I have a new favorite building! When our India tour leader declared that we were headed for the “Little Taj Mahal” in Delhi, it was clear we were in for something astounding. However, not one of us was prepared for the caramel-colored confection that soon burst into sight.
Behold, stunning Humayun’s Tomb!
Humayun’s Tomb was completed in 1572 C.E. and was commissioned by Bega Begum, the first wife of Mughal Emperor Humayun to [...Read More!]
When you think “Rhode Island,” do you think “international flair?” Well, I didn’t either… until our recent Newport trip brought the worldly elements of the city into glorious focus! Leap along with me to see.
Newport is famous for its unbelievably opulent cliff-side mansions. One of our favorites was Marble House, pictured above, which is a 50-room mansion built by the Vanderbilt family in 1892 that features 500,000 cubic feet of marble. [...Read More!]
There are some vacations from which you need a vacation, and our whirlwind trip to India proved one of them. We returned to America from New Delhi jetlagged, dizzy, and greeted by piles of grading.
“We’ve got to go somewhere relaxing, close, and awesome this long weekend,” I wailed to my husband. “Somewhere we can eat like beasts, sleep like bears, and sightsee pretty things at a relaxed pace. BUT WHERE?”
Twitter to [...Read More!]
During the first two hours of India travel, we had already seen an elephant, ox, monkey, thick smog, endless vehicles, and a good chunk of the 1.2 billion people of the country. If I tell you this article is about the third hour in India, what the heck will it cover?
Easy: The inadvertent modern art created by walls, doors, trash, and laundry in the Paharganj neighborhood of Central Delhi.
Our first activity of the [...Read More!]
I am back from India, it was great, and I’m exhausted!
Over the next few weeks, I shall chronologically unfold all that happened in our India adventure, so let us kick it off with the first element: our 12 hour layover in London between Boston and Delhi.
What the heck is the best thing to do for 12 daytime hours after a 5 hour red-eye flight from Boston? Easy. Here are your instructions, [...Read More!]
The wind atop Greece’s Acropolis whipped my hair like a milkshake as I stared at the towering stone women. Why did they look so familiar?
“You are looking at the Caryatid Porch of Erechtheion,” our guide told our teacher tour group, “built around 420 BCE… over 2,400 years ago.”
I knew I had seen those statues before back in Boston… and often. But where?
“The design is remarkable,” our guide continued. “Each woman is [...Read More!]
I was naughty on the second half of the Boston Chocolate Tour that I attended with a dozen other bloggers. In fact, I got naughty combined with creepy and hallucinatory… and it’s all the fault of the city and the sky.
I was focused on the chocolate and the clan at first… honest I was. The whole first hour and a half, I chomped the deep cocoa squares, smiling through chocolate-creamed teeth, [...Read More!]
“Witty?” you may be muttering as you eye the title. “Since when is a Belize resort described as witty, huh?”
Listen: Chabil Mar is gorgeous (just look at these photos and try not to faint) and its staff is fantastic, but what made me roll on the floor laughing was that it has the funniest welcome packet of any hotel I have encountered in my extensive world travels.
Here are some excerpts from Chabil [...Read More!]
“The Cayo district of western Belize is about adventure,” people told us as we planned our Belize Honeymoon.
“The area around San Ignacio is like the Indiana Jones part of the country. In Cayo, you hike ancient Mayan ruins, swim through underground caves to see skeletons of human sacrifices, and tour an iguana sanctuary.”
“Cool!” I exclaimed.
“But the thing is,” these wise Belize travel advisors continued, “You want to do all that adventure [...Read More!]
Perhaps you read in the Boston Globe that Boston just opened the New Boston Hostel: a gorgeous, affordable 480-bed hostel in the heart of downtown…
…and that I gave a rousing speech to the packed crowd at the grand opening and ribbon-cutting, alongside the Mayor of Boston!
Here is the text of my speech.
Hello, my name is Lillie Marshall, and I am a 30-year old Boston Public Schools teacher. Any guesses how [...Read More!]