Travel Stories, Cruise Reviews, and Cultural Adventures

The famous Sydney Opera House is aglow with "Pride" colors, a proud rainbow celebrating Australia's strong support of the progress toward inclusion, tolerance and embrace of all people. PRIDE month encourages professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER  LGBT Pride Month is celebrated worldwide. It stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, celebrated annually in June to honor the 1969 Sto

Sydney, Australia: sparkling in early evening, from a climb atop the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge. It's fun to look for your cruise ship...

Fabulous dancing marks "The Empire Strips Back," in San Diego. Here, Chewbacca and Han Solo dress the stage in a wonderful dance. It's  one of the highlights of an action packed, unauthorized burlesque parody of the "Star Wars" trilogy. It is playing through April 30 in San Diego. --(Photo Courtesy of The Empire Strips Back ) 'STAR WARS' HIP, NEW PARODY FEATURES COMEDY, BURLESQUE, SEXY DANCING AS FANS CHEER ON BELOVED CHARACTERS   Emcee Eric Newton provides "adults only" bant

LAS VEGAS is always lit up and ready for action -- especially during the holidays.Then the nation's showiest city rolls out more shows and lights than ever.

Flamenco -- that showy, colorful dance of southern Spain --  is performed with rhythmic clapping and instruments. Swirling scarves and lacy skirts and ruffles are part of this Barcelona performance. Southern Spain, Portugal present emotional flamenco, fado, with flair, feeling, for deeply stirring shows STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Fado in Porto is a revered tradition, here at the Ideal Club de Fado, which is a formal setting, more concert hall. than bar.

Wyoming's Wild West fun in vintage theater tells of Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and more Dancing, singing, storytelling and a lively pace keep the audience entertained in Cody, Wyoming,at the popular Wild West Spectacular.  The show just ended a successful run, based on the life of showman, soldier and entrepreneur "Buffalo Bill" Cody, after whom the town of Cody is named.   A cast including college students and graduates, theater majors  and professional dancers and singers e

Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh's life and art come to life in a mesmerizing show in Las Vegas. The show gracefully weaves...

Ketchikan's Creek Street is as bustling now, differently than in the 1930s when booze and brothels were the order of the day.  Now, it's...

Nick is surrounded by flowers on his 16th birthday. Even though he was virtually blind and had painful spinal and rear leg issues, he was still game for a walk, a snuggle, a kiss for his people. BRAVERY, LESSONS, LOVE, JOY FROM AN ENDEARING YORKIE NAMED NICK STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Nothing like a Yorkie kiss, and Nicky was a generous kisser, here with his appreciative mama, Cookie. FOR THE first time in 17 years, I sit at the computer with no doggie

Acrobats and trapeze artists exhibit their prowess and daring in a jaw-dropping act. Zoppe Italian Family Circus is on tour in...

Two glitzy birthday concerts this week were an unadulterated love fest for Tony Bennett, born Anthony Dominick Benedetto 95 years ago on Aug. 3.

Christene "Cookie" Meyers at the dedication of the Bruce Meyers Poets Garden, May, 1993, on the campus of Montana State University-Billings, then Eastern Montana College. Three of the professor's poems etched on marble were written on the memorial site. The garden is listed in the Smithsonian's list of public art (see link below.)  STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Architect Ted Wirth and EMC president Bruce Carpenter discuss the project at the groundbreaking i

A lovingly restored 1911 church is home to Oregon Cabaret Theatre, a mainstay in Ashland, Oregon's cultural scene. After surviving the...

Lady Gaga's moving rendition of the National Anthem set the tone for a day of musical celebration. Music highlighted the inauguration,...

After a closure of nearly three months, Yusupov Palace is again open. Its opulent rooms and appointments reflect the grandeur of royalty...

St. Petersburg's architecture reflects its glory days as a city in Imperial Russia. The Hermitage Museum is home to one of the world's...

Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved of any city in the world. Tourism opens up there this week. A stunning 19th Century...

The village of Zaanse Schaans on the banks of the Zaan river, features tidy houses, working windmills. If you've always wanted to visit...

The 2020 season at Oregon Shakespeare Festival includes ten promising productions in three venues. Here, the Allen Elizabethan Theatre...

Lovely hotels are part of the allure of Palm Springs, here the pool area of the Hilton Palm Springs in the heart of downtown. MORE LAID...