Veronica Stoddart

1 week ago | discover.silversea.com | Veronica Stoddart

My cruise to Antarctica last year turned out to be one of the most life-changing — and life-affirming — trips of my life, filled with pinch-me moments. Here’s why: The best Antarctica cruises reveal that this is a land of extremes and superlatives: It’s the coldest, driest and windiest continent on Earth with the highest average elevation of all the continents. Everything in Antarctica is mind-blowingly big and dramatic. It holds 90 percent of the world’s ice and 70 percent of the freshwater.

1 week ago | travelweekly.com | Veronica Stoddart

While we sat barefoot on colorful carpets around a pha wan marigold floral arrangement, five village elders chanted prayers to bless our voyage. Indeed, good fortune followed our entire three-night cruise on this 26-passenger vessel, the largest and most luxurious on the Laos stretch of the Mekong River, Southeast Asia's longest.

2 weeks ago | foodandwine.com | Veronica Stoddart

Cafe Central with vaulted ceilings, ornate columns, and central pastry display case. Photo: Courtesy of Veronica Stoddart More than just a place for coffee and cake, the coffeehouse in the Austrian capital serves as a unique social gathering spot or “extended living room” — a place to meet friends, gossip, catch up on news and exchange ideas, with rarely a laptop in sight.

3 weeks ago | foodandwine.com | Veronica Stoddart

Photo: Irina WS / Shutterstock Want to experience the heart and soul of a culture? There’s nowhere better than a local food market. These bustling hubs of sights, sounds, and smells offer a deep sensory immersion into the culinary essence of a place. Whether rustic or refined, chaotic or calm, the world’s food emporiums deliver a bounty of fresh seasonal produce, regional specialties and signature dishes, all served with a flavorful slice of local life.

1 month ago | aarp.org | Veronica Stoddart

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn A tale of money, decadence and longing, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, is turning 100 on April 10. Embodying the glamour and excesses of 1920s America, it came to define the Jazz Age through the tragic tale of Jay Gatsby and his elusive American dream.