About an hour inland from St. Augustine, Palatka is an historic city on a giant bend in the St. Johns River. At this point Florida’s longest and most famous watercourse suddenly widens as it turns north towards Jacksonville. I can’t get enough of the magnificent riverfront views in Palatka, and it’s no wonder that most …
Sitting next to the beloved Blue Spring State Park, Orange City was settled by Europeans in the mid-19th century. The name of course comes from citrus growing, although the thousands of acres of groves were lost in the Great Freeze of 1894-95. Orange City has a large historic district with a number of buildings dating …
For motorsports fans, this city in south-central Florida’s Highlands County needs no introduction. The name alone is synonymous with the Sebring International Raceway, home of the famed 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race. Sebring was founded in the 1910s by an Ohio pottery manufacturer who had a novel approach to urban design. The City on …
The bewitching Medieval city of Fez was founded on the banks of the Jawhar River in the 8th century by Idris I, a descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Soon after came the 9th-century University of al-Qarawiyyin, the oldest place of higher education in the world. In its UNESCO-listed Medina, Fez is a multisensory journey, …
In Medieval times this city on the Leie was powered by a lucrative flax and linen industry, generating trade with England and France. Kortrijk also has a certain prestige for the Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302) a victory for Flanders against the French, now marked by a national holiday for the Flemish Community. Later, …
On what used to be Belgium’s industrial backbone, La Louvière is a city known for its feats of industrial ingenuity. There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites along these lines. One is a set of four century-old hydraulic boat elevators on the Canal du Centre, on epic metal frames and lifting vessels as high as …
The capital of Belgian Limburg is a sociable, pedestrian-friendly kind of place with a fashion scene, spellbinding street art and history-rich countryside on its fringes. One nearby site is Herkenrode Abbey, where the surviving buildings hint at the size and finery of a complex that met its end more than 200 years ago. The old …
A city steeped in maritime history, New London is on the natural harbor of the Thames River just before it flows into Long Island Sound. Two hundred years ago New London was one of the top whaling ports in the world. During that heyday in 1839 it was also the landing point of The Amistad, …
Where the western ridge of the High Atlas Mountains drops to the Atlantic, Agadir is a port and beach resort with year-round sun. Even in January, temperatures peak above 20°C, bringing in Europeans in search of warmth and sunshine. Agadir is Morocco’s favourite getaway, and its long sandy bay is fringed by an endless promenade …
Protruding into the Atlantic at Cap de Mazagan, El Jadida is a port city with an unexpected European Renaissance accent. On the water are the ramparts of a Portuguese fortified city, built in the early 16th century and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can walk these walls and go underground to see …