The library at Hotel Emma. Photo courtesy of Hotel Emma

Food & Drink

The Best Room in San Antonio’s Hotel Emma May be the Library

July 11, 2026

Mimosas welcome guests on a Cirrus Aviation flight to Dallas from Austin.

Private Jet from Austin to Kickoff: A Luxe FIFA World Cup 2026 Experience in Dallas

Entertainment, Food & Drink, Hotels, Luxury, Sports

Pedestrian walking the roof of Oslo's National Opera house.

Amerikalinjen Hotel in Oslo: A Bridge Between Continents

Family, Hotels, Travel

El Rosario is one of several sanctuaries operated by local people within the Monarch Butterfly Reserve.

Monarch Butterflies & Meaningful Travel in Central Mexico

Adventures, Nature, Travel

The Best Room in San Antonio’s Hotel Emma May be the Library

Food & Drink, History, Hotels, Luxury
by Barbara Redding
The library at Hotel Emma. Photo courtesy of Hotel Emma

Luxury hotels often impress with sleek design and impeccable service. But the moment I walked into Hotel Emma, I realized this hotel at the north end of San Antonio’s River Walk offers something rarer: a sense of place embodied by an extraordinary library. The bones of the 19th-century Pearl Brewery still hum beneath the surface, giving San Antonio’s only Michelin Two-Key hotel a rustic texture and authenticity that new-build luxury hotels can’t replicate. A cathedral-like brick tower beckons visitors inside, where steel beams frame soaring ceilings....

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Private Jet from Austin to Kickoff: A Luxe FIFA World Cup 2026 Experience in Dallas

Entertainment, Food & Drink, Hotels, Luxury, Sports
by Barbara Redding
Mimosas welcome guests on a Cirrus Aviation flight to Dallas from Austin.

  Traveling from Austin to Dallas usually means either a grueling drive on I-35 or a tedious wait in the security lines at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. As someone who often makes the trip to visit family, I know the routine well.   With FIFA World Cup 2026 soccer matches expected to strain transportation in both Texas cities this summer, one luxury package offers Austin soccer fans a much smoother alternative.   Private aviation company Cirrus Aviation and Hôtel Swexan have created the “Runway to Rivalry...

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Amerikalinjen Hotel in Oslo: A Bridge Between Continents

Family, Hotels, Travel
by Barbara Redding
Pedestrian walking the roof of Oslo's National Opera house.

Oslo’s revitalized waterfront shines with modern architectural drama. The National Opera house beckons visitors to stroll across its sloping marble roof. Brooding masterpieces evoke contemplation inside the angular Munch Museum. Electric tour boats glide across the azure water of the Oslofjord.   Yet just steps from the harbor stands a quieter landmark, a century-old building with a tile roof that links Norway and North America.   Thousands of emigrants once began their transatlantic journeys here, departing from the headquarters of the Norwegian America Line. Clutching...

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Monarch Butterflies & Meaningful Travel in Central Mexico

Adventures, Nature, Travel
by Barbara Redding
El Rosario is one of several sanctuaries operated by local people within the Monarch Butterfly Reserve.

Traveling to Morelia to see monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico’s volcanic mountains was a bucket-list experience. My small-group tour with Troy and Rene of Camiba Cultural Tours introduced me to the work local people are doing to preserve and protect the habitat of these important pollinators.   To learn more about my monarch butterfly experience, please watch my Earth Day podcast on YouTube. I joined Rene and Troy to talk with Big Blend Radio’s Lisa Smith about the importance of meaningful travel that protects nature...

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Morelia and Monarchs: A Journey into Mexico’s Rose-Colored Colonial Heartland

Adventures, History, Nature
by Barbara Redding
Looking up at the twin towers of the Morelia Cathedral.

Mexico’s allure for many visitors begins at the beach where white sand and turquoise water meet. But inland, a different kind of magic unfolds in the country’s Spanish colonial cities.   One colonial beauty often overlooked is Morelia, the capital of Michoacán in north-central Mexico. Built largely of rose-colored Cantera stone, the city of about 750,000 is more visually unified than many colonial cities. That architectural cohesion isn’t boring; it gives the city a sense of refined elegance.   I arrived in Morelia on a small-group...

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Chasing Monarchs to Mexico: Visiting the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

Adventures, Nature, Stories
by Barbara Redding
Monarch butterflies flood a meadow in mountains of Mexico.

Every autumn, monarch butterflies drift through my backyard in Austin, Texas. Their luminous orange-and-black wings spurred me to trace their migratory trail to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the volcanic mountains of central Mexico.   With two girlfriends, I gazed in awe at millions of butterflies clustering in trees in their winter home in the monarch butterfly reserve.   Our small-group journey with Camiba Cultural Tours paired a monarch encounter with time in the colonial city of Morelia and visits to artisan towns in...

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Thun, Switzerland: Where to Slow Down in Shadow of the Bernese Alps

Adventures, History, Nature
by Barbara Redding
Walkway along the River Aare offers views of the Old City and the church.

A clear blue lake, a towering medieval castle, and creaking covered bridges—set against a ring of snowcapped Alps. That’s Thun, a small Swiss city between Bern and Interlaken, where you can savor slow travel yet remain close to the alpine attractions that draw millions to central Switzerland.   Like many travelers, I assumed touristy Interlaken was the obvious base for exploring the Bernese Alps last spring.   After a closer look at the map, I noticed Thun (pronounced toon), folded into a corner of crescent-shaped...

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Justice and Comedy: A Surprising Dual Legacy in Jamestown, New York

Entertainment, History, Travel
by Barbara Redding

Comedy takes center stage in Jamestown, the small western New York city best known as Lucille Ball’s hometown. Visitors celebrate the legacy of laughter and entertainment at the Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Museum and the National Comedy Center.   This city of 28,000 residents in pastoral Chautauqua County also has a serious side that often goes unnoticed.   A new film, Nuremberg, is shining a spotlight on Jamestown and the Robert H. Jackson Center. The center commemorates the respected jurist who served as the chief U.S....

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Going deep on a Norway fjord cruise with Havila Voyages

Adventures, Cruise, Nature, Stories
by Barbara Redding
A Havila Voyages cruise ship sailing in Trolljorden along the Norwegian Coast.

A splash of Arctic ice down my back and a hug from a hairy Norse sea god confirmed my initiation into the Arctic Explorer’s Club after my Havila Voyages cruise ship crossed the Arctic Circle.   For seasoned sailors, the crossing is a milestone. For my fellow passengers aboard the Havila Pollux off Norway’s northern coast, it was a lively deck party. We celebrated our crossing with a sailor’s rum drink known as black magic, a concoction that warms the soul and energizes the spirit....

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Literary Travels in Denmark feature Karen Blixen Museum and Hamlet’s Castle

Adventures, History, Literary travel, Stories
by Barbara Redding
Karen Blixen wrote stories in this room at Rungstedlund, the author's estate.

Big Blend Radio featured my literary travels in Denmark as part of its celebration of National Book Month and National Arts & Humanities Month in October.   During my travels in Denmark, I toured several of the Scandinavian country’s historic and literary landmarks, including the Karen Blixen Museum, home of the famed author of “Out of Africa,” and Kronborg Castle, the real-life setting that inspired Elsinore in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.”   I especially enjoyed learning about Blixen’s fascinating life and legacy, and how...

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