When I first arrived at ARIA Las Vegas, I was a mite rough and dry, like the cotton candy you see in those cocktail glasses below. It took only an hour or so before I was flowing with a glow, feeling much as you see in the second shot, that cotton candy in a better mood. The ARIA is transformative—and a little magical—like that: I spent three days there and couldn’t stop saying “Wow!” (And I said that at night too.) I was part of a media … [Read more...]
Foreign Funeral – Heartbreak in a Romanian Village
Our arms interlocked tightly at the elbow. We stared downward in the chilly, quiet living room when an improbable question broke the silence. “Did you touch her yet?” my wife, Oana, asked as tears streaked down her high cheekbones. “She’s still warm.” Mama Ana, as she was known, my wife’s 82-year-old grandmother, died hours earlier in her small, century-old stone farmhouse in the Romanian countryside. We journeyed 7,000 miles from … [Read more...]
Mary Jane, Mopeds, and Metal Bars
When you wake up on a concrete floor with only a bamboo mat between you and the cold you might just wonder what the hell you were thinking the night before. This was my situation a few years back while I traveled the world for a year or so. Some days it felt longer and this was one of them. I lay there body sore, taught as a fisherman’s net soaked with salt, dried in the hot afternoon sun. Rubbing my eyes, I dared to take a day light look at my … [Read more...]
Comedy, Kayaking, Museums and Farmer’s Markets in Los Angeles
Looking for some comic relief in the evening after fighting traffic earlier in the afternoon, I stopped in at the famed Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd - just down from the celeb rich Chateau Marmont for some comedy. Many famous acts have started here or performed on its stages including Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase among others. It was #blackout Tuesday and I was the only Caucasian in the audience. Oh and I was in the … [Read more...]
Gruesome Ghoulash: Budapest’s “House of Terror”
John M. Edwards tours the ambivalent history of terror in the Hungarian capital Outside the museum on infamous Andrassy utca stood a young Hungarian law student wearing an anachronistic frockcoat straight out of some 19th-century novel. He said his name was Andros and asked me for a cigarette. He then lit it and smiled pleasantly. “Did you know that there was a persistent rumor during World War II that our ghoulash bowls were full of human … [Read more...]
The Mauritian Chronicles: Paradise Lost and Found
John M. Edwards grabs his “Beachcombers Card” and does Divali (Festival of Lights) on delicious Mauritius, a paradisiacal Indian Ocean isle--once the roost of extinct dodos, now the boast of professional beachbums--which initially he can’t place on a map! “Incredible!” You are from New York?!” boomed Willy Van Damme, a friendly Belgian restaurateur and former soldier of fortune, in the sleepy resort town of Péreybere. “Very rare! We get almost … [Read more...]
Celebrating the Caribbean Experience in London
Looking for some additional “warmth” through the end of the year in London? Perhaps simply the sound of the word Caribbean will quickly make you start dreaming of the region's warmth - both in weather and hospitality. Or more, start you thinking about white sand beaches, island music, tropical rum and relaxation. If you cannot physically get to the Caribbean this year and you are in London, the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum hotel (located in … [Read more...]
The Dry Tortugas Are Far Out, All Right—in So Many Ways
A conch, a parrot and a rooster walk into a bar. You don’t need a map to follow that joke: you know you’re in the Florida Keys. The Keys are one of the few places in the US where you might think, “What country am I in?” But wherever you are in the Keys, it’s all good—I’ve never been in an area that has more of a smiling “what the hell, why not?” attitude. It’s on a place’s edges where you see the more unusual sights, and for the southern … [Read more...]
Canada: The Road Less Traveled
The Canadian province of Saskatchewan is a hidden gem. Less well known than its neighbor Alberta, it boasts a population of approximately a little more than 1 million and has roots in Aboriginal history. The province is named after the Saskatchewan River, which the Cree named Kisiskatchewani Sip, meaning “swift-flowing river.” In fact Canada, in the language of the Huron is from Kanata, which means “settlement.” Saskatchewan is also a … [Read more...]
More to Augusta, Georgia off the course on The Masters Weekend
Whenever a host city focuses the spotlight on an internationally recognized event, it leaves in the shadows attractions and destinations that define the city every other day of the year. I challenged myself to discover what Augusta, Georgia had to offer off the course on Thursday morning of the Masters weekend. A cab from Augusta National Golf Club to downtown Augusta on Masters weekend meant standardized premium rates: $30 one-way for an … [Read more...]
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