Travel and Leisure

Fontainebleau Chateau: The Royal French Palace

 Away from the madness of the everyday world, to the southeastern side of Paris, is a magnificent fairytale town called Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau is only about 55 kilometers from Paris and has good connectivity with the cultural mecca through rail or road. Still not Read More

Snow and Storms in Yosemite

The first of the great snow-storms that replenish the Yosemite fountains seldom sets in before the end of November. Then, warned by the sky, wide-awake mountaineers, together with the deer and most of the birds, make haste to the lowlands or foothills; and burrowing marmots, mountain beavers, wo Read More

The Trees of Yosemite Valley

The most influential of the Valley trees is the yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa). It attains its noblest dimensions on beds of water-washed, coarsely-stratified moraine material, between the talus slopes and meadows, dry on the surface, well-watered below and where not too closely assembled in groves t Read More

Portugal's Jardim das Portas do Sol

One of Portugal's best places to visit is the city of Santarém's Jardim das Portas do Sol. The Jardim is a feast for the senses. The views are spectacular, the food is fantastic, and the area is rich with history. Translated, the Garden of the Sun Gate has been a favorite of tourists Read More

The Flowers of Yosemite

Yosemite was all one glorious flower garden before plows and scythes and trampling, biting horses came to make its wide open spaces look like farmers' pasture fields. Nevertheless, countless flowers still bloom every year in glorious profusion on the grand talus slopes, wall benches and tablets, Read More

Moscow Points of Interest and the Beginning of My Story

Where do the stories of one’s life usually begin? From one’s native town or the place where you were born? For some people, those are the same places, while for others they are two different places, two completely diverse stories. While I am originally Armenian and spent most of my li Read More