Topics

Oct

Discoveries: Serenity in Cities

by Joyce McGreevy on October 10, 2016

The Culture of Urban Quiet

Marit Krogh's "Seated Girl with Headphones" in Oslo, Norway exemplifies the potential discoveries in urban peace and quiet (© Joyce McGreevy)

In Oslo, Norway, Marit Krogh’s “Seated Girl with Headphones” evokes sound and silence.
© Joyce McGreevy

Ah, the quest for urban tranquility. “No man should live where he can hear his neighbor’s dog bark.” That’s how ardent ruralist Nathaniel Macon admonished city dwellers.

Macon was born in the 1750s, when 3 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. He also said those words while active in what some consider a major source of annoying noise, the U.S. Congress.

A sign for Quiet Street in Bath, England is one of the more whimsical discoveries in the quest for urban peace and quiet (© Joyce McGreevy)

Finding quiet is easy in Bath, England.
© Joyce McGreevy Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 1 Comment

Crossing Cultures/Discoveries/Worldwide Sites

Sep

Little London

by Joyce McGreevy on September 26, 2016

Entrance down into The Wonderpass, a mini-museum in a street underpass, showcases London details that offer travel inspiration. ( © Joyce McGreevy)

To truly appreciate London, get down into the details.
© Joyce McGreevy

Travel Inspiration: Details That Delight

You’re watching an American TV show when the location segues to London. Yup, there it is again—ye olde stock footage of Big Ben. So much for London in close-up.

By the logic of TV, Londoners from all 33 boroughs enjoy unobstructed views of this English landmark, the better to set their watches. Never mind that Big Ben refers to the great bell housed inside the Elizabeth Tower.

Gold railings in Little Venice Maida Vale are London details that offer travel inspiration. (© Joyce McGreevy)

Gold railings along Little Venice Canal in London’s Maida Vale.
© Joyce McGreevy Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 1 Comment

England/On Foot

Sep

So Far, So Fab, Sofia!

by Joyce McGreevy on September 6, 2016

Alexander Nevsky Memorial Church is one of the most popular sights in Sofia, Bulgaria. Image © Joyce McGreevy

Russian-inspired and relatively new (1924), Alexander Nevsky Memorial
Church has become the most recognized landmark in Sofia.
© Joyce McGreevy

Wanderlust Leads to Sofia

If you visit Sofia, Bulgaria, prepare for the inevitable response.

“Bulgaria? Bul-GAR-ia? Where IS Bulgaria, exactly?”

The only European country never to change its name, Bulgaria is in the Southeastern European peninsula known as the Balkans.

Balkan means “a chain of wooded mountains,” and Bulgaria epitomizes this. One-third forested and teeming in biodiversity, Bulgaria borders the Black Sea to the east, Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 15 Comments

Art of Travel/Crossing Cultures

World Views: