travel
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Rudolf
A truly magical mystery tour is about to leave Cologne, travel through Croatia, and end up in Vienna. It’s a train journey celebrating the 150th birthday of Rudolf Steiner, who is probably best known in this country as the founder of the Waldorf schools. Do you know any children who are not allowed to watch…
Marian Apparition Research Trip
Dear Buddha-Killers in Charge, I need a ticket to Wisconsin to investigate the first validated Marian apparitions in the United States, at Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI. Oddly enough, there’s an unofficial Marian shrine at the site of some discounted Marian sightings in Necedah, Wisconsin. There’s something here, but I don’t think…
Norway Worships Warship, Not Its Namesake
Attention, everyone: the Norwegian navy just got a new warship. It is 440 feet long, featuring anti-surface naval strike missiles, Sea Sparrow missile air-defense missiles, and an anti-aircraft gun and torpedo system. I’m not usually a follower of Scandinavian military technology. But this ship has an unusual name: HMNS Thor Heyerdahl. Maybe you recognize it.…
The Heart of Dixie in Jerusalem
What does college football have to do with the Holy Land? The University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide, the third-ranked Southeastern Conference team that just beat Duke 62 to 13, has an Arab Israeli fan in Jerusalem, I discovered on a walk between the Jewish and Christian quarters this summer. An Old City alley called Muristan tees off into…
moving
“People were getting auctioned up on stage but I didn’t see anything I wanted nor did I think I should be for sale.”
Unseen Movie/Unread Book Review: Eat Pray Love
I recently saw a commercial for the movie Eat Pray Love. I said, “This is the sort of thing that makes me embarrassed to be a white lady, just like Sex and the City does.” Because Julia Roberts is all oh man, I’ve been too busy with husbands and life partners to find out who…
A Crisis for the Faithful
KtB senior editor Meera Subramanian has a thing for birds and they take her to the most interesting of places. In Mumbai, following an evaporating trail of vultures, she found herself wandering the sacred Parsi grounds that have been used for centuries to lay out the Parsi dead. In a ritual so old it was…
The Songs of War
In the first years of the Iraq War, what distinguished Maj. Gen. David Petraeus’s success in the north from his fellow commanders’ difficulty in the south was his correct assessment of the “center of gravity.” The term, coined by Clausewitz, refers to the enemy’s source of strength. Petraeus understood that insurgents depend heavily on civilians—for…
Revelation Road
After ditching the tour group, he’s got twenty-four hours and seven very important Turkish towns to see.
Ingrate Rejects Hajj Souvenirs
What the hell kind of souvenirs are these? Caftans? Prayer beads? Dates? I was hoping you’d bring me a t-shirt or a keychain or at the very least, a plastic stoning-the-pillar snowglobe! Jesus! Next time, don’t bother! @
Travel in the Holy Land a No Go
According to the US State Department’s travel warning for Israel, West Bank and Gaza travelers to the Holy Land can be greet not with signs of peace but further travel restrictions. In June 2009, the Israeli government began selectively limiting certain travelers to either the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza, or to…
