Bibliophiles will not want to miss a visit to the Boston Public Library. The Boston Public Library was the country’s first publicly funded library, founded in 1848.  The Copley Plaza building, a grand Italianate “palace of the people” dates from 1895 and was designed by Charles McKim....

Before any of my fellow Filipinos react, let me say that I am in no way in agreement with this extension. In fact, the reason for my writing this post is to express my disagreement with it! This travel alert against the Philippines was issued late last year after the egregious issue of the Maguindanao...

Mother and Daughter Quacking while touring on Ride the Duck in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. This photo was from 3 years ago when we went to Baltimore for the first time. The Duck is an amphibious vehicle, from World War II; updated for tourism in cities around the country. You get a nice over view...

I visited the country in 2008 and despite the many problems the Caribbean nation faced I had an extraordinarily interesting time there and never felt unsafe.  Even when I had to find a ride back to my hotel in Port-au-Prince on the back of a motorcycle taxi in the early hours of one morning. I’d...

Ole Mexican Grill in Cambridge’s Inman Square is all about cocina mexicana- well prepared dishes that reflect the country’s  rich culinary heritage . The atmosphere is charming- authentic wrought iron and tile work, white linen-draped tables,  flower-filled window boxes in spring and summer,...

From Trieste I took the train an hour north to Udine for the town’s Fuorirotta (‘off the beaten track’) festival. Udine is one of those very swish small Italian towns, a place that looks well off. It’s a reminder that if you divided off northern Italy from the rest of the country...