A Rolling History Ride in Durango

When I bought a ticket to ride the narrow-gauge train from Durango to Silverton last summer, my only concern was nabbing a window seat for views of the San Juan Mountains. Unfortunately, riders on the historic train face more challenges this year. The “Baby Train,” as it is sometimes called, is running again — sort of. Shut down by the coronavirus pandemic in March, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGRR) was ready to roll again in June when businesses in southwestern Colorado began...

Tranquil Beauty of Tuscany

After spending two weeks hiking in Cinque Terre and hopping ferries on Lake Como, I was ready to relax with friends on a secluded agritourism farm in Tuscany. From the sleepy Sinalunga train station, I traveled in a sleek Italian sports car along narrow country roads that dipped and curved abruptly around tiny hamlets, walled estates, olive groves and vineyards. Porcelain-white Chianina cattle grazed contentedly along the road sides. Red poppies and mustard-colored rapeseed covered the rolling hills as far as I could see, interrupted...

São Paulo Entices With Art And Energy

Sao Paulo – Brazil’s biggest city was not on my bucket list. Rio de Janeiro, yes; Manaus in the Amazon rainforest, definitely. But I was pleasantly surprised by the sprawling business capital of the largest country in South America during a visit in early October 2018. This city of some 20 million is packed with eclectic museums, edgy architecture, and vibrant graffiti art. Designer shops, award-winning restaurants, elegant accommodations, and high-energy night clubs abound throughout the city’s multi-ethnic neighborhoods. And the gregarious Paulistanos, as locals...

A Wedding in India and Much More

The writer and her friends at a wedding

My trip to India began with a festive Hindu wedding in Kolkata. It ended after a mesmerizing sitar performance in a musician’s home in Varanasi, a visit with elephants rescued by a conservation center in Mathura and a walk through a Delhi slum with a young man who grew up there and now hopes to be an actor. Oh, I also saw the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Amer Fort in Jaipur and the Mahatma Gandhi museum in Delhi. The must-see sites of India are indeed captivating. But I...

Cuba: An Island Lost in Time

A fast-moving Caribbean storm chased us off the idyllic, mostly empty Cuban beach. The wind almost whipped the towel out of my hand as I pushed the key card into the door of our third floor hotel room. Nothing happened. Tried again. Nothing. By the time my companion returned with a new card — and news of a power outage — rain was coming down in sheets. Though we escaped the tropical deluge, our neighbor’s room flooded in the all-inclusive, government-owned resort near Trinidad. When...

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