Sheron Long's Blog, page 7
December 16, 2019
Holiday Wanderlust in Leipzig!
The Christmas Market has been a tradition in Leipzig for 600 years.
© Joyce McGreevy
Winter is Wunderbar at Germany’s Christmas Markets
It’s an ink-dark December morning as my sister and I board the train in Berlin. Yet our hearts are light, warmed by the promise of discovery. Winter wanderlust leads us to Leipzig’s Weihnachtsmarkt one of Germany’s oldest, biggest, and most beautiful Christmas markets!
Now popular around the world, the European tradition of the December market wasn’t always so charming. In the early Middle Ages, it was merely the last chance to stock up on supplies before hunkering down for a long, miserable winter. Visions of survival, not sugar plums, danced through one’s head in those days.
In the 1400s, markets took a festive turn. Carved wooden toys, gingerbread, and other treats began appearing among the sacks of grain and racks of...
December 2, 2019
Cultural Encounters on the Banks of the Seine
Les Bouquinistes
© Meredith Mullins
The Bouquinistes: Icons of Paris Culture
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night . . .
From this familiar and inspiring creed, you may think this story is going to be about a diligent U.S. postal carrier. Not so.
For this “Oh, I see” adventure, we travel to the banks of the Seine for cultural encounters with the riverside Paris booksellers—the bouquinistes (pronounced boo-kin-eests).
Through snow and rain . . .
© Meredith Mullins
This iconic community, like postal carriers, are dedicated to their job—in all seasons, in all kinds of weather. The bouquinistes have been officially authorized in Paris for more than 160 years.
This literary tradition is an integral part of Paris culture. A commonly heard description is that the Seine is the only river in the world that flows between bookshelves.
...
November 26, 2019
Do You Know Your Onions?
Take time to smell the . . . onions?
Sheila Brown CCO Public Domain
Crossing Cultures: Peeling the Layers of a Truly Global Food
Quick—what food is a staple of every global cuisine?
Wheat? Nope. Rice? Guess again. Uh, potatoes? B-z-z-z! Game over!
It’s the onion.
Americans eat 22 lbs. of onions per person per year, placing 5th after Libya (66 lbs).
© Joyce McGreevy
It’s grown in over 175 countries—twice as many as wheat, according to United Nations estimates. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization lists China as the world’s largest producer of onions, followed by India, the United States, Turkey, and Pakistan.
Oh, I see: The vegetable that makes eyes water also makes mouths water across cultures.
Put on your goggles as we peel away the layers to see why onions are the apple of every culture’s eye.
Older Than Thyme?
...
November 11, 2019
Green Grow the Alleys, O!
THIS is a public alley? In Montréal, a ruelle verte (“green alley”) basks in autumn’s glow.
© Joyce McGreevy
Creative Problem-Solving, One Alley at a Time
What does the word alley bring to mind? Most likely someplace gray and utilitarian, a narrow passageway behind buildings. Perhaps it evokes unpleasantness, even menace, as in something “you wouldn’t want to encounter in a dark alley.”
But what if alleys reflected creative problem-solving? In a growing number of cities, they do. Presenting the “green alley,” an urban oasis created from what was once a concrete desert.
The seeds of this eco-friendly concept were sown in Montréal, where green alleys are known as ruelles vertes.
Over 80% of Montréal residents surveyed have said “Oui!” to the Ruelle Verte project.
© Joyce McGreevy
From No-Go to Where Flowers...
November 5, 2019
Travels to the Past: Sweden’s Vasa Ship
A model of the Vasa, with full sails
© Meredith Mullins
The Shortest Maiden Voyage in History
She was as tall as a four-story building and weighed 1,300 tons.
She housed two gun decks with 64 cannons and could transport more than 450 crew members.
She was both inspiring and intimidating with her 700 intricate carvings decorating the ship.
Intricate carvings on every part of the Vasa ship
© Meredith Mullins
She was the most significant statement of power that King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden had ever created.
She was the Vasa—the mightiest warship of her time.
Inspiring and intimidating at the same time
© Karolina Kristensson/The Vasa Museum
The Maiden Voyage
The Vasa’s maiden voyage on August 10, 1628 was to be a triumph of innovation, firepower, and dominance.
The design and building process had taken two years and a hefty two percent of the total Swedish...
October 28, 2019
It’s Homecoming—at the TWA Hotel!
The TWA reunion at JFK puts a spring in the step of pilot’s daughter Carolyn McGreevy.
© Joyce McGreevy
Part 2: TWA Travel Memories Reveal Vision of Tomorrow
(Part 1, “Growing up ‘TWA’,” here.)
Heard the one about 700 people spending several days at the airport—on purpose? As storms drench New York’s JFK Airport, Trans World Airlines alumni gather for a TWA reunion, and travel memories come flooding back.
Not even a storm can dampen our excitement about the TWA reunion.
© Joyce McGreevy
TWA Time Machine
Amazed, my sisters and I stare at the TWA Terminal, then at each other to make sure it isn’t a dream. For 18 years, the terminal lay vacant. Now all is restored. Once more we enter the familiar tubular walkway with its cherry red carpets and marshmallow walls, reliving memories of childhood travels with our TWA pilot...
October 21, 2019
Travel Inspiration on an American Road Trip
Butterfly Town U.S.A.
© Meredith Mullins
The Telltale Stories of Town Slogans
Sometimes, a city’s descriptive moniker is so memorable, it becomes a part of modern culture.
New York—The Big Apple
Philadelphia—The City of Brotherly Love
Las Vegas—What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.
One slogan like “The Big Apple” may not be enough for a city like New York (also represented by
“The City that Never Sleeps,” “Gotham,” and “I Love New York”).
© iStock/emyu
However, there is a unique universe to explore in the town slogans and welcome signs of some of America’s smaller cities. And the focus that each community chooses can be a travel inspiration.
Meet Butterfly Town, U.S.A. The sign at entrance to Pacific Grove reminds visitors and residents alike that this quiet California town by the sea is a haven...
October 14, 2019
Travel Tip: See Chicago in Close-Up
Chicago’s sweeping views are mosaics of historical detail.
© Jennifer Kleiman
A Big City’s Surprising Little Details
Poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago “The City of the Big Shoulders.” America’s third biggest city is known for big sights—as a few little details will show:
First skyscrapers? Sorry, New York. They started right here in the 1880s, soaring from 10 to 110 stories in nine decades.
That body of water to the east? It’s massive Lake Michigan, more of an inland sea.
A “world-dazzling” wheel that rivaled the Eiffel Tower? George Ferris engineered it for the 1893 World’s Fair. We know it as the Ferris Wheel. Today’s version at Navy Pier is a Chicago icon.
Face it, Chicago knows BIG. (Crown Fountain Millennium Park)
© Joyce McGreevy
Best Big City
This month, for the third year in a...
October 7, 2019
Is Paris Disappearing?
Let’s not lose the magic of Paris life.
© Meredith Mullins
Change Comes to Four Cultural Icons
“Panta Rhei” wrote the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. “Life is flux.”
This prescient philosophy, from more than 2000 years ago, is more commonly known as “Change is the only constant.” A truth in 500 BCE and a truth today.
In a city like Paris, the process of change can affect the visible cityscape, as well as its cultural icons. We are the witnesses as we go about our daily rhythms of sitting in our beloved cafés, taking the bus, getting the news, and, yes, finding a restroom.
In quotidian life, we face the modern renditions of places that were once part of the cultural heritage of Paris—transitions from the past to the future.
Layers of history
© Meredith Mullins
I feel nostalgia for bygone eras, even as I continue to walk on cobblestone streets and...
September 30, 2019
Growing Up “TWA”
Originating as a mail carrier, Trans World Airlines became a global passenger service.
(public domain)
When Travel Inspiration Took Flight
There once was a boy named Wally and an airline called TWA. The boy and the airline are gone now. But just as a jet leaves behind a contrail, a bright cloud-path that draws your gaze across the sky, the boy and the airline left a legacy.
Oh, I see: This is about a different kind of travel inspiration. The way our journeys influence the journeys of others, helping them navigate their way.
Overcoming Strong Headwinds
One day the boy looked skyward and imagined what it would be like to fly. He dreamed of becoming a pilot, seeing the world, learning other languages.
This was during the Great Depression. Nobody he knew in Ohio was doing such things, and even his teacher doubted the value of learning other languages.
But the...
