If there is a place that has a certain hold on everyone, it's called hometown. Whether we love it or loathe it, and no matter how much we try to run away from it, it's a place that we all keep coming back to - time and again.   Just before...

Buzzing and exuberant, the Croatian city of Split, perched on the Adriatic coast, invites all travelers to experience the joys of Dalmatian life and fjaka.   W   hat does a wayfarer see when she climbs the 183 step-bell tower of Saint Domnius Cathedral in the old town of Split? In this thriving city...

With its mild Mediterranean winter climate, Spain's largest island in the Balearics is a travel secret hiding in plain sight. Overflowing with an endless array of galleries, restaurants, baroque churches and medieval streets, Palma is a winter city to enjoy sans the madding crowd.   I knew that you brought a...

Love it or loathe it, Malate is a kind of place that lives up to its legendary reputation and the best way to know it is to embrace it.   Between the patchy phone line and the tropical downpour brought on by an approaching typhoon, I could barely make out what...

Lyon is a fitting escape for pilgrims in search of culinary delights as well as feeding the hungry soul with the city's cinematic sights.   T here are these moments in Lyon during summer when the heat seems to be far removed, tempered by a cool breeze where the Rhône meets the...

Sights, sounds, the self and a schloss -l'Invitation au voyage in the snowy Bavarian Alps.   There are elephants in the room. I am of course referring to the ubiquitous and recurring elephant patterns of my bed’s headboard, as well as on the couvre-lit, the couch and cushions in the room...

Vienna allows a traveler to indulge in a waking dream, and there is nothing more real than setting foot in Austria's alluring capital.   Between Vienna’s imposing Parliament Building and its famous university, which dates back to medieval times, there sits a classic newspaper-laden Viennese café that bears the impress of...

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...

Mallorca, an enchanting Spanish island in the Mediterranean, has lured generations of artists, writers, poets, celebrities, and musicians, inspiring their works and legacies.   W hen William Graves opened the door of his father’s old casa in the undulating hillside of Deià on the island of Majorca, his eyes twinkled. Elena, whom...

There aren't many places left in Phuket where travelers can find peaceful retreats. But if you know where to look, the island could be yours.   I n Surin, that raw idyllic stretch, about 7 km of imperceptibly inhabited coastline across the Andaman Sea, which lies on the west coast of Phuket,...