Search Results for: New York City

MOCA New York City (Museum of Chinese in America)
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MOCA New York City (Museum of Chinese in America)

With so much focus on #BlackLivesMatter, it can be illuminating to look at other ethnic groups in the US. I visited MOCA New York City last year, and it’s high time I published my review. I used to teach an American Studies overview course here in the Netherlands. Every year I made sure to point…

The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn
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The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn

With its bewilderingly complicated passages, dank smell, bare concrete floors, tangles of pipes and conduits, and the rumbling roar that shakes the ground and then fades, the New York City subway system doesn’t win any prizes for beauty. It’s immense, though, and remarkably fast and efficient, and can take passengers within a few blocks of…

A Riga City Tour: 10+ things to see in Riga
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A Riga City Tour: 10+ things to see in Riga

This could have been a review of a tour that doesn’t actually exist. What I mean is that the Riga city tour I took was sponsored by #LiveRiga, a campaign of the Riga Tourism Development Bureau, but it is not run on a scheduled basis. Rather, our guide, Juris Berze, is a freelance tour guide,…

Tenement Museum tours: A review
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Tenement Museum tours: A review

Back in 2013, I visited the Tenement Museum in New York City’s Lower East Side and loved it. When I visited again recently for a different tour, well, I didn’t love it. This article combines both reviews, with updated museum information. My family’s immigration history Three of my four grandparents were Ukrainian Jews who immigrated…

Yotel Hotel at Schiphol: A Review
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Yotel Hotel at Schiphol: A Review

You’ve probably heard of capsule hotels. First developed in Japan, capsule hotels keep costs down for guests by using the available space efficiently. Often stacked one above the other, the capsules are each the size of a single bed. You can’t even stand up in them, making them, as the comedian Jeanne Robertson (video below)…

Trip of a Lifetime: Bloggers Pick their Must-See Destinations
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Trip of a Lifetime: Bloggers Pick their Must-See Destinations

For this collaborative post, I asked fellow travel bloggers about their idea of a trip of a lifetime: If a person who’s never traveled far from home asked you to name the one place they should visit on their one-and-only trip ever, what would you say? I got so many different answers! I’ll start with the…

The African Burial Ground of NYC
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The African Burial Ground of NYC

New York City’s African Burial Ground National Monument has an interesting history. Or, rather, two histories: one of the people who were buried there, the other of the rediscovery of the graveyard and the establishment of this monument. Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. If you click on it and spend money, I will…

Solo travel so far

Solo travel so far

My trip to the Caribbean last month was my first solo trip. When I talk about solo travel, I’m not talking about when I fly somewhere to lead a workshop and then have a day free to explore whatever city I find myself in. I’m not talking about when I go somewhere to visit friends…

In Flanders Fields Museum: A review
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In Flanders Fields Museum: A review

An effective museum doesn’t just display items drily in glass cases; an effective museum gives those items meaning to the people viewing them. It entertains, but it also makes visitors think. It gives the items an emotional weight. The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, Belgium, is one of the most effective museums I’ve ever…

Travel-addicted but can’t travel? 3 ways to deal with your wanderlust
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Travel-addicted but can’t travel? 3 ways to deal with your wanderlust

A lot of us who enjoy traveling are sitting at home – or, if you’re a digital nomad, in a hotel or on a friend’s sofa – wishing desperately that this pandemic would end so we can hit the road again. I know I am. I am travel-addicted and my “itchy feet” need scratching, yet…

A self-guided Rotterdam walking tour: Architecture and art
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A self-guided Rotterdam walking tour: Architecture and art

Rotterdam is famous for its post-war architecture, mostly because a World War II bombing in 1940 destroyed much of the city. Yet it didn’t just rebuild and settle in; it is still constantly changing, expanding and reinventing whole neighborhoods. On a recent visit, I took a tour of a few new buildings, but I also…