Executive traveller

Imagine walking into a party where you know almost no one (pathetic) — a party at which I, a stranger to you (probably), have arrived well before you (sorry). Should this occur in real life, it is inevitable that shortly after your entrance, as you are tentatively probing the scene in search of safe ingress into social traffic, I will yank you, abruptly, into the middle of a conversation. I will turn to you and start talking as if you’d been involved in the discussion for an hour. I will lob questions at you that are tailored so that any answer you give can be right. Soon, you will forget I dragged you into this interaction; your easy popularity will seem, in retrospect, inevitable. You will most likely feel at least vaguely friendly toward me, because I so clearly want to be your friend. And the whole time I am doing this — because, despite your rewritten recollections, I am the one doing all of this — I will be thinking: Oh, my God, I’m doing it again. I hate this. I hate this. Why … [Read more...] about 13 Women, 30 Activities and One Goal: Make Friends

Given its sheer size and lengthy history, you should expect there to be famous restaurants in Houston that stand as local icons. While most cities have their famous culinary guideposts, they are often the kind of places where you need to book a reservation well in advance and save up to cover the bill. Not so in H-Town. Many of the must-try restaurants Houston has serve up comfort food in unpretentious dining rooms—or sometimes even from the drive-thru window . Order delivery or pickup now! Grubhub Order Now While scrolling through the endless list of Houston restaurants during a Google session might sound like your idea of relaxing fun, we've taken some of the work out by putting together a list of some of the city's most consistent places to eat. These restaurants haven't earned legions of devoted diners for nothing. The Breakfast Klub No list of famous restaurants in Houston would be complete without The Breakfast Klub. This Third Ward icon is the … [Read more...] about Must-try Houston restaurants with major local followings

Chinese tourists take pictures in the Champs Elysees Avenue near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, March 14, 2023. REUTERS ZURICH/BERLIN/LONDON — Urs Kessler, who runs Jungfrau Railways, a train that takes tourists up the highest mountain in Switzerland, was excited for the return of Chinese tourists after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted late last year. But barring one small group in February and a few larger ones expected in May, few have materialized. Many tour operators like Kessler are disappointed by lower-than-expected bookings from high-spending Chinese travelers who before the pandemic would typically splash between 1,500 and 3,000 euros per person, according to the Global Times newspaper. Chinese outbound flight bookings to Europe during March and August are only 32% that of pre-pandemic levels, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys. The travel industry is also grappling with cash-strapped domestic holidaymakers looking for cheaper vacations as energy and … [Read more...] about Europe’s hopes for busy post-COVID summer dim as Chinese tourists stay away

It’s difficult to fathom how the Colorado River could possibly carve the mile-deep chasm that is the Grand Canyon. But if one thinks of the river as a flume of liquid sandpaper rubbing the land over millions of years, it begins to make sense. “The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, “but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.” In 1963, humans stopped time, when the brand new Glen Canyon Dam on the Utah-Arizona border cut off the reddish sediment that naturally eroded the Grand Canyon. Today the river runs vodka clear from the base of the dam. A map showing how Lake Powell has shrunk since 2000. North 5 miles Colorado River Glen Canyon Dam Page Lake Powell’s current level Water level in 2000 Lake Powell Arizona Utah Calif. Nev. Utah Colo. Lake Powell Navajo Mountain N.M. Ariz. San … [Read more...] about Giant Mud Glaciers Are on the Move

Six years ago, before the Orioles’ most successful run in decades bottomed out, Anthony Santander surveyed the outfield at Double-A Bowie and made a proclamation to Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays. “We are the future of this organization,” he told them. As the Orioles prepare for their first full post-rebuild season, the trio is all part of Baltimore’s present. Pitchers John Means and Dillon Tate join Santander, Mullins and Hays as the five Orioles who played for the team each year from 2019 to now, a group that weathered the struggles through the rebuild to be part of the organization as it turns toward competitiveness. “You don’t want to go back,” Means said. “You want to stay as far away from those years as possible.” After a five-year stretch as the American League’s winningest team from 2012 to 2016, the Orioles collapsed to close the 2017 season, a prelude to a franchise-worst 115-loss campaign in 2018 in which they traded away many of their established players. That … [Read more...] about Endure and survive: Orioles who lasted through rebuild grateful to be ‘on the other side’

Gripping a microphone, Tessa Holds The Enemy Abbey welcomed the crowd of hundreds on the last day of the Denver March Powwow in her Indigenous language first, then English. The 18-year-old traveled from Mandaree, N.D., to represent her people — the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation — as the 2022 Denver March Powwow Princess. At the powwow, she listens to other tribal members speak their languages and tries to pick up on them. Abbey’s spoken Hidatsa words since childhood, and is now teaching kids how to do the same. The MHA Language Project estimates that “less than 100 people speak Hidatsa fluently.” “My generation of people are going to be the ones that are going to save us,” Abbey said at the powwow Sunday. “Our language is still here. We’re still here.” That is one of the draws for many to the Denver March Powwow — to hear their centuries-old languages echoing throughout the Denver Coliseum. Native Americans in Colorado and beyond are striving to preserve these … [Read more...] about Denver March Powwow brings together Native American tribes working to preserve their ancient languages