Taipei offers exotic tradition as well as vibrant youth cultureTAIPEI ― Taipei is a city of red and green.It’s red because a traditional food market, a Buddhist temple and a bustling night market are all colored very much with the redness of foods, red Buddhist lanterns and reddish wax apples. It’s green because the Taiwanese capital’s clean streets and roads are almost always decorated with green

May 27, 2011

Stabbing my walking stick into the muck and sliding my feet forward, I waded into the swamp, one eye on the lookout for alligators, the other trying to spot the elusive orchids that draw so many people to South Florida’s Fakahatchee Strand Preserve, a 100-square-mile state park that is home to one of the largest concentrations of native orchids in North America.Towering trees formed a dense tropic

May 27, 2011

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday recognized 33 Korean travel agencies for attracting foreign tourists with quality services.The travel agencies were selected by a jury consisting of tourism officials, consumer group officials and academics. Culture Minister Choung Byoung-gug (right) confers the certificate, “2011 Best Travel Agency Recommended by Ministry of Culture, Sports

May 25, 2011

Gochang meets three main requirements of a good family trip: nature, history and nice walking paths. Especially in May, the barley fields in Hagwon Farm shine with a beautiful yellow-green hue and camellias cover the Seonun Temple. A recommended one-day trip starts out at the Hagwon Farm. On the barley fields, you can walk along the winding paths with classical music gently piping from speakers al

May 20, 2011

Little-known island in eastern Indonesia is a haven for newly wedsOnce home to sandalwood trees and tribal headhunters, Sumba Island in Indonesia makes for a spell-binding romantic getaway. The little-known island, with its forested hills still host to dramatic horseback Pasola battles, offers only a handful of accommodation options. But that’s part of the appeal. When American husband and wife Cl

May 20, 2011

(MCT)RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) _ For some, it's Judgment Day. For others, it's party time.A loosely organized Christian movement has spread the word around the globe that Jesus Christ will return to earth on Saturday to gather the faithful into heaven. While the Christian mainstream isn't buying it, many other skeptics are milking it.A Facebook page titled ``Post rapture looting'' offers this i

May 19, 2011

Naju lies at the center of the 137-kilometer-long Yeongsan River, which has fed the rich rice fields of South Jeolla Province for thousands of years since the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Naju was a city of such significance that the region’s name, “Jeolla,” was formed from Jeonju (Jeon) of North Jeolla and Naju (Na) of South Jeolla.  Sanpo Garden in Naju has a small and secluded metasequoia path. (Pa

May 13, 2011

They say Italy is for lovers. But is Italy for kids?It’s certainly a romantic destination, from its spectacular architecture to its beautiful coastlines to its famously fine wine. It can also be an intimidating place to tote little ones, with its cautionary tales about pickpockets, and its very real plethora of crazy drivers and cigarette smokers.But the culture in Italy is so rich and vibrant, an

May 13, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS ― Every year on Memorial Day weekend, a city lives, breathes, then seems to die ― a cycle that comes to a head in about four hours.That’s the approximate time it takes to run the Indianapolis 500 in this formerly ho-hum-hamlet-turned-real-city. It’s this last bit that’s surprising, because for some time, it wasn’t like that.But if you’ve been sleeping on Indy, know that it’s now prett

May 6, 2011

SALINA ISLAND, Italy (AP) ― As I watch the sun set from my terrace on the west coast of Salina, one of Italy’s Aeolian Islands, I marvel again that the stone headrest I am lying against is so inexplicably comfortable.Its effect is like so much else on this harsh volcanic island, located in the clearest Mediterranean waters: Salina’s very starkness soothingly lulls you into contemplating its simple

May 6, 2011

Lotte Hotel SeoulThe hotel’s buffet restaurant La Seine is offering a “Very Special Culture Package” to 100 guests, on a first-come first-served basis, until May 31. Priced at 300,000 won, the package includes buffet dining for two (worth 180,000 won), two VIP seat tickets to the musical “Mozart” (260,000 won), one bottle of premium wine (150,000 won) and two tickets to the Karsh exhibition. The h

May 6, 2011

Flowers on easy, quiet walking paths in Seoul lead you to spring scentsSeoul is one of the busiest and largest cities in the world, with famous tourist spots almost always packed with people and cars. But it is not impossible to enjoy budding leaves, blooming flowers, a gentle breeze and the warm sun on quiet and not-so-steep walking paths in Seoul, away from the city bustle. As spring quickly pas

April 29, 2011

I was studying Georgia O’Keeffe’s abstractions, seduced by her simple charcoal curves, pink-and-blue flowers and cloud fields, when my cellphone rang.That afternoon in Santa Fe, I had slipped out of my parents’ hotel. As they napped, I strolled around the Plaza and found myself at the museum devoted to one of my favorite artists.Still, my thoughts of Mom and Dad were never far. When I answered my

April 29, 2011