Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Home AROUND THE WORLD

AROUND THE WORLD

Discover destinations and places that inspire. Flying Baguette takes you to a dreamy travel adventure around the globe.

A chruch architectural structure

LUCCA under the SKIN

Famous for its cuisine, medieval ramparts, and opera, Lucca is Tuscany's best-kept secret that makes for a different kind of Italian drama.   A ugust is coming to a close in Lucca, a masterfully preserved medieval Italian city situated some 50 kilometers to the west of Florence and a short 15-minute drive...
Sunrise over Lisbon

Lisbon RISING

The "Golden Centuries of Discoveries” ended a long time ago in history books, but in Lisbon, the resurging energy is finding a comeback.   Travelers have been talking in reverent tones about a number of encouraging sights they noticed in Lisbon. It seemed it was all people could talk about lately....
Lisbon at dawn
Postcard-perfect Lisbon with its dramatic scenes and slopping terrains, there's no better place to experience all that Portugal has to offer than its capital.   Lisbon is in no hurry. It takes its time. The city wakes up when it wants to and sleeps only when it needs to. Slow. Like the...
Carving the duck
It’s the scruffiness that turns you off. It’s the realness that turns you on. ‘Berlin ist arm, aber sexy’ as the saying goes, which translates to ‘Berlin is poor but sexy'—and if there’s a neighborhood that best represents that idea, it’s Kreuzberg.   Throughout the years of self-shame and retrospection, Berlin...
A painting of old merchant's ships
In Madeira, Quintas are becoming the new cultural touchstones and enduring icons that define Portuguese hospitality.   It was the best of times. I am traveling to Madeira. It was the worst of times. The plane that would take me to Portugal's ethereal island in the Atlantic, was nowhere in sight. It...
An empty road
When trips don't go according to plan, don't panic. Travel mishaps make travelers wiser. The best part is the journey to self-discovery.   Just as summer is about to make its anticipated entrance, our car zoomed along the curvy asphalt, passing several “Ausfahrt” signs with France miles away. The further we...
A converted barn turned hotel

CATALONIA DREAMING

From the Pyrenees to the jagged coastal coves of Costa Brava, Spain's Catalonia stirs inspiration and saccharine summer dreams.   IT was hard to say when summer arrived in the Alt Empordà, the upper part of Catalonia, tucked away in the northeast corner of Spain. The fresh-milled scent of olives that clung...
Chinese lanterns
Singapore is a melting pot of culture, a happy marriage of East and West, roaring with unfathomable energy and a new sense of identity.   From the balmy Friday afternoon rush hour, the occasional tropical breeze whiffs in gently. A welcome relief as I walked, dripping in sweat, along the bustling...
The town of Ronda in Spain
From a rocky gorge to Spain’s oldest bullfighting ring, Ronda is not just a place to see monumental architecture but also dreams and dramas.   Through the large glass paneled windows blurred by the cold mist of the Andalusian winter, the clip-clop of well-shod hooves from the carriage horses striking the...
Men at work
In Malaysia, the country’s cultural diversity and soul is best expressed through its love for food and the makan.   The city train heading to the town center whizzes by fast after halting for a few seconds at Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station. One can still hear its engine, like an ominous...