I’m going to start off the month with another round-up on hard-to-find opportunities for meaningful travel experiences.
Tortellini in Bologna
You can actually learn to make the pasta the old-fashioned way, in the capital of Emilia-Romagna. The region enjoys a tremendous reputation for its cuisine, producing gastronomic delights such as Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Modena’s balsamic vinegar. Bologna can also boasts of the world’s oldest university and consistently ranks high in quality of life surveys. See the Condé Nast Traveler story here. Or have a look at this site, "Delicious Emilia," for other classes, tours and tastings.
Folklore Expeditions in Russia and Belarus
American Friends of Russian Folklore offers the chance to join teams filming, audio recording and otherwise documenting local traditions at destinations from Belarus to Russia’s Far East Kamchatka Peninsula to Lake Baikal.
Hidden Figures & Langley
A couple of hours from my home on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay on the Hampton Peninsula, the NASA Langley installation has been marking the accomplishments of black female “human computers” who overcame segregation and played essential roles in America’s space program in the early 1960s. One of the three, celebrated in the recent book/film Hidden Figures even did the calculations for the orbits that allowed John Glenn to go into space and return safely. Two articles on a related exhibit at the Hampton History Museum can be found here and here.
Armenian Fire Jumping
I'll leave you with this curious tradition, which dates to pagan times but has taken on Christian significance.
Tortellini in Bologna
You can actually learn to make the pasta the old-fashioned way, in the capital of Emilia-Romagna. The region enjoys a tremendous reputation for its cuisine, producing gastronomic delights such as Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Modena’s balsamic vinegar. Bologna can also boasts of the world’s oldest university and consistently ranks high in quality of life surveys. See the Condé Nast Traveler story here. Or have a look at this site, "Delicious Emilia," for other classes, tours and tastings.
Folklore Expeditions in Russia and Belarus
American Friends of Russian Folklore offers the chance to join teams filming, audio recording and otherwise documenting local traditions at destinations from Belarus to Russia’s Far East Kamchatka Peninsula to Lake Baikal.
Hidden Figures & Langley
A couple of hours from my home on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay on the Hampton Peninsula, the NASA Langley installation has been marking the accomplishments of black female “human computers” who overcame segregation and played essential roles in America’s space program in the early 1960s. One of the three, celebrated in the recent book/film Hidden Figures even did the calculations for the orbits that allowed John Glenn to go into space and return safely. Two articles on a related exhibit at the Hampton History Museum can be found here and here.
Armenian Fire Jumping
I'll leave you with this curious tradition, which dates to pagan times but has taken on Christian significance.
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