Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) carved out a niche for himself not only as a composer but also as a conductor and pianist, a feat few of his contemporaries would match. A child protege, he made his debut as a pianist in 1818 and composed his first symphony for full orchestra when he was 15. In 1829, […]
It’s safe to say that Leipzig’s rich musical tradition cannot be matched by any other city in Germany. This is where Johann Sebastian Bach was employed as a choirmaster and composed the St. Matthew’s Passion, where Robert Schumann wrote the Spring Symphony, where Richard Wagner was born and where Felix Mendelssohn lived and worked. Leipzig, […]
Aficionados of classical European architecture are bowled over by Konstanz, the southern German city adjacent to the Swiss border. Niederburg, its oldest neighborhood, is a revelation, an open air museum of building styles ranging from Renaissance to Gothic. During World War II, a profusion of historically important buildings in Germany were destroyed by Allied bombing raids. Konstanz […]
To most tourists, Hong Kong conjures up images of gleaming skyscrapers, elegant malls, picturesque outdoor markets, luxury hotels and jam-packed roads and streets. But there’s another side of Hong Kong, a quiet, sylvan dimension, that belies its image as a crowded, noisy, fast-moving city. The New Territories, with its dense semi-tropical forests, secluded bays, sandy beaches […]
Hong Kong is defined, in part, by its stylish skyscrapers, which rival those of Manhattan or Chicago. Rising majestically from the congested Central District and affording stunning views of picturesque Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong’s skyscrapers were designed by renowned architects such as I.M. Pei and Norman Foster. Viewed from Victoria Peak, 554 metres above sea […]
The sights, sounds and aromas of Israel’s largest outdoor market, Mahane Yehuda, are there to be savored. One of western Jerusalem’s top tourist attractions, it’s a jumble of shops and stalls, a place of sensory delights for gourmets and gourmands alike. Crowded with shoppers, especially as the Sabbath approaches, it resounds to the shouts of […]
Beijing, China’s capital, is monumental in scale and scope. A city of broad avenues, bustling traffic and quaint shops, with a population of 12 million and counting, its historic sights run the gamut from the Forbidden City and the Ming Tombs to the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. And the Great Wall of […]
Shanghai is a city in transition. Before the 20th century, Shanghai was China’s vibrant commercial and financial center, but following the communist takeover in 1949, it fell into a state of somnolence. Since the economic reforms of the 1990s, however, Shanghai has bounced back and taken its rightful place as one of Asia’s most dynamic […]
Call it, if you like, a fantastic fluke. The 2,000-year-old Army of Terracotta Warriors, one of the most astonishing finds of the 20th century, might never have been excavated had it not been for a natural disaster that ravaged the central Chinese province of Shaanxi in 1974. The chain of events that culminated with this […]
I spent my last few hours in Vancouver recently in Granville Island Market, one of the city’s greatest attractions, and I enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve always been attracted to food markets. During my travels abroad, I’ve visited markets in Thailand, Laos, China, Vietnam, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, France, Morocco and Israel, among other countries. […]