Fabled Kashmir, dominated by the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges, is the more than half a century-old contentious issue between India and Pakistan. Kashmir, with Srinagar as its capital, is a favored vacation sojourn of South Asian rulers of centuries past.  It has a population of around 12 million, more than the population of the provinces [...]

The history of man, it is said, can be read as a series of metropolises risen and fallen. Sure, Athens and Rome are still there with their legacy of grandeur and glory.  Yet there are more great cities throughout history that are difficult to find on the map now.  Either their names have been changed, which [...]

One doesn’t take an evening walk in Dubai by the light of the silvery moon.  Dubai has a golden moon that lords it over the city’s skyline on evenings.  I still have to see a single star and think it a phenomenon. Which is to say that my country is a lucky one.  Most of our [...]

For one reason or another, what could have been a mere spat between the husband and I turned into a full-blown running battle of words and nerves that went on for a full week, each one aiming for the other’s jugular. The husband suggested that we both needed a change of scene, somewhere we’ve never been [...]

On the water’s edge of Lake Geneva in western Switzerland, in the town of Montreux in the canton, or state, of Vaud, is the medieval castle of Chillon (pronounced she-yo), or the Chateau de Chillon, about an hour’s drive from the city of Geneva.  One side of the lordly castle facing the ancient road to [...]