Topics

Oct

Travel Inspiration on an American Road Trip

by Meredith Mullins on October 21, 2019

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. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 2 Comments

Art of Travel/USA

Oct

Travel Tip: See Chicago in Close-Up

by Joyce McGreevy on October 14, 2019

Chicago at night features surprising little details of America’s best big city, prompting the travel tip “slow down and focus.” (Image © by Jennifer Kleiman)

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: Read more...

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.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

On Foot/The World's Art & Design/USA

Oct

Is Paris Disappearing?

by Meredith Mullins on October 7, 2019

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. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 8 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Cultural Symbols/France (Paris)

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