Middle East

A Homeward Odyssey

A Homeward Odyssey

The good, the bad & the unexpected during a long journey When I headed for Israel for the Society of American Travel Writers Freelance Council meeting, I knew the journey would be long, requiring an overnight near Newark International Airport (EWR).  El Al is the only airline I can think of whose transatlantic flights leave the East Coast in the early afternoon, [...]

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"Overrated" Travel Sites Still on My Bucket List

Graduate-degreed people dis world sites that I still want to see I live in Boulder, Colorado, which has again been named the “smartest city in America” — most recently by The DailyBeast and previously by Forbes. I sometimes think that I am virtually only person in town over the age of 25 without a master’s degree — [...]

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Emirates Orders More Boeing 777 Aircraft

Emirates Orders More Boeing 777 Aircraft

Dubai-based airline expands its large Triple Seven fleet Emirates Airlines, the Dubai-based, award-winning international carrier, has ordered 30 777-300ER aircraft to add to its 71 already on the books, of which 53 of this model are currently in service. The Triple Seven a long-range, wide-body airliner is the world’s largest twinjet. Quite unsurprisingly, even before this latest $9.1 [...]

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Mummies and Melodrama

Mummies and Melodrama

“Reality” TV strikes again in creating a dreadful television series I’ve been captivated by things Egyptian since I visited Egypt last year as part of a Society American Travel Writers Freelance Council meeting that included an audience with Dr. Zahi Hawass, the media-savvy, imperious and very gifted secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Dr. Hawass [...]

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Palestine: Reflections

Palestine: Reflections

Headlines provide signs of hope that Israeli-Palestinian tensions will ease and that peace will prevail As I was recounting my Palestine/West Bank travel experiences and observations, I made notes to myself about how I wanted to wrap it all up. After all, this wasn’t just a sightseeing trip featuring antiquities and sacred places. It was [...]

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