Manuel Antonio National Park is a small National Park located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, just south of the city of Quepos.
The cultural representations of New York City are ubiquitous: from Woody Allen movies to Eloise stories, it is nearly impossible to escape the images of mega-watt neon lights, celebrity-packed sidewalks, and Bohemian apartments.
Beyond the blinding lights of Oxford and Piccadilly Circuses, London is just as much a working and living city as it is a tourist destination.
While people have been making the journey to Australia for over 40,000 years, the continent retains a magical, dream-like quality. Turns out, Australia is unlike anywhere else.
Meet those eccentric restaurant owners, masquerade with budget-friendly-Bacchus, stomp through volcanic ruins, and learn to saunter down Roman cobblestone—in stilettos, of course.
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We write for readers who know there’s more to travel than sharing double deckers with tourists and who believe that travel can change both themselves and the world—whether they plan to spend six days in Central Greece or six months in Marettimo . We’ll show you just how far your money can go, and prove that the greatest limitation of your adventures is not your wallet, but your imagination.
The next time you pass by a Dominican flag waving proudly in the wind, take a closer peek at its design—you’re lookin' at one of a kind. The Dominican Republic’s flag is the only flag in the world that displays an image of the Bible. In the center of the large white cross is a coat of arms, which depicts a gold cross, an open Bible, and the motto Dios, Patria, Libertad (God, Country, Freedom). The flag was officially adopted after the Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti in 1844, but its religious roots trace back to the Christian influence brought over from Spain by Christopher Columbus and his gang of disease-carrying, God-fearing men.
You won’t soon forget Chile's spectacular glaciers—provided, of course, that you can actually see them! On a glacier sightseeing trip, sunglasses (or their brawnier cousins, glacier glasses) are an absolute must. Even on cloudy days, up to 90% of UVB rays can be reflected off the ice and straight into your eyes. If you would prefer to avoid days of pain, redness, swelling, and endless pirate jokes about your taped-shut eyelids, remember to bring a decent pair of sunglasses. The best pairs have dark lenses, prove 100% UVB protection, and cover your eyes completely.
Indonesians spend a lot of time trying to avoid causing malu (shame), so if you don’t want to be that embarrassed foreigner, you need to be mindful of this social norm. People here are exceptionally careful of how they communicate, which often leads to a unique (albeit very confusing) verbal dance. Indonesians will try to steer clear of causing anyone discomfort by speaking indirectly in conversation. Basically, people beat around the bush here. A lot.
Starting a restaurant in Ho Chí Minh City’s backpacker zone can be a tricky business. Restaurateurs have to manage the daily grind of cooking, serving, and soliciting customers—and in HCMC, there’s the added threat of a copyright lawsuit.
Faith in Catemaco’s brujería (witchcraft) varies from complete devotion to total skepticism. The practice can be traced to deep within the surrounding jungle, where hundreds of species of medicinal plants have been used by indígenas for centuries. Catemaco’s natural mineral springs are touted as healing water—and bottled as Cayame brand sodas, on sale throughout the area.
On every menu in every street corner cafetería in Puerto Rico, you will almost certainly find mofongo, one of the island’s food staples. This hearty starch is made by crushing tostones (friend plantains), garlic, olive oil, and chicarrones (pork rind) or bacon into a thick, mashed-potato consistency.
While Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings put New Zealand on the international film map, the country already had a significant film tradition before the hobbits journeyed to Tongariro National Park. Anyone interested in the moving image, social history, or who simply wants to view a free feature film, should head to the New Zealand Film Archive, one of the country’s hidden cultural treasures.
The island of Naxos is one of only three places in the world where fragrant citron trees grow. Two families in Halki, making maybe the best possible use of the rare plant, have been using its juices for over 100 years to produce a unique alcohol called “Citron.” Today, 5th-generation members of the Vallindras family use the same recipe their relatives developed in 1896. Workers collect the thick leaves from October through February, when they have the best aroma. The plants are then put into the original family press, which, within hours, extracts a clear liquid. Manufacturers then mix in natural coloring to distinguish flavors and strength: the green is sweetest, the yellow is strongest, and the clear is in between.
Head behind St. Nicholas’s Church on Market St. to the Lynch Memorial Window, the locus of one of Galway’s favorite tall tales.
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