ArcaMax

As a music professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, ethnomusicologist Alan Williams said that his students don’t know that he’s a recording artist as well. “I did have an odd moment performing at a coffeehouse in western Massachusetts,” said Williams, who resides in Lowell. “A group of students stumbled upon their professor...Read more

When my travel dreams drift off to Spain, they often include visions of Andalucía, the southern part of the country that feels so quintessentially Spanish. With a string of whitewashed hill towns, sunny skies, vibrant festivals, and tempting tapas, Andalucía is the soul of Spain – almost stereotypically so.

Most tourists hit Andalucía’s ...Read more

The U.S. State Department urged Americans to leave countries across the Middle East, citing “serious safety risks” from the war with Iran.

The security update, posted Monday on X by Assistant Secretary of State for consular affairs Mora Namdar, told Americans to “depart now via commercial means.”

In a video posted on his own X account,...Read more

Alessia Adriazola knows she’s one lucky vacationer. It’s not that she got a free trip somewhere, it’s that her experience at Sundance Resort in Utah was just as wonderful a few weeks ago as she remembered when she was an exchange student in Utah from Italy some 25 years ago.

“I wanted my husband and kids to see why I loved this place so...Read more

Claudia Ferri portrays Raquel Kimberley-Marco on the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale.” She describes her character as one of the Palm Beach elite. “She, like other women socialites of this exclusive club, will stop at nothing to maintain their status,” Ferri said. “Their whole raison-d’être depends on it. This role is so much fun! ...Read more

Cambridge and Oxford have been in a centuries-long competition as England’s top two universities – but I’ve always felt that seeing one is enough. The big question is: Which one?

For years, I’ve had it lodged in my mind that Cambridge was much better to visit than Oxford. But recently, I’ve been leaning Oxford. Really, though, it ...Read more

U.S. citizens in Puerto Vallarta and elsewhere in Jalisco and other states were urged by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico to shelter in place on Sunday as chaos erupted after the Mexican army killed the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes – known as “El Mencho”.

The killing set off hours of ...Read more

Don’t you hate it? Your idea of a romantic getaway is totally different than what your significant other wants. If you think candlelight dinners on the beach and couples’ massages, your partner will complain about getting bitten by sand flies or not wanting to be “touched by a stranger.”

If you think lazy mornings and cozy tete-a-tetes ...Read more

Martin Luther – a pious monk and fiery orator who became “The Great Reformer” – came from a humble, pastoral corner of Germany’s heartland. It's a land of half-timbered villages, rolling hills, and fanciful castles ... and where Luther's bold attempts to reform the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation over 500 years ago....Read more

President Donald Trump said that he’s discussing future weapons sales to Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping and teased that he would soon make a decision about future defense support for the self-governing island.

“I’m talking to him about it. We had a good conversation, and we’ll make a determination pretty soon,” Trump told ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom sat onstage at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday and described one of the primary ways he is responding as the Trump administration shifts federal climate priorities.

"I'm showing up," he said.

In recent months, that has meant trips to Brazil, Switzerland and now Germany, where he ...Read more

Singer-songwriter Sarah Kinsley has shared the stage with Mitski and gotten a shout-out from Chappell Roan, but what she vividly remembers is the line around the block for her first professional gig in 2021 at the Mercury Lounge in New York. “It was my first time playing any of my music in a venue with tickets and people actually choosing to ...Read more

You can blame my Norwegian heritage, but I’m not so hot on the Swedish countryside. Even so, you can’t say you’ve seen Sweden if you’ve only been to Stockholm. Rural Sweden – especially the province of Småland – is worth adding to any Scandinavian itinerary.

Covering the entire southeast coast and running deep into the interior, Sm...Read more

Bobsled or luge … figure skate, speed skate or play ice hockey … ski, cross-country ski, or snowboard. How many Olympic sports have you tried?

The upcoming Milano Contina 2026 Winter Olympics (Feb. 6 to 22) features 16 with ski mountaineering debuting and new freestyle skiing, ...Read more