Evora, Portugal

by Kelly Amabile on

This whitewashed walled town located in the plains of the Alentejo region of Portugal
is best known for its Roman ruins and remnants of Moorish domination. The
city center was declared an official UNESCO World Heritage site in
1986.

Evora has a
rich history and is
clearly an archeologist’s wonderland, with examples of romanic, gothic, manueline, mannerist,
and baroque styles throughout the cities
museums, cathedrals and
monuments.

The Alentejo region is known for wonderful wines, and Evora seems a perfect homebase from which to explore
the vineyards of the area. This itinerary
maps out routes to over ten vineyards that can be easily reached from Evora. There are
many wonderful wines to sample while touring the sites of
this city and region.

Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail

by Erik Olsen on

Call it war tourism, the desire of folks to visit places where great battles took place or that were somehow a part
of major conflicts. In Vietnam, if you’re not in Saigon looking to go boom boom long time, you can now take
a trip along the Ho Chi Minh National Highway, which has been built
over a part of the famous 9,940-mile web of tracks, roads and waterways, that made up the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The highway is being called the largest public works project since Vietnam War ended 30 years, and is now a key
destination spot for Vietnam visitors. The highway starts in Hanoi and travels in a winding ribbon to Ho Chi Minh City
(AKA Saigon), along the way passing battlefields like Khe Sanh and the Ia Drang Valley. In
this article, the writer takes a trip along the trail/highway and
discusses the history and sights along the way.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

by Erik Olsen on

Rock history buffs (aren’t we all?) might be interested in paying a visit to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH (Hello Cleveland!). The museum houses
a groupie’s dreamload of objects, clothing, and memorabilia that once belonged to various rock Gods like
John Lennon and Buddy Holly.
Check out the 1979 Fender Precision electric bass
guitar broken at the neck by the Clash’s Paul Simonon, or Jimi Hendrix famous 1968 Fender Stratocaster Sunburst
electric guitar. Oh, baby, to be able to pick Hey Joe on that thing.  In fact, there is an
upcoming exhibition on Hendrix that starts
Monday featuring the Jimi Hendrix Surround Sound Theater. Sweet.

There are literally thousands of items in the museum’s permanent collection, and the site is quite good, too, with a
list of the 500 songs that influenced Rock and
Roll that is definitely worth a look (and some careful scrutiny).

The High Train Through China

by Erik Olsen on

I’ve ridden on trains through the US, South America, India, Thailand, Europe and North Africa, and I can say without
reservation that train travel is bliss. Standing at an open door on a train, grasping the hand rails, feeling the wind
on your face, as a an exotic country passes by is one of those exhilarative joys of travel. Man, just thinking about it
makes me want to hit the rails.

The railroad has long been the subject or at least a narrative device in travel writing, just ask Paul Theroux. So
travelers and travel writers everywhere will probably be interested in
this excellent article by Howard
French in the Times about a new railroad being completed in China. I’m serious. A book will be written within a year
after this thing starts running.

The railroad will traverse more than half of China and at certain points will reach brain cell killing altitudes at
stations like Tangula Shankou, which at 16,640 feet will be the world’s highest. Your brain cells will be fine, though,
because the cars will be pressurized, like jet airplanes, and so you will watch the dazzling views out your window and
breathe easily. I’m fascinated by this project, as this is the first time I’ve read about it, so I’ll do some more
looking around and will post about it again.

Visiting Panmunjeom

by Adrienne Wilson on

After reading the Korean food bit on the Pyongyang Restaurant located in Russia and the owners need
to toss a little politics into the recipes, I decided to go looking for that old famous site
called the 38th parallel. If you’re into history, especially that surrounding the Cold War you’ll know the 38th
parallel plays a huge part in North and South Korea’s divide.
Panmunjeom, the so-called “Truce-Village” in which the 38th
parallel runs is primarily a North Korean site. The area is probably far off-the-beaten track for most
tourists and heavily armored guards stay on both sides of the line which makes the whole experience seem a
bit cold even now, but worth the trip. Not certain how many will find themselves in North Korea or South Korea anytime
soon, but it’s always been a fascinating history piece even to read about.
Wikipedia has a ton of information about the village and
surrounding area should you wish to brush up in the meantime.