Architectural "Wonder"List

An amazing spectacle in western architecture.

I remember when they started construction on this $175,000,000 cathedral on Lake Merritt by the also new Whole Foods. It looked like someone had taken their life size Erector Set and started flinging about Tinker Toys. There was no way to tell...

Gaudi On A Shoestring

Barcelona isn't a cheap city to visit, but a stroll down the Passeig de Gracia is absolutely free. Take in a wide angle view of the facades of Casa Battlo and Casa Amattler from across the street, then cross over and gawk at the crazy colors and...

Prismatic Piston

Inside the Symphonic Sculpture by Gabriel Loire at the Hakone Open Air Museum (彫刻の森 in Japanese) in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The museum opened in 1969 as the first open-air art museum in Japan. The spectacular grounds set against the...

Harmonic Harpa

Reykiavik, ICELAND -- While visiting Iceland, I discovered a few fun facts: They don’t have an army. I can barely pronounce any of the names of the cities, towns or volcanoes, but I love the food. The police around here are widely known to drive...

Elegant Mayan

Overshadowed by its larger and more well known cousins, Palenque and Chichén-Itzá, Uxmal ("Oosh-mahl") is the ruins of an ancient Mayan city located near present day Campeche. In its heyday, Uxmal was one of the largest cities of the Yucatan...

La Pedrera will eat you up

We put together our own tour of Gaudi buildings in Barcelona, and probably spent the most time, proportionately, on the roof of Casa Milà, the apartment building known as La Pedrera. The reasons? It feels like you've climbed through the looking...

The Little Castle

The Bohemian hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa is the perfect remedy for the Rio de Janeiro visitor that needs a break from the sun and fun of the sunny and crowded beaches. One of the many colonial gems of Santa Teresa is the Castelinho, or...

Santa Teresa's Renaissance

The Santa Teresa district is a tangle of cobblestone streets and crumbling landmarks perched above the city. It’s undergoing a renaissance thanks to anchors such as the restored Hotel Santa Teresa and the working-class eatery Bar do Mineiro. The...

Wat Arun

The main stupa resembles Eiffel Tower.