Emilio Aguinaldo is considered by many to be the “George Washington” of the Philippines. His family home is preserved – much like Washington’s at Mount Vernon – and a museum is dedicated to his life and times. Additionally, to the Aguinaldo home, the leader himself is entombed on the grounds behind the house. The grounds became the official Aguinaldo Shrine in 1964 just after his death.
Continue reading
Mormon colonizers were sent out throughout the desert West in the later parts of the 19th century seeking to expand the world of Deseret. First, they developed arable lands in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona, but also a group ventured further south into northern Chihuahua State. Here, some of the valleys and places where enough water existed, they founded a total of ten Mormon colonies over time. Two survive today, though one of those is becoming engulfed by the growth of nearby Nuevas Casas Grandes.
Continue reading
Standing in the renewed Italian positions of the open-air museum of the Kolovrat, you are rewarded with an all-world view over the Isonzo River valley with the Krn-MonteNero massif rising dramatically on the other side. Of the Bovec-Kobarid open-air museums, the view from here is only matched by what you gain at the former Austrian artillery base on Čelo above Bovec.
Continue reading
Maps have a magical ability to allow one to travel to places they have and have not been to. They offer an experiential taste. From the late 1920’s until the 1970’s, would-be travelers had options to pick up road maps at no cost from various gasoline stations around the US. My favorites as a child – and even now – fell to those produced by the H. M. Gousha Maps. Vibrant colors accompanied by bright fonts set the maps as a peak for other map companies to reach for in my eyes.
Continue reading
Waterfalls abound throughout the State of Oregon, especially in the western hills. Abundant rains fall throughout the forests filling streams cascading over lava cliffs. To catch these falls at their height means an off-season journey. Summer season can mean little or no rain for a month or more at a time making the falls seem much tamer than when they are at their fullest. Here, a small collection of waterfalls taken from the area around the Lower Columbia. This area gets pelted with rains out of summer. Astoria averages 86 inches of rain a year – Portland, by contrast, averages a mere 36 inches.
Continue reading
As the Cold War ended, a resurgence in interest took place in France as many of the former fortifications the country spent so much time, money, and hope in keeping war away from the home door. The jury of historical writers seem a bit divided in opinions regarding whether the fortifications built between the late 1920 and 1930’s accomplished much. Forts have had a history of being very expensive and difficult to upgrade, keeping them current with the rapid advances in artillery.
Continue reading
World War One – La Grande Guerra in Italian – destroyed four of the great ruling houses of Europe. The House of Savoy was not one of them. That would take another war. The House of Savoy is one of the older families of Europe making it into the rarefied heights of ascendant nobility. Like most of these families, the family history is complicated by time and politics. That history becomes confused further by looking at maps of the feudal lands over the years as they waxed and waned with time. Little bits of color interspersed with each other, seemingly with no rhyme or reason at times. So much of history tied up in abstruse, rarefied, esoteric stories understood by only a few of the most dedicated students.
Continue reading
Italy remembers World War One – la Grande Guerra – a bit differently than World War Two. First off, they were on the winning side in the first war. Second, a little over a hundred thousand more Italians died during the First than the Second – 651,000 to 689,000 compared to approximately 500,000. The vast cost of the First War in treasure and men along with THE thought by Italians as unfair results of their sacrifices at the treaty tables at the war’s end ended destabilizing the nation. Enter the Blackshirts and Benito Mussolini.
Continue reading
Mexico is a large and very diverse country. Many travelers from the United States know the country for its beaches – Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuantanejo, maybe Huatulco. Some visitors may have only penetrated as far as border towns like Tijuana, Mexicali, Agua Prieto, Ciudad Juárez, Neuvo Laredo, Matamoros and others. There is a lot more magic awaiting beyond, however, as well as welcoming peoples of a mélange of cultures and even languages.
Continue reading
Long-distance paths have acquired quite a following in the past few decades. In the US you have ways like the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail standing as the Big Three. There are plenty of other long-distance paths to spend days upon days on, as well, such as the Arizona Trail, the Green Mountain Trail, and on and on. Of course, the American examples pale in number when compared to the Old World.
Continue reading