other.

The meze nights got a lot quieter when we moved to the Dakotas, but they didn’t die. Sometimes it was just the four of us — my parents, sister and I sharing keftedesand a giant tomato, feta and mint salad — but sometimes my parents’ friends would join us and add their own flavors…As I grew up and moved around as a journalist, I grounded myself in each new locale by hosting meze nights for new friends.

If you check out the entire story, you’ll also be rewarded with some nice recipes for such dishes as ouzo-spiked pork and beef keftedes, or mint yogurt with carrots and garlic.

There are many ways to differentiate between cultures. I have to admit, though, that one way I hadn’t thought of was in the different ways that cultures prepare and enjoy their cups of tea. But Allen Burt recently wrote an intriguing article for Matador Travel that did just that, reviewing six tea cultures around the world. England and China are on the list, as you might expect, but here is an excerpt about some of the other interesting choices:

Tibet - After passing over 13,000ft mountain passes to the Tibetan Plateau, Chinese green gives way to its western cousin, butter tea. A mainstay of the local diet, generous portions of (often rancid) butter and salt give Tibetan tea a uniquely unpleasant flavor that is undoubtedly an acquired taste. Tibetans take advantage of the butter’s oils to protect their lips from the high-altitude sun. Consequently, the higher you go, the more butter in your tea.

Morocco - Sipping hot mint tea in the souks of Marrakech, Morocco, entails more than you might expect. You sit among boiling cauldrons of lamb heads, watching as your tea is poured from large steaming copper kettles at arm’s length into tiny palm-sized glasses. The addictive sweet mint tea is served throughout the day. Alcohol is regarded as taboo in traditional circles in this Muslim nation, so mint tea acts as the social beverage of choice.

Peru - The coca leaf, notorious for its roll as the principal ingredient in cocaine, has been used for centuries in Andean tea. Among the Inca-descended Quechua in particular, the ancient brew is still consumed to alleviate the effects of life at altitude. Try the tea in the mountain city of Cuzco, where tourist accommodations offer a complementary cup on arrival.

Read the entire article for his other insights about these and other countries.