Travel
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Judging Wine At 40,000 Feet
Sampling 600 Wines For TAP Airlines
By: - Dec 11th, 2017The tedious work of sampling six-hundred plus Portuguese wines for TAP airlines in-flight wine service was an involved project. There were ten wine tasters, seven from Portugal, two from Brazil, and myself from America . Wines were first sampled on the ground and then the top fifty were sampled in the air on a round trip flight from Lisbon to Prague.
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Detroit's Underground Railroad
Exploring City's Unique History
By: - Aug 21st, 2018Code named “Midnight” by Underground Railroad “conductors,” Detroit provided access to Windsor, Ontario, Canada just across the narrow Detroit River.
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Cartagena: Conserving Cultural Heritage
A 500-year-old Urban Jewel in the Caribbean
By: - Sep 03rd, 2018The author recently visited Cartagena, Colombia. The city is a 500-year old urban jewel in the Caribbean with a wonderful scaled and visually vibrant Old Town (el Centro Historico). It is a wonderful destination on the western edge of the Caribbean. Planning of Cartagena both in terms of preservation and new development is a challenge, but climate change and rising sea levels is threatening its cultural heritage.
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Topsy Turvy on Mt. Greylock
Bascom Lodge Reading and Book Launch
By: - Sep 04th, 2018Astrid Hiemer contributed 19 photo illustrations for my fifth book of gonzo poems Topsy Turvy. On Sunday of Labor Day weekend we collaborated for a reading and book launch at historic Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock. There was a nice turnout on the porch. Jose, Alvin, Rick and Art joined us for the jazz dinner that followed. We stayed the night and had breakfast with hikers. It was an adventure we need to have more often.
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Mesa Verde National Park
Visiting Southwest Colorado
By: - Sep 07th, 2018Spread over 52,000 acres on high plateaus (7,000 to 8,500 feet), Mesa Verde National Park offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans who built their homes there from around 650 until about 1300 AD.
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Crystal Bridges a Landmark Museum of American Art
Founded by Alice Walton in Bentonville Arkansas
By: - Sep 16th, 2018The largest work of art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is the museum itself, which serves as an anchor for the examination of architecture as art. The design of pods floating over a pond is the creation of Moshe Safdie.
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Feel The Heel of Puglia
Primitivo di Manduria
By: - Oct 08th, 2018Puglia is referred to as the 'boot or heel' of Italy. It is located easternmost on the bottom of Italy and has 325 miles of coastline, whch helps enhance the grapes from the province. The wines are interesting and kin to American Zinfandel, a varietal dominant in the northwest.
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Letter from Cape Ann
Now Through the Holidays
By: - Oct 15th, 2018This launches a new feature for Berkshire Fine Arts. Pippy Giuliano, sister of BFA's Charles, shares deeps roots and family heritage in Cape Ann. She lives in Annisquam not far from the ancestral home, Beaver Dam Farm, in Rockport. Now retired, she is active in the community and a docent for the Cape Ann Museum. We suggested that she contribute a Letter from Cape Ann with tips on events and gatherings.
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Letter from Gloucester: Maximus
Recalling the Polis of Charles Olson
By: - Oct 22nd, 2018This is the second Letter from Gloucester by correspondent Pippy Giuliano. She evokes the memory of epic Gloucester poet Charles Olson. He was indeed the bard by the sea who created layers of Cape Ann history from colonial times to his era in the poetic tome Maximus. It is in this daunting tradition that she contributes with humility her "lettters."
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Detroit Then and Now
Soaring Spaces and Gracious Rooms of Motown
By: - Oct 27th, 2018Downtown Detroit has been the business heart of the city since the 1850s, expressing prosperity in structures like the 40-story Guardian Building, a 1929 Art Deco skyscraper. The soaring structure with its 632-foot high spire earned the nickname Cathedral of Finance, but its purpose was all business, and during World War II it even served as the U.S. Army Command Center for war time production.
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Michael McGrath of North Adams in China
Daily Life at Five Immortals Temple
By: - Oct 03rd, 2019The days are long and arduous, the training, in rain or shine, warm or cold, difficult. The toilet is a trench. There are no bathtubs or showers - a face cloth bath with boiled water is as clean as you get. Everything comfortable and familiar in your life disappears, left below at the base of the mountain. Day, date and time dissolve in the mountain mists during the climb, and all you are left with is the moment, one after another.
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Detroit Is Open for Business
The Once-Bankrupt City Blooms
By: - Aug 14th, 2018Here is only a small sampling of new places to eat and stay during a Detroit business trip – or any trip, for that matter. The city has dedicated itself to “coming alive” again, and there’s ample evidence that they’ve made a good start.
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Enrichment At Hancock Shaker Village
Food For Thought
By: - Jul 22nd, 2018A great day trip that enlightens and enriches the soul is as close as Berkshire county, home of Hancock Shaker Village. Spending a day learning about the Shakers, sharing dinner and thought with Peter Jennings son, Chris Jennings, and attending a concert with members of WILCO and transplanted local troubadour, Johnny Irion, can turn any day into sunshine.
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Pay Attention To Israeli Wines
Quality, Not Quantity Is The Focus
By: - Dec 12th, 2017Since Biblical times, wine has been produced in Israel. Originally for religious observances, but, now for consumers, who compose 85% of the market, with the United States, as the leading importer. Kosher wines are produced the same way as non-kosher wines. For that reason, consumers are looking at the wine for what it s, not because its Kosher. Six wines were sampled for this article.
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Military Working Dog Teams National Monument
Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
By: - Dec 29th, 2017In the center of a spacious plaza, a 9-foot modern day Military Working Dog Handler stands with larger-than-life bronze statues of four of the more common breeds of Military Working Dogs utilized by the United States Department of Defense since World War II: Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, and Belgian Malinois.
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Southern France
Along the Foothills of the Pyrenees
By: - Jan 02nd, 2018The walled city of Carcassonne, the heritage site Albi with its Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, the Basque cities of Auch and Bayonne, and the Atlantic coastal cities of Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz are treasures that make this region of France unique for the visitor.
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Northern Spain
The Basque Country
By: - Mar 12th, 2018The Basque region of northern Spain stands out with its beautiful coastline and unique culture. In addition to being historic towns with notable architecture, the cities of Bilbao, Guernica, San Sebastian and Pamplona boast a vibrant contemporary life flavored with local charm. The network of ancient pilgramage routes, the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) also stretches through this region.
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Exploring Idyllwild California
River Deep Mountain High
By: - Apr 07th, 2018It’s not unusual to spot a herd of colorful deer right in the center of Idyllwild, the famously art-hearted small town (pop. 3,874 year-round) in the mountains (elevation 5,413) above Palm Springs. Not your ordinary deer, mind you, but 22 fabulously painted aluminum bucks, does and fawns, each decorated to reflect a part of Idyllwild’s history.
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Finger Lakes New Vines Vineyard
Unique Winegrowing Region
By: - May 30th, 2018The Finger Lakes are New York states largest wine growing region, with over 150 vineyards crisscrossing the eleven Finger Lakes. One vineyard is home to New Vines B&B and is located within two miles of seven other vineyards. With a resident winemaker on premises and the use of local and homegrown crops for breakfast, it was easy to digest what the Finger Lakes region was about.
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Mt. Greylock’s Bascom Lodge
I Could See for Miles and Miles and Miles
By: - Jun 13th, 2018It was a picture perfect Sunday afternoon when we took a long and winding drive to the 3,491 foot summit of Mt. Greylock. It's rustic Bascom Lodge was constructed as a WPA project in the 1930s. It fell into neglect but was renovated and the road repaired in 2009. There are dorm and private rooms for hikers. In season three meals a day are served and dinner on weekends is generally sold out. There are free events on the porch and we attended a mashup organized by Berkshire Playwrights Lab. At 7 PM we joined the family style dinner. For spectacuar views and a sense of adventure it's a summe treat that's hard to beat.
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Denver's Museo de las Americas
Celebrating Era of Pachucos y Sirenas
By: - Jun 26th, 2018Museo de las Americas, begun in 1992 as one room in a cabinet shop, now occupies a 12,000 sq. ft. building in the heart of Denver's Santa Fe Art District.
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The Finger Lakes, Gateway To American Wines
Riesling Rules
By: - Jun 26th, 2018Only hours away from millions of people, the Finger Lakes, located in central New York state, is home to a large wine making population. With over one hundred twenty vineyards, located on or near one of the eleven lakes, the Finger Lakes 'cold climate' wine culture thrives year round, focusing on the Riesling varietal.
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Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Known as ‘The Stair Step Town’
By: - Jul 18th, 2018In the beginning, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was all about the healing waters. In 1880, the area’s numerous naturally flowing springs were credited with restoring the sight of a woman who had been blind for years.
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El Regajal Winery Is Madrid’s Finest
Home To 77 Butterfly Species
By: - Feb 07th, 2020When you think of Spain and its wineries, you think about butterflies. Well think again, as you read about El Regajal Winery and winemaker Danny Garcia-Pita. It is a remarkable combination.
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New Zealand: North Island
Bay of Islands
By: - Apr 12th, 2017A subtropical archipelago, the Bay of Islands is a unique ecosystem of nearly 150 islands. Pristine natural environment with emerald hills and clear turquoise waters set the stage for picturesque historic towns, which mark the crossroads of English and Maori cultures, giving birth to the nation of New Zealand.
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