The Soumaya is a visual treat, inside and out
Mexico City's Museo Soumaya building at Plaza Carso is one of those buildings that I never get tired of looking at. The building is...
Taxco, the silver city on a hill.
Taxco is about 100 miles south of Mexico City, perched on the side of a mountain that became one of the invading Spaniards' most...
Tango is a lot more than a dance
Tango is Buenos Aires. Tango is Argentina. Tango was born in the slums of turn-of-the-20th-century Buenos Aires, where weary laborers translated their day-to-day burden...
Xochicalco, one of the hidden treasures of Mexican archaeology.
Most archaeology buffs visiting Mexico City head straight to Teotihuacan to the north of the City. But there's another site that's also important in...
Quetzalcoatl’s temple is also worth exploring at Teotihuacan
Because he's one of my favorite gods, I particularly like the Quetzalcoatl Temple (Templo de Quetzalcoatl) at Teotihuacan, which is at the opposite end...
The Kiosco Morisco of Mexico City
Although its appearance would make one think that it was originally designed and built by a North African country and gifted to Mexico, the...
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The special home of the tilma (cloak) of Juan Diego, to whom the mother of Jesus Christ appeared on a hill just outside Mexico...
On the streets of colonial Trinidad.
Trinidad was one of the first cities established in the Caribbean by the Spanish. In 1514 -- only 22 years after Columbus first landed...
Che’s life commemorated in a single statue
One of the lesser-known memorials to Che Guevara in Cuba is the statue of Che and a child that's located at the provincial headquarters...
Puebla’s flavorful colonial center
Known for its flavorful food, the architecture of Puebla's historic center also has a wide variety of flavors.
The city was founded in 1531 by...
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Don’t hurt me. I’m fixed.
In Havana, there are so many unsterilized dogs and cats that some people try to kill them just to try to keep down their...
Riding the California Zephyr into a blizzard
I love the history of the construction of the original railroad route through the Sierras from Sacramento to Reno and I have always wanted...
Bang Data at the F&S Music Festival
Berkeley's Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse celebrated its 50th anniversary with an outdoor music festival on Addison Street last Saturday. The highlight -- for me...
Bailando en las Calles (Dancing in the streets)
On Sunday, May 6, Brava! for Women in the Arts and Precita Eyes Muralists presented their sixth annual "Baile en la Calle: The Mural...
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Fandango at the Bulb!
The members of Son de la Bahia, a son jarocho community based in the East Bay, gathered on the Albany bulb to host a...
Puebla’s cathedral has the tallest bell towers in Mexico
Construction of the Cathedral of Puebla started in 1557 and was not completed for another 211 years. When it was finally finished in 1690,...
Che Guevara’s Mausoleum in Santa Clara
Just outside of the city of Santa Clara, Cuba, the mausoleum of Che Guevara attracts travelers, mourners, and revolutionaries from around the world. Che's...
Cuba is in love with its cats.
One thing you'll notice if you travel to Cuba is that Cubans like cats. Cats freely roam the streets throughout the day and night,...