Was Shakespeare Really Born in This Stratford-upon-Avon House?
Sometime in the late 18th century, a sign appeared outside a shambly butcher’s hut in the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon: “The Immortal Shakspeare was born in this house,” it announced, using a then common spelling of his name. Devotees began making pilgrimages — dropping to their knees, weeping, singing odes: “Untouched and sacred be thy […]
Buon Ricordo Plates: Collectible Italian Ceramics That Started as a Marketing Tool
For his 73rd birthday in April, Felice Macchi had lunch at La Bettola Del Gusto, a restaurant in Pompeii, Italy, with a focus on seafood. He ordered the house specialty: spaghettoni, a thicker spaghetti, in a fermented anchovy sauce with black truffles and butter made with milk from water buffalo native to the Mediterranean region. […]
Barbara Joans, Who Studied Biker Culture on the Open Road, Dies at 89
Barbara Joans, an iconoclastic anthropologist and feminist who, in her early 60s, became something of a Margaret Mead in black leather, steering her Harley-Davidson deep into a biker culture and producing the 2001 book “Bike Lust: Harleys, Women, and American Society,” died on March 6 in Santa Cruz, Calif. She was 89. The cause of […]
Amsterdam’s Latest Effort to Fight Excessive Tourism: No New Hotels
“The effect won’t be very big,” said Ko Koens, a professor of new urban tourism at Inholland University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He also said that in the long run, the capping of hotels could make them more expensive to stay at. While this ban alone would not make a huge dent in the number […]
There’s Been an Airplane Emergency. Here’s What Flight Attendants Do Next.
To prepare for these terrifying but rare onboard crises, new flight attendants on all commercial carriers must undergo four to six weeks of training. Additional one- to two-day training, primarily focused on safety, recurs annually. It varies from airline to airline. We recently visited Alaska in Seattle to learn about flight attendant training, which includes […]
Transportation Dept. and State Attorneys General Will Look Into Airline Complaints
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday announced a new partnership with more than a dozen state attorneys general to investigate consumer complaints against airlines. The partnership sets up a process for state attorney general’s offices to review complaints from travelers and then pass the baton to the federal Transportation Department, which could take enforcement action […]
What to See, Eat and Do in New Haven, Conn.
The 75-foot-long brontosaurus at the newly reopened Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, Conn., is the same dinosaur that the natural history museum has had on display since 1931. Yet it looks different. A fresh pose. New front ribs. The head is repositioned at a more inquisitive angle. The museum’s four-year renovation not only refreshed […]
Pet Policies for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Other Domestic Carriers
Flying with a pet can be expensive and confusing, with fees, weight limits, carrier size rules and the need to make sure there’s no loud barking (or meowing) on board. Recently, American Airlines relaxed its pet policy to allow passengers to bring a carry-on bag in addition to a pet in a carrier, and more […]
How a Violin Maker’s Dreams Came True in Cremona, Italy
Art of Craft is a series about craftspeople whose work rises to the level of art. When Ayoung An was 8, her parents bought her a violin. She slept with the instrument on the pillow next to her every night. Two years later, a shop selling musical instruments opened in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, her hometown, […]
The Challenge of Hiking Up Mount Whitney in California
In 2022, I scaled Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York State, with my son. That weekend, ecstatic, we looked for another adventure. Some Google searching revealed that Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48, was not out of reach for amateurs like us. I proclaimed that he and I, along with […]