It’s been two weeks since I moved to Riga, Latvia and some days it still feels like a dream. The place is mind-boggling gorgeous and almost defies description. Riga’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a medieval beauty filled with candy-colored buildings and a maze of narrow, winding lanes. Beer gardens are set up […]
UNESCO
Exploring Budapest: Andrassy Avenue and Heroes’ Square
Andrássy út is probably the most famous street in Budapest, the equivalent of Madison Avenue in New York City or Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Named as part of Budapest’s UNESCO World Heritage listing, the wide boulevard is lined with high-end designer shops and leafy trees which provide a welcome bit of shade on a hot […]
Budapest Castle Hill: A Guide to the Top Attractions
Budapest Castle Hill District is dominated by an impressively sprawling green-domed Royal Palace originally built for the Hapsburg rulers in the 18th century. Sadly, like the rest of the city, the palace took a serious beating from artillery fire during World War II. It was eventually rebuilt in the 1960s – a major achievement given […]
Shuhe, China: A Charming Stop on the Tea Horse Road
For our five nights in Lijiang County, we stayed at a delightful guesthouse in Shuhe Old Town, four kilometers from Lijiang Old Town. Like Shangri-la in the north, Shuhe was a stop on the Tea Horse Road over which Tibetan horses and Chinese tea were traded for centuries. Today that heritage is still in evidence, with […]
Baisha Village and China’s Famous Medicine Man
The Yunnanese ethnic diversity and character that old town Lijiang lacked, we found a few kilometers away in ancient Baisha village. Still a part of the Lijiang UNESCO World Heritage Site, Baisha is far enough removed that only a few tourists on bikes wander down its sleepy, dusty lanes. The Naxi first settled in Baisha […]