Located in a lovely valley amid gently undulating hills, Dan Sai, in the Loie Province of Thailand’s Isaan region, is a town of dilapidated wooden houses that is famous for Phi Ta Kon, a boisterous three-day rainmaking festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, which coincides with a grand merit-making event known as Boon Luang. At … Read more
When it comes to shopping for souvenirs, Bangkok has some terrific shops where you can buy Thai made gifts and mementoes. Most guidebooks will head you to budget shopping mall MBK or Jim Thompson for Thai Silk, which is stunning. But I also love to go to Chatuchak Markets and a handful of other shops … Read more
Mauerpark (Wall Park) is a public space created along a section where the Berlin Wall once stood in Prenzlauer Berg, just a block from our apartment. The Mauerpark Sunday Flea Market (flohmarkt) follows the line of the former wall. Despite the freezing temperatures and the melting snow that was turning to ice and slush, the whole … Read more
There are two markets in Zakopane, a small market of wooden shops in the main pedestrianised street in the heart of the old centre, and another larger market that sprawls along the route to the funicular that goes up to Gubałówka hill. Here are my tips to shopping for Zakopane folkloric souvenirs Most of the … Read more
What’s so refreshing about a visit to The Tatra Museum in Zakopane, in the southern Tatra Mountains in Poland, is that the artefacts on display don’t belong to some long-past culture or dying traditions. Rather, the exhibits in this splendid building explain a rich local culture that is very much alive on the streets outside. An … Read more