World Society is a unique, customized itinerary planning service provided by the renowned Christmas historian, Maria Hubert von Staufer, and her husband, Andrew Hubert von Staufer, an early pioneer in sustainable tourism.
Taping into 30-plus years of travel experience, the von Staufers have created an extensive network of alliances and can advise and create itineraries to meet the needs of most...
Host of the Month
Tunisia is kind of the forgotten man of North Africa. Algeria and Libya, with their volatile politics, Morocco, with its fabled kasbahs and souks, and Egypt, with its 5,000-year history and status as the Arab world’s cultural capital between them suck all of the air out of most discussions about North Africa.
But visitors to this small coun...
World Heritage Site
Pity the San Diegans. They must live year-round in a narrow temperature range of 60 to 75 degrees F (occasionally suffering the discomfort of 55 or 85-degree anomalies) and endure 10.41 inches of rainfall each winter. They are fated to wait perpetually in vain to experience the romance of snowdrifts, tornados, over-the-top humidity, hail, spring sleet and other seasonal extremes.
To mak...
Museum Pick
When the original
Mormon settlers in southwest Utah saw the fantastically shaped
3,000-foot sandstone cliffs that formed the canyon of the north fork
Virgin River, just north of present-day Springdale, they decided the
terrain resembled Zion, the heavenly city described in the Old
Testament.
Mormon leader Brigham
Young, hearing that the ...
National Park Pick
Rueben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego (And Balboa Park’s December Nights 2003)
Written By Patrick Totty Posted on Seven Seas
Pity the San Diegans. They must live year-round in a narrow temperature range of 60 to 75 degrees F (occasionally suffering the discomfort of 55 or 85-degree anomalies) and endure 10.41 inches of rainfall each winter. They are fated to wait perpetually in vain to experience the romance of snowdrifts, tornados, over-the-top humidity, hail, spring sleet and other seasonal extremes.
To make the best of a bad lot, they console themselves with a lot of shallow distractions – 70 miles of beaches, a beautiful bay, easy access to Mexico and one particularly seductive diversion, 1,400-acre...
Sheri Leigh, the former travel agent who created this web site four years ago, has trekked by camel in North Africa, faced down gantlets of wolf-whistling men in Rome and stoically eaten food of dubious origin that would have triple-flipped the stomach of any lesser traveler.
With creds like that, you have to listen up when she says modern airliners are “crowded buses from...
Have you ever experienced the magic of an Austrian Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market)? The smell of gingerbread, cotton-candy, roasted chestnuts, sugar apples and bratwurst, combined with the sight of sparkling lights in the trees and treasures displayed in endless rows of stalls, is a memory no child can forget.Early in December these Christmas markets open up...
Why do we have a decorated Christmas Tree? In the 7th century a monk from Devonshire, England, went to Germany to teach the word of God. He did many good works there, and spent much time in Thuringia, an area which was to become the cradle of the region’s Christmas decoration industry.Legend has it that he used the triangular shape of the fir tree to...
The celebration of “Advent” – the season before Christmas – is rooted in traditions dating back hundreds of years in Europe’s Alpine countries. During advent, modern Germany, holding steadfastly onto Old World traditions, transforms itself into a Christmas fairytale setting. The sights and sensations of the Christmas season are everywhere: Locals and guests savor the tastes of chocolate covered Lebkuchen (gingerbread), heavily sugar...
Every December, Christian clergy and scholars from around the world make the pilgrimage to the southern Turkish village of Demre to honor St. Nicholas, the historical figure who inspired the legend of Santa Claus. St. Nicholas was bishop of Myra during the 4th century A.D., the ancient Lycian city along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey that is now Demre. Few details...
Europeans and North Americans tend to think of Canadian or Scandinavian show festivals when they imagine ice palaces and frozen sculptures. For example, the Quebec City Winter Carnival, (December 2001, The Cultured Traveler) an annual pre-Lenten blast, regularly draws 1 million visitors to its array of balls, parades, fanciful ice structures and general cold-weather...
Throughout the night, one is surrounded by beauty: Vienna's balls usually take place either in lovely mansions, once owned by members of the aristocracy, or in a prince's former town palace or at the most desirable location in all of Vienna, the great hall of the Imperial Palace (Hofburg).
Vienna's ballrooms are, as it were, dressed to the hilt...
* 1 cup butter (unsalted)
* ¾ cup fine sugar
* 1 cup ground almonds
* 2 ½ cup all purpose flour
* 1 cup vanilla-flavored powdered sugar (sugar stored with a vanilla...
As the holiday season approaches, most of us plan for family get-togethers. Many such events involve travel, whether across town or across the country, and all involve food – the international, cross-cultural, universal heart of every holiday celebration.
For the majority of western cultures, our year-end holiday is Christmas. Of course,...
* Schlumberger Sparkling Wine brut (this is an Austrian sparkling wine – it may be replaced with a California Beringer brut, but please, no Asti Spumanti!) Start out with a glass of same.
* Smoked Filet of Trout with Elstar Apple Salad (may be replaced with Granny Smith) and Whipped Cream with Cranberries. Drink a 1996 Nussberger chardonnay with it. (You may substitute a Peconic Bay chardonnay from Long Island or...
Traditionally the French celebrate La Fete des Rois (Festival of the Kings, or Epiphany) by eating a special dessert. Epiphany is often the pretext for a gathering of friends – or several gatherings, since guests return the invitation. Sometimes these get-togethers can take place through all of January!
There are two main cakes prepared for this occasion: a brioche type stuffed...
In Italy, when one thinks of holidays, food come to mind immediately. Each region has its own special recipes to celebrate the seasons.
Easter brings fresh sheep’s cheese and summer grilling brings young lamb, Fall is the season of porcini mushrooms and wild game, and winter is a celebration of soups, stews and slow-cooked dinners – the grandest of them being bollito...
Tunisia is kind of the forgotten man of North Africa. Algeria and Libya, with their volatile politics, Morocco, with its fabled kasbahs and souks, and Egypt, with its 5,000-year history and status as the Arab world’s cultural capital between them suck all of the air out of most discussions about North Africa.
But visitors to this small country (at 63,000 square miles,...
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World Society is a unique, customized itinerary planning service provided by the renowned Christmas historian, Maria Hubert von Staufer, and her husband, Andrew Hubert von Staufer, an early pioneer in sustainable tourism.
Taping into 30-plus years of travel experience, the von Staufers have created an extensive network of alliances and can advise and create itineraries to meet the needs of most...
Tunisia is kind of the forgotten man of North Africa. Algeria and Libya, with their volatile politics, Morocco, with its fabled kasbahs and souks, and Egypt, with its 5,000-year history and status as the Arab world’s cultural capital between them suck all of the air out of most discussions about North Africa.
Rueben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego (And Balboa Park’s December Nights 2003)