Travel

My journey through Japan was a whirlwind of ancient temples, bustling cities, serene landscapes, and unforgettable culinary experiences. After landing in Tokyo, we checked into the Park Hotel, which offers great views of the city. We visited Yasukuni-jinja Shrine, a Shinto temple dedicated to those who died in service of Japan. Dinner at Ginza Bairin Main Shop meant delicious tonkatsu, crisply fried pork cutlet. Then Lauren and I strolled through the Ginza neighborhood. We decided to grab drinks at Beer Lupulin, a tiny bar with a good selection of draft beers and Japanese whiskies.

My flight arrived in Athens late on a Friday night. I took a car straight to the New Hotel and went to bed. The next day we set out to explore the city, walking over to the National Archaeological Museum, which boasts one of the most impressive collections of artifacts in the world. Among the many highlights is the Artemision Bronze, a statue of either Zeus or Poseidon that was fished out of the Mediterranean after a shipwreck.

Once the capital of Russian Alaska, Sitka is now a gorgeous town nestled among the islands of the Inside Passage. Surrounded by green hills, then larger mountains and icecaps to the east, and the ocean and smaller islands to the west, Sitka is usually listed among the prettiest towns in Alaska, and often among the prettiest in America. I was supposed to visit on my last trip to Alaska, but bad weather delayed our flights, and we had to skip the town altogether.

Few cities can rival Berlin for dramatic twentieth-century history. Largely destroyed by Allied bombs in World War II, Berlin was rebuilt, then quickly became the epicenter of the Cold War. Divided by a wall and terrorized by a brutal secret police, the city and country were emotionally reunified at the end of the century. Today Berlin isn’t the most beatiful city in Europe, but its gritty charm, fantastic restaurants, and incredible museums make it one of the most fun and interesting.

The summer of 2022 was a rough one for travel, but American Airlines led the way in flight cancellations. We ran into the buzzsaw of American’s incompetence on our way to Peru: we were supposed to depart San Francisco on a Saturday morning and, after a brief layover in Dallas, arrive in Lima shortly after midnight local time. Thanks to American’s inability to properly weight the plane, our connecting flight to Lima was delayed 15 hours, forcing us to spend the night in Dallas and lose the first day of our vacation.

A red-eye from Los Angeles brought us to San Jose, Costa Rica early on a Friday morning. A driver picked us up at the airport and took us west toward the Pacific Coast. We stopped at a restaurant for gallo pinto, a traditional Costa Rican breakfast of eggs, rice, black beans, and tortillas. Then we pushed on to Crocodile Bridge, spanning the River Tarcoles at a popular hangout for crocodiles. We also stopped at an overlook above Playa Hermosa where saw several scarlet macaws alighting in the trees.

Landing late at night at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, we caught an Uber to our lodgings, a charming apartment in Lisbon’s Baixa neighborhood. Despite the jet lag, it was late enough that we had no trouble sleeping. In the morning, we strolled over to Padaria do Barrio, a tasty bakery. Then we ascended a series of hills, stairs, and elevators to Castelo de Sao Jorge. The hill on which the castle stands shows signs of human occupation dating to at least the 8th century BCE and has been the site of Phoenecian, Carthaginian, Roman, and Moorish fortifications. In 1147, the castle and the city of Lisbon—then held by the Moors—fell to Portugal’s first king, Alfonso I, during the Siege of Lisbon. Today, the castle is an interesting historic site hosting a small museum, but the real highlights are the incredible views of the city.

I’ve spent two summers in Alaska, and a week on the Inside Passage, but I still jump at any opportunity to return to the state. The early summer of 2021 was an unusual time to visit, as much of the state had reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, but the cruise ships that bring most of the state’s tourists still weren’t permitted to sail.

We arrived in Ketchikan on a Wednesday evening and checked into the Black Bear Inn. Strolling around downtown Ketchikan, we noticed that many of the shops—several which are owned and operated by the cruise ship companies—were shuttered. We got some beers at the Bawden Street Brewing Company and then ate a tasty dinner at the Heen Kahidi Dining Room which, perched in the Cape Fox Lodge on the hills above town, also offers excellent views.