A Curious Mind

The Auschwitz Pilgrim? --Huffington Post, 5/7/2008

As I mentioned a few days ago, I visited Poland last May, and wrote a couple of travel stories about my time there. I also had personal reasons for making the trip, as my grandparents were originally from Poland, survived World War II and the Holocaust, and eventually rebuilt their lives in the Bronx.

I'm working on a larger piece about all of this, but here's the start of my thinking, for the Huffington Post, about the day I visited Auschwitz. A few images from Birkenau from that day:

A Wild Pair --Robb Report Luxury Resorts 2008

In this year's edition of Robb Report's Luxury Resorts, I report on Singita Sweni and Lembombo, luxury safari lodges in Kruger National Park in South Africa.  They definitely earned their place on Robb Report's annual 100 best places to stay list --and the spa on the property is the only place I've been where a baboon watched my massage! Read the story here. I wrote about how to to take a safari in a hurry for TheStreet earlier this year.  

Vacation in Alaska, Where a Dollar's Still a Dollar --The Street, 5/1/2008

I'm just back from London, where it now very nearly takes two dollars to buy one British pound. The situation is just a little better with the Euro ($1.50 for 1 euro) but that weak dollar makes everything so much more expensive.
I've spent a lot of time in Alaska recently, and it's a great place for a foreign-feeling adventure without having to convert currency. Here are the best ways to experience Alaska, in my latest for The Street.

Four Hours in Krakow --Business Traveler, April 2008

I visited Krakow, Poland, last May, and quite by accident, happened to be there for the city's 750th birthday. It was quite the party, and on the night of the major festivities which centered around an outdoor concert, Old Town was packed with patriotic Poles --to the point of near panic for me!

I'm still working on several stories that have come out of that trip--my family is originally from Krakow -- but in the meantime, my latest piece for Business Traveler, a Four Hour Guide to this most lovely city, has hit the newsstands. The story is not available online yet, but in it, I craft a perfect Krakovian afternoon, including a walk from Old Town to the former Jewish neighborhood of Kasimierz, which takes you past Wawel Castle, pictured here. If you're interested in planning a Jewish themed trip to Krakow, by the way, I've just learned of this site, which seems quite handy.

Serenity Now: Finding Peace on India's Waters --TheStreet, 4/21/2008

I made a trip to India last month, stopping in Bombay, Udaipur and Kerala. After a few days in Bombay, I concluded that Suketu Mehta's book about Bombay, Maximum City, was aptly named --never have I been so exhausted!
So it's a little ironic that the first story that I've written from this trip was about relaxation, but after spending several days among 13 million people, the time I spent at the Lake Palace and on the Backwaters felt the very definition of tranquil. Here's the story.

Baltimore's Golden Fences Come Down --The Huffington Post, 3/29/08

I was in Baltimore last week, where I caught the end of a controversial art installation, which closed off a beloved  city park to the public with golden chain link fences. You can see what I wrote about it here. Aso, The Baltimore Sun has a lovely photo gallery of the installation in its glory.

I was only able to snap a few pictures before my camera battery died, what you see below is a protest sign, and the fences in the midst of being dismantled.