Travel Articles
Reading Time: 5 minutesLondon in a Day, part 3 – Cathedrals We’ve explored London’s Museums in our previous article; now we get to two of the great Churches of London. Modern London is based on two focal points: Westminster (political, cultural, religious) The City of London (financial, economic, central business district) There are two great churches in…
Reading Time: 6 minutesLondon in a Day, part 4 – Monuments and Statues London might not have the same kind of monuments as, say, Paris, with its Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe. But London has its share of interesting monuments and many statues: about 1,100 total. Let’s begin with the big ones, using our ranking system: A:…
Reading Time: 6 minutesLondon Tour: London in a Day, part 5 – Shopping London is renowned worldwide for its shopping. There are all kinds of shops in all sorts of places around the city. Using our ranking system: A: must see if you have only one day in the area B: valuable to see, but might require a…
Reading Time: 7 minutesLondon in a Day, part 6 – Food and Dining In my previous article, I talked about London shopping. But one of my favorite things about London is the food. It’s not just the abundance of international food in the city; it’s also the excellent traditional English food.
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF ASCENSION DAY This year, Thursday, May 29th, marks Ascension Day – also known as the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, Ascension Thursday, or Holy Thursday – on the 40th day of Easter (inclusively). Churches worldwide celebrate it, though some denominations, particularly in the US, move the observance to the subsequent Sunday, calling…
Reading Time: 6 minutesHistory of Pilgrimages: All Roads Lead to Rome? Podcast version A pilgrimage is a temporary journey to a “holy” place for a variety of personal or spiritual reasons, including enlightenment, healing, or transformation. Thereafter, a pilgrim returns to their regular daily life. This is the first of three articles on pilgrimages in general and…
Reading Time: 5 minutesHistory of Via Francigena: Pilgrimage to Rome Podcast version During the 2025 Jubilee Year for the Roman Catholic Church, millions of pilgrims will travel to the “Eternal City” of Rome, the seat of the Catholic Church. As I mentioned in my previous article, Rome is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations for Christians.…
Reading Time: 4 minutesHistory of Jubilee Year: The Holy Year in Rome Podcast Version This year, 2025, is a Jubilee Year for the Roman Catholic Church, also known as a Holy Year. In my last article, I discussed how many would make the pilgrimage to Rome from Canterbury along the Via Francigena. What is the origin of…
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH: TOLKIEN’S SWISS INSPIRATION n the summer of 1911, J.R.R. Tolkien hiked the peaks and valleys of the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland when he was 19 years old. These Alps and their valleys had a profound impact on Tolkien’s imagination, as he wrote when he was 74 to his son Michael in…
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH, PART 2: TOLKIEN’S ENGLISH INSPIRATION .R.R. Tolkien had a 35-year career at the University of Oxford, spending the last part of his time at Merton College, across the street from Magdalen College, where his friend C.S. Lewis taught. His younger brother, Hilary Tolkien, had a farm in Evesham, England, in the Cotswolds,…
Reading Time: 7 minutesHISTORY OF THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ: JANUARY 27, 1945 anuary 27, 1945, was the liberation of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, one of the most notorious camps of World War II, by the Soviet Red Army. This date is now known by the United Nations and the European Union as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In America,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF STARKBIER FESTIVAL Podcast version tarkbierfest is a public celebration throughout March this year, though some biergartens began in February. The heart of this festival is in Munich, Germany, specifically at Paulaner am Nockherberg Brewery, where it all began. The two-week Salvator tap on the Nockherberg, which is traditionally opened with the “Salvator-Probe“ in…