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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Immediately upon entering Skopje, its charm and beauty cannot be denied. Situated in the heart of the Jakupica Range and constructed at the base of the 1000-foot Mount Vodno with its looming 200-foot iron cross on the summit, the city offers a combination of cultural tradition, history and modern architecture, and makes for a unique…
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Part 8 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of llinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. I like to walk the Eads Bridge. I never park on the St. Louis side, in Laclede’s Landing, the slowly crumbling clump of less than a dozen 19th century buildings that once were the…
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Exploring an origin story of R&B and soul music in Nashville, and how local DJs and the media helped drive it to a national audience. Music historians will argue over the exact origins of the music industry in Nashville, although any stance depends on the genre under debate, and how far back one is willing…
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Part 7 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. I’ve been to a strip club twice, both associated with my military service. A friend of mine and his older brother were both army veterans. When I enlisted, they decided on a pre-shipping-off-to-basic-training trip…
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“Looking back, I’m really proud of what we achieved in the 1960s” drummer Nelson Lemmond once told me. “As The Tempests, out of North Carolina, we made some great R&B and played with some great talent too. We never got a chance to perform with Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett. But pretty much everybody else…
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Part 6 of personal reflections and historic explorations of the Grafton to Cairo length of Illinois Route 3 by writer and poet Richard Stimac. I was once a zombie. A local indie production company filmed a horror movie in my hometown of Granite City, a Rust Belt steel town with more than enough on-location sets for any post-apocalyptic…
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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…
