The Latest From the Blog

Hampden Estate is among the oldest sugar estates that is still operating in Jamaica. The estate covers more than 3500 acres in Trelawny’s lush Queen of Spain Valley and is renowned, on the island and internationally, for its full flavored pot still rums. Pot still is a process of boiling the cane juice, molasses (wash) and capturing (distilling) the alcohol vapors to produce rum. Hampden Estate Rum Tour runs Mondays...

Jamaica is undoubtedly the jewel of the Caribbean for most visitors from around the world. It is a haven for delicious food, friendly people and relaxing hotels perched upon some of the most amazing white-sand beaches. If you’re a physically-challenged vacationer, it can be a bit challenging finding a hotel that accommodates your special needs. The following are some of the best wheel-chair accessible hotels in Jamaica for a fun-filled...

Like most people, I make a list of places I want to visit when I travel and bookmark articles about interesting sites I’d like to see or restaurants I’d like to try. But the lists are just that and since my cell phone plan doesn’t include international travel, I can’t read the articles I’ve bookmarked without incurring fees to access them. All isn’t lost, however. GPSMyCity is a new service...

Raise your hand if you love desserts! Yes, a truly great meal is punctuated with desserts. Bonus, if your dessert is an exclamation point to a course of appetizing dishes. Aside from satisfying your taste buds, desserts also share historical and cultural tidbits about the country where it is from. Listed below some countries where you can taste must-try desserts. Let’s take a whirlwind tour of unique and sumptuous treats...

The Oculus, the gleaming white World Trade Center Transportation Hub that is the centerpiece of the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, is striking for its futuristic design as well the contrast it draws to the structures that surround it. Designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, at a cost of $4 million, the Oculus is approximately 800,000 square feet. From the outside, it resembles a bird with giant, outspread wings, ready to take...

The High Bridge is one of fourteen bridges that cross the Harlem River and connect Manhattan (at Highbridge Park and 173rd Street) to the Bronx (at West 170th Street, in the Highbridge section). The bridge, for pedestrians only, reopened last July after several decades of closure and undergoing approximately $62 million worth of renovations. Known originally as the Aqueduct Bridge, the High Bridge was part of the Croton Aqueduct that...

I noticed them right away – two giant heads at one of the east side entrances to Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. I stopped jogging to take a closer look. Neither figure resemblance Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican-born black nationalist after whom the park was renamed in 1973. Maybe, I thought, the likeness was of Pelham Fritz. Fritz, the former assistant commissioner of recreation at the Parks Department was a regular at the park....

The red telephone booth was ubiquitous in the Jamaica I grew up in. You’d find them outside post offices in districts and towns across the island. There was one outside our post office too. It stood like a sentinel at the intersection of the two main roads that dissected our district, looking square at the Anglican Church on the opposite side. To its right were the parish council office, shops, a movie theater, gas station and...

Van Gogh’s Ear (and art) have fascinated the public for years. As the story goes, in 1888, Vincent van Gogh moved to Arles in the south of France to create a space for artists to live and work. He found said place and convinced his friend and fellow painter, Paul Gaugin, to join him. The two worked together successfully for months before the friendship soured and Gaugin decided to return to...

If you like antique or flea markets, a trip to Portobello Road Market is a must if you’re visiting London. Portobello Road Market is a series of shops and stalls that run for almost two miles on Portobello Road in London’s fashionable Notting Hill area. At Portobello, you’ll find not just antiques and collectables but also vintage and new clothing, furniture, household goods, bric-a-brac, fruits and vegetables, restaurants and pubs.  I went to Portobello Road Market in...