“We go to camel market?” Nishad asked, glancing over at me. I had, contrary to custom in Dubai, chosen to sit in the front seat of the taxi, explaining that I could see the scenery better…
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One Day in Dubai: Things to do!
Dubai is a land of superlatives: biggest, tallest, first. I would also add: oddest. Dubai is often compared to Las Vegas, and I agree: its sheer brashness and artificiality are very like Las Vegas. Like Vegas,…
A visit to the Dubai Frame
The Dubai Frame was not what I expected. In the flurry of publicity when it opened recently, the media showed just what its name promised: a picture frame. That’s what I thought it was: a large…
One day in Ankara, Turkey
The last time I tried to visit Turkey was more than 30 years ago, and my attempt failed. I’ll tell that story at the end of this post. I will tell you, though, that I finally…
A Hoover Dam Tour and a Dam Tour Guide
“My name is Arcelia and I’ll be your dam tour guide.” This was our introduction to our tour of Hoover Dam. Arcelia milked the joke as much as she could – “this dam wall,” “these dam…
New York City on a Budget: Free or cheap things to do
A lot of sights and activities are expensive in New York City. Nevertheless, you can entertain yourself well on very little money if you know where to go. Here are some tips for seeing New York…
The Neon Museum Las Vegas: Nostalgia in the desert
The Neon Museum Las Vegas isn’t like any museum I’ve visited before. It has more in common with a junkyard, albeit a very tidy junkyard. In other words, you won’t see precious items in display cases,…
Musee Mecanique and its Penny Arcade Machines
Space Invaders! Memories flooded back as I spotted the game. Pac-Man! Centipede! My visit to the Musée Mécanique and its collection of antique and vintage penny arcade machines struck a chord with me. Anyone who grew…
USS Pampanito and SS Jeremiah O’Brien: WWII maritime history in San Francisco
After learning about how “Rosie the Riveter” constructed Liberty Ships in the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, across the bay from San Francisco, it seemed to me that the obvious next step was to tour an actual…