Travel

By David Wilkening, Contributing Writer Waltham - “Watch City” is a common nickname for Waltham. It can be traced to the industry that started here...

While sipping our welcoming glasses of Champagne onboard, we watched a camel and llama grazing nearby. This small town tableau absorbed us into the local culture from the start.

Vineyards and groves of olive trees blanket rolling hillsides and spill down into deep valleys. Many hills are topped by an ancient stone villa, its entrance road lined by parallel rows of tall, straight cypress trees. Vast fields provide a patchwork of colors ranging from the green of crops to golden wheat to the reddish-brown of freshly turned earth.

The town lies in a fertile valley nestled among rolling, tree-clad hills and some of the highest mountains in Maine. Small lakes, ponds and meandering rivers, dot the landscape. The stretch of the Androscoggin that runs past Bethel offers good angling for brown and rainbow trout.

Some currency exchange tables in airports and tourist areas offer bad rates, taking more of your money. And some credit cards and banks can add fees when you buy something with your card.

With Halloween approaching, witches, goblins and other scary creatures – real or imagined – will be on many people’s minds. And soon at their front doors, demanding a “Trick or Treat.”

In Gilroy, California, people line up to purchase watermelon, ice cream and chocolate, all of which are laced with fresh, pungent garlic. Underwater divers off Florida’s Looe Key are serenaded by sounds ranging from a song sung by the Beatles to the high-pitched call made by humpback whales.

By Victor Block, Travel Writer The contrast between members of the du Pont family who settled in Wilmington, Delaware and the surrounding Brandywine Valley at...

The legacy left by the Mayans included written language, magnificent architectural treasures, and sophisticated systems of astronomy and mathematics.

Whether from the deck or the sliding glass door in my cabin, there was always something to see, from steep vineyard hills and medieval castles to industrial plants.