Posted in Destinations, Sights on Aug 31st, 2009
Machu Picchu is a destination to rival Luxor or Angkor Wat, and ever-growing numbers are making the pilgimage to the lost mountain redoubt of the Inca kings. (The suppression of the once-deadly Maoist guerrila group Shining Path helped a lot.) Many of those visitors make the journey with little foreknowledge of what they may [...]
Posted in Travel Notes on Aug 28th, 2009
You’re an American. Let all those foreigners know it. To make sure you are absolutely, positively identified as a tourist, observe these rules:
* Speak up. Waiters and the people at the next table appreciate knowing your preferences and every other detail of your life. Express dismay that someone doesn’t understand English; they’re just stuck-up.
* Hoist [...]
Posted in Travel Tips on Aug 28th, 2009
Some people have no difficulty mentally calculating the equivalent of pesos or yen or euros in dollars - on the spot, the seller of the English teapot or Turkish prayer rug or Mexican candlestick impatiently waiting. Then there are the rest of us. There are devices and dodads to do the chore, but they take [...]
Posted in Destinations, Lodging, Restaurants & Bars on Aug 24th, 2009
Draw a gentle arc from the eastern end of New York’s Long Island across the water to the knuckle on the fist of the flexed arm of Cape Cod in Massachsetts. It takes in some of the most blessed and glittery summer retreats on the Eastern Seaboard - the fabled Hamptons, home to movie notables [...]