The high Andean desert on the road between Salta and Cachi, Argentina. This particular view is from the Cuesta del Obispo, the hill of the bishop. According to the story, a 16th Century bishop traversed all the paths you see below, minus the paved one, to visit his various flocks.
We knew we’d have fun and hear some great music in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. But the road trip in between, along Tennessee’s Natchez Trace, was a pleasant surprise: a scenic drive, some great food, and a couple important historic sites along the way. We first got a taste of the western Tennessee landscape when […]
On an unplanned swing south into Mississippi from Memphis, we drove around as you might walk around a city, just wandering. We were looking for the roots of the blues, the ghosts of the music makers, and the views from this southern section of U.S. Highway 61. Meaning, we were driving in circles. Our base […]
Sometimes you get lucky. We’d just been told that the 12-year-old used car we’d been driving for the past few years needed $3000 worth of work. And, we’d just made plans to take a driving trip to northern Minnesota. Of course, you have to ask if it’s worth it to put that much into an […]
A couple friends from Omaha told me recently that, for more than a decade, all they saw when visiting Minneapolis/St. Paul was the Mall of America and one stadium or another. Granted, a lot of attractions vie for attention in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Visitors can be forgiven steering toward sports, concerts, and shopping, then finding […]
We only made a very brief stop in Hannibal, Missouri on our way to Nashville. Obviously, it was Mark Twain who attracted us, and so we immediately made our way from our hotel two blocks down to the river. On the streets between us and the river, of course, were all the obligatory tourist stops […]
Sometimes, a photo just happens. You’re wandering around the town, doing a little souvenir shopping and then having a light dinner. You had left the big camera in the room because you’d done some shooting that afternoon, and nothing was inspiring you at the moment. And then you come out of the restaurant and see […]
It’s not that the Marais neighborhood of Paris is new or anything. Its heyday was from the 16-18th Centuries. But for being so close to the main tourist routes of central Paris, it has a distinct feel and a separate story. And it’s new to me. We walked the Paris Marais district in late May […]
Fred Schlomka is idiosyncratic enough that I shouldn’t have been surprised when our interview by email, between the U.S. and Israel, morphed into a personal meeting in Minneapolis. And even less surprising, now that I think about it, was that we met at a bike shop, The Hub in Dinkytown to be precise, a favorite […]
In May this year we sailed the Rhine River from Basel, Switzerland, north to Amsterdam with Viking River Cruises. Amazingly, this is our fifth river cruise, fourth with Viking, and we’re surprised, even ourselves, at how much we enjoy these experiences. What we appreciate in a river cruise is the combination of onboard relaxation and […]
