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Wow Place #292: Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, India I have a confession to make. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve sort of lost my passion for traveling in India. It was different when I was younger, when the whole world was my oyster and I couldn’t believe I was allowed to visit an exotic place like India, […]

Wow Place #291: Presidio Tunnel Tops, San Francisco, CA Nostalgia is a funny thing. We have a tendency to look back fondly on the “golden years” of our favorite cities — the 1930s, 40s and 50s – a more glamorous time when men were guys and women were dolls … when hard-boiled, dressier, pre- and […]

Wow Place #290: Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand When I first met Thongsai Monk, high atop Wat Arun, I didn’t completely trust him. Why should I? I’m 24 years old, visiting Thailand for the very first time, and this guy in an orange robe asks me to come home with him. Don’t jump to conclusions here […]

Wow Place #289: Camera Obscura, San Francisco, CA Not long ago, I watched an excellent, highly-provocative documentary called, “Tim’s Vermeer.” In it, the director, Teller (of the magic duo, Penn and Teller) follows Texas-based inventor Tim Jenison in his attempts to prove that the 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer (“Girl with a Pearl Earring”) […]

Wow Place #288: Casa Bacardi, San Juan, Puerto Rico There’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed in the travel world called “The Disneyland Effect.” Essentially, it’s when a place deliberately cleans and sanitizes its environment for the comfort of its foreign visitors, coaxing them to stay awhile, take pictures, and purchase generic drinks, meals and tchotchkes. Call […]

Wow Place #287: Old Sacramento, CA Not long ago, I was walking through the Higashiyama district of Kyoto, Japan – with its classic, wooden houses and traditional tea shops — thinking, “This looks just like the set of a Kurosawa samurai movie.” Is it touristy? Of course it is. Are there entirely too many gift […]

Wow Place #286: Lake Tahoe Flume Trail. CA “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S Eliot I am not, by nature, a thrill seeker. I’ve never rappelled off a cliff face. I’ve never sky-dived. I will never bungee. Although I’m fine going to “risky” […]

Wow Place #285: Lotus Temple, New Delhi, India I love when architects get creative with the shape of their buildings. The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona looks like a sand castle. The Longaberger building in Ohio resembles a picnic basket. The Teapot House in Wuxi, China looks exactly like one might expect – […]

Wow Place #284: Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada There’s a scene early in the movie Avatar (2009) when our protagonist, Jake Sully, encounters the planet, Pandora, for the first time. As he walks through a beguiling, technicolor forest, goggling at the glowing, neon colors, the strange, fairy-like flora, we can feel his sense of awe, […]