Boston Globe -- Travel News

A market qualified to be called a big cheese

Scott Haas, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-29T05:00:00Z

LUCERNE, Switzerland -- When you walk along the banks of the river Reuss on market days, the aroma of cows’ milk cheese perfumes the air: a pungent, sweet scent of almonds, barnyards, and butter. Farmers, merchants, and townspeople meet here to share their love of raw milk cheeses, among Europe’s best. The makeshift booths are jammed with people tasting regional ...

Macaroon magnifique

2009-11-29T05:00:00Z

SAINT-EMILION, France - This medieval town in southwestern France is famous for Romanesque ruins, lush vineyards, and lighter-than-air macaroons. While a half-dozen bakeries along the narrow, cobblestoned streets sell these cloud-like cookie puffs, the best come from Nadia Fermigier, whose shop still follows the original, trademarked recipe developed by Ursuline nuns in 1620.

Making merry

Peter Mandel, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

DRESDEN, Germany -- When does the Christmas season begin? And where? My pick is eastern Germany’s Ore Mountains and the fairy-tale towns of Dresden, Bamberg, and Nuremberg, where open-air Christmas markets herald the holiday to come.

A semester in Melbourne

Chris Murphy, Globe Staff — 2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

For Sang-Hee Min, a junior at Wellesley College majoring in neuroscience with a minor in music, spending a semester at the University of Melbourne was a natural choice. Melbourne is the “cultural center of Australia’’ and the school is “one of the most prestigious’’ research universities in the country. When she’s not studying psychology, chemistry, and Australian studies, she’s visiting ...

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2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

A striking new space in Rome

Mark Feeney, Globe Staff — 2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

ROME Maxxi National Museum of 21st Century Arts: Europe’s newest, and most talked about, art museum won’t officially open until spring. That’s when the now-empty galleries will be hung with work by such contemporary artists as Francesco Clemente, Anish Kapoor, William Kentridge, Gerhard Richter, and Ed Ruscha. The museum will also emphasize architectural study, housing the archives of such eminent ...

Parks and piers, art and stars in LA

Stacey Collins, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

LOS ANGELES - This city, known as a haven for celebrities and surfers, is also a terrific destination for families, with an abundance of affordable activities.

Get a natural high on New Mexico’s peaks

Anne Z. Cooke and Steve Haggerty, Globe Correspondents — 2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

SANTA FE - If you’re looking for a different brand of skiing this winter, buckle up for a trip to New Mexico. It’s back to the future here in the snowy reaches of the southern Rocky Mountains, where 37 peaks tower more than 12,000 feet above the vast Colorado Plateau.

Making breakfast for the guests is like making history

Erica Noonan, Globe Staff — 2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

FITCHBURG --Howarth House, this former mill city’s first bed-and-breakfast, has a rather unique claim to fame: Guests may find Fitchburg Fire Captain Brian Belliveau whipping up their pancakes or omelets in the morning.

Map out your trek for treats

2009-11-27T05:00:00Z

Treat yourself to unique locales where ambience surrounds you, treasures await you, and the season offers you its delights.

A who’s who says where to go

2009-11-22T01:19:41Z

Where will you take guests this holiday season and beyond? We asked some prominent New Englanders to share their favorite spots. Hopefully, their answers will inspire you.

Vermont spa beckons, but first, to the kitchen

Diane E. Foulds, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-20T14:34:15Z

ESSEX, Vt. - French bistro. That’s what we would be tackling, a dinner starting with an appetizer of chardonnay-steamed mussels, then moving to steak au poivre, potatoes in truffle oil, sauteed chanterelles, and cherry tomatoes tossed in garlic and olive oil with tiny pattypan squash. The finale would be a fresh berry tart on a bed of lemon curd with ...

Expats find provisions plum-pudding perfect

Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents — 2009-11-20T14:33:48Z

NASHUA - When Denise and Gerry Pressinger launched The British Aisles 20 years ago, their dining room table was the warehouse and their living room was filled with fellow British expatriates every Saturday afternoon. “They’d come over to stock up on things they missed from home,’’ Denise recalls. “Silly things, really, like HP Sauce and Heinz beans, all the biscuits, ...

An inland postcard from R.I. Route 102

Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-20T14:32:18Z

Route 102 may not be the state’s longest road (it’s fourth), but it is one of the prettiest. Besides some of the most picturesque landscape, it has rural Americana dining at its hilly northern end, a sleepy seaside village at its southern terminus, and in between some of the quirkiest history Rhode Island has to offer.

Things we can be thankful for

Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents — 2009-11-20T14:31:02Z

We feel a surge of regional chauvinism on Thanksgiving mornings when we shiver on the streets of Plymouth to bear witness to the Pilgrim Progress March. On a day dominated by football and gluttony, we’re thankful for the purity of this reenactment of the 1621 Thanksgiving service where the 51 surviving Pilgrims prayed for their dead and gave thanks for ...

Nativity thrives on Naples street

2009-11-20T14:24:29Z

NAPLES - It’s Christmas every day on Via San Gregorio Armeno in the heart of the city’s historic center. Although the tradition of Nativity scenes dates to the 13th century, Neapolitan artisans of the 18th century elevated the form to dramatic tableaus populated with saints, angels, animals, and figurines representing the trades. In the process, they launched a cottage industry ...

Making waking practically pleasant

2009-11-20T14:24:17Z

I’m not a morning person, but I don’t mind chatting with my alarm clock. “Snooze,’’ I say when its bells start ringing, and the pocket-size device responds, “Snooze time, nine minutes.’’ “Temperature?’’ I say. “The temperature is 66 degrees,’’ it replies. The clever Moshi Voice Control Travel Alarm Clock responds to nine voice-activated commands, including time, set time, alarm, and ...

New growths alongside Civil War sites

Kathleen Pierce, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-20T14:23:59Z

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - If you want a Civil War vacation, book a trip to Gettysburg. When wine country calls, Napa Valley and Sonoma lead the list. If you want history and chardonnay, try Fredericksburg.

This is no blip on the screen

2009-11-20T14:23:10Z

DEC. 17-19 BROOKLYN, N.Y.

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2009-11-20T14:23:10Z

Flying around the holidays can be . . . less painful

Margaret Loftus, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-20T14:19:00Z

With cramped seating, recycled air, and zero sustenance, modern air travel is not for the faint-hearted. Factor in a flu pandemic, fewer flights, airports thronged with the traveling masses, and the usual threat of winter storms, and choosing to fly over the holidays may seem downright masochistic. But it doesn’t have to be. Short of upgrading, here are some strategies ...

Fortunate Evora still glimmers

Patricia Borns, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-20T14:17:44Z

ÉVORA - “Where should we go for lunch,’’ a Lisboan will ask, and invariably, “Évora’’ is the reply. An hour and a half south of Lisbon, this UNESCO World Heritage site has been a favorite for millennia. Julius Caesar showered Évora with privileges. Portuguese kings made it their summer address. For a brief time, Évora was even a candidate to ...

Hit the heights, skip the altitude sickness

Hilary Nangle, Globe Correspondent — 2009-11-13T14:10:45Z

Forget Atkins, the Zone, and South Beach. I lost five pounds in eight days on the Altitude Diet. Of course, there are side effects: headache, sleeplessness, nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, chills, and shortness of breath.