Cultura.
Stories of international travel and culture
Travel
Exploring personal journeys of discovery, from off-the-beaten track trips and slow tourism, to practical tips and product reviews.
Culture
Deep dives into all aspects of international culture, including local history, social events, music, cuisine and more.
Relocation
Investigating push and pull factors, expectations, realities, challenges and rewards of moving to another country.
Latest articles
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For as long as I’ve been using Leeds Central Library, located next to the art gallery, it’s been part of the landscape. Since 1982, Henry Moore’s Reclining Woman: Elbow has dominated the public gathering place that has hosted all sorts of civic comings and goings over the years. On breaks from the laptop on warmer…
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Part 5 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. More than one company rents kayaks by the hour, but paddling the Illinois River is a task. Both the Illinois and the Mississippi contain a nine-foot channel lock-and-dam system to maintain…
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Joining the dots between a North Carolina soul band and New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint. For Roger Branch, sound engineer and founder of the sixties R&B band The Tempests, New Orleans had an attractive pull for studio engineering and production work. Like most musicians in the South, there was a deep affinity for the…
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Part 4 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. My Boy Scout troop used to camp at the mouth of the Cahokia Creek Diversion Channel. We didn’t choose the location for the name but because it was where the Lewis…
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In Helsinki, December afternoons arrive and leave quickly, like a visitor without an intention to stay. As temperatures drop well below freezing point, city dwellers refuse to leave their homes as early as 3pm. Many experience Kaamos, a Finnish term for seasonal depression. On an online discussion forum, a business traveler visiting Helsinki writes: “By…
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Intersected by the dormant volcano of Mount Teide, Tenerife is a story of two halves. While the sunworshipper pilgrimage tends to head south for the beaches and pretty much guaranteed dry, warm weather, tropical Tenerife lies to the north, often offering lush vegetation, plantations and palms. OK, it’s slightly cooler here. And more humid. That’s…
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Part 3 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. In my childhood, my mom took me to Dr. Rose, an eye doctor who had his own office in Alton. The trip was an adventure. I was born and raised in…
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Part 2 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. Since childhood, my plan was to earn a doctorate and work as a college professor. In my early 20s, I collected my bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in…
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Protest art takes its shape in various forms, emerging as creative elements that challenge and criticise the injustice powerplay in society. Political cartoons and caricatures have long had a dual purpose: to critique political figures and to entertain the masses. Whether it was the Roman satirical drawings, James Gillray’s political cartoons or Benjamin Franklin’s 1754…
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Part 1 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. When I was young, my parents would take me to the 8,000-plus acres of Pere Marquette State Park, just north of Alton, Illinois. We’d drive up Illinois Route 3 from where…
