Sojourn in Seattle

By MRNY on November 22, 2014

If you’re on your way to the San Juan Islands, consider an overnight at Seattle’s beautifully restored Mayflower Park Hotel, one of the last locally-owned independent hotels in a city dominated by worldwide chains. … Read More

Sliding into Denver’s Green Russell

By Mark Thompson on November 18, 2014

Slipping into Denver’s Green Russell is like sliding down the rabbit hole with Alice, accompanied by Tom Waits. Located on Larimer Square, this subterranean “chef-driven cocktail joint” evokes a 1920s cocktail lounge. First, however, you must know the protocol. Head … Read More

Art for the Nose at New Orleans’ Avery Perfume Gallery

By Mark Thompson on November 14, 2014

Located in the heart of the Arts Warehouse District in New Orleans, Avery Perfume Gallery is an olfactory sanctuary for fragrance aficionados who find themselves wandering through a neighborhood now known as “the SoHo of the South.” What was once … Read More

The Flowering of Tuscany’s La Fiorita

By Mark Thompson on November 10, 2014

Some people travel to Tuscany for vacation – and some to fulfill a dream. For Natalie Oliveros, one of her many entrepreneurial ambitions was to own a Tuscan winery and in 2011, she purchased a majority share in La Fiorita … Read More

Open: The Music of Montreux

The Music of Montreux

By MRNY on November 6, 2014

Celebrated for its “savoir vivre” and surrounded by vineyards, spas, and grand hotels, the Montreux Riviera with its palm-lined promenade has been immortalized in song by musicians such as Mercury, Prince, and Igor Stravinsky, who wrote his “Rites of Spring” here. … Read More

Open: Home on the Range in Jackson Hole

Home on the Range in Jackson Hole

By Mark Thompson on November 2, 2014

The elk-horn arches in the center of Jackson Town Square serve as a reminder of this Wyoming town’s hunting and beaver-trapping history. Home to the planet’s largest elk herd, the National Elk Refuge hosts an average of 7,500 elk each … Read More

The Moss Velvet Promise of Joya’s Foxglove

By Mark Thompson on October 29, 2014

A well-composed fragrance takes you places: a journey via olfactory memory. And if you are truly fortunate, you arrive in a sanctuary redolent with flora, evocative of a halcyon epoch. Such is the case with Joya’s Foxglove, which takes as … Read More

Swimming with Mermaids with Hugh Arnold’s ‘Agua Nacida’

By Mark Thompson on October 25, 2014

Water comprises more than 60% of the human body – and covers more than 70% of the planet on which we live. Hence the title of Hugh Arnold’s collection of underwater photography Agua Nacida, the Spanish phrase for “water born.” … Read More