As you look down from the hillside onto the apparent perfection of Malta's Blue Lagoon, you struggle to imagine it in any other condition. Land embraces lagoon like a protective parent. Water shines like a molten blending of sapphires and emeralds. The perpetually cloudless sky appears hazy against such brilliance. Craggy islets guard the entrance like dorsal spines on some mythic leviathan. But you walk the Malta of the modern world, a … [Read more...]
Cherry Blossoms, Korea
Cherry blossom viewing in Korea is met with the same sort of enthusiastic hedonism that I've previously only encountered in American malls on Black Friday morning. "Please do not pick the cherry blossoms," a woman's voice pathetically pleads over an intercom. "If you pick the cherry blossoms, we will have nothing for our festival. Enjoy with eyes only," she announces in Korean, English, and Japanese at regular intervals throughout the … [Read more...]
Colombia’s Coffee Boom
For inhabitants of Colombia, coffee production is an effective means for economic growth and prosperity. And the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafe), located in Chinchiná and sponsored by the Colombian Coffee Grower's Federation, is working hard to highlight the influence of coffee on the economic development of the Cafe Triangle region in Colombia and countries like Guatemala and Honduras, says Fernando Gast, PhD, director of scientific … [Read more...]
St. John
You think hockey, you think cold. You think St. John in the Caribbean, you think hot. When you combine the two, what do you get? If you're very lucky, a Boston Bruins Stanley Cup championship. That improbable confluence happened for me when I was staying at Kismet on St. John, a gorgeous, five-bedroom villa of Moroccan design high atop Maria's Bluff, between Cruz Bay and Chocolate Hole. I'm a hockey nut in general, and about my Boston … [Read more...]
Tongue-Tied
The one I want to wrap in my arms and bring home is Nebras. I didn't even know her name when I return to Iraq, shortly after the assault on Baghdad. I am armed only with a photo of a beggar touching her nose with her tongue. I had met her a few months before, when I'd traveled to Iraq with a women's delegation, just five weeks before the U.S. bombings and invasion. Unfazed by impending disaster, the little girl, old enough to be in … [Read more...]
The Perception of Time
The use of time is an important issue in understanding human behaviour. Among cultures the perception and understanding of punctuality can vary quite a bit. Where Germans are known for their strictness, accuracy and punctuality, I definitely have to register a deficit in the last category. I'm not the most punctual person. Anyways, some of my friends know me so well that they would rather tell me a different time to meet just so they wouldn't … [Read more...]
A Local’s Guide to Vancouver’s Top Ten Free Attractions
I grew up in Toronto, Canada. While Toronto is a tremendous city - boasting eclectic neighbourhoods, lush city parks and a vibrant cultural scene - it's also a place people get really practiced at leaving. Every Friday night in summer, the 400-series highways leading out of town are jammed with cars crawling towards the promise of fresher air and a lakeside cottage up north. I've left Hogtown for good and for the past six years have called … [Read more...]
Dancing with Elephants and Gods: Kandi, Sri Lanka
It's not everyday that you get to frolic with elephants and gods. Let me remind you that God supposedly sent Adam to Sri Lanka after his expulsion from heaven, as it was close to what he had left behind. After this visit, I have no reason to doubt this, as Sri Lanka truly is a paradise on earth and I was happy to get a taste of it. A pineapple and coconut shack we found while going to Kandy "Guess what! Change of plans! We are going to … [Read more...]
Cruise Clues
This is the season for vacations and probably a goodly number of Dave's Travel Corner readers will take a cruise. Today's cruises-unless they are aboard a river raft on the Amazon-offer our grandest dreams of indulgence. These are floating luxury resorts, dedicated to recreation, education, cultural enrichment-and SHOPPING. I've chalked up my sixth cruise by now on the world's seas, rivers, and through locks and fiords. (I'm not counting the … [Read more...]
Bier Festival, Berlin
When asked about something typically German beer will be one of the most frequent responses people will give you. Germany is a beer loving nation. Internationally probably most known is the Oktoberfest where the beer consumption reaches a climax in the country. Since there is still some time to spare until the next Oktoberfest I recommend any beer lover with an extreme craving for some German beer to start looking for Berlin apartments, because … [Read more...]
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