The world is filled with misery, I thought, and with gut-wrenching sorrow, and with inequality, and with the tragic failure of humankind to care for one another. But mostly with misery. And then…
Author: Joel M. Hoffman
Driverless Taxis in Shenzhen, China
But the truly weird thing about being in a taxi with no driver was that it didn’t feel weird at all. Maybe…
Celebrating Makar Sankranti at the Amazing Raj Palace in Jaipur
There’s no better place than Raj Palace in Jaipur to celebrate Makar Sankranti, the exuberant Hindu kite-flying festival that marks the sun’s turn northward. And that’s not surprising, because for almost anything there’s no better place to be than Raj Palace. This year I was fortunate to be invited to their rooftop party. What awaited…
Flying Kites for Makar Sankranti in Jaipur, India
Each January, as the winter sun shifts almost imperceptibly northward, the pink desert city of Jaipur turns its face to the sky. This is Makar Sankranti, the kite festival, celebrating the sun’s entry into Capricorn and the loosening of winter’s grip. Rooftops become gathering places and the air fills with color and rivalry. From the…
Proliferation of Lights in Jaipur, India
Camouflaging the traffic lights. Genius…
Fireworks in Copenhagen for New Year’s Eve
I was transiting through Copenhagen — just for an evening, so even though it was New Year’s Eve, I had arranged a hotel near the airport. At passport control, a friendly immigration officer asked how long I was staying. Just the one night, I told her. Still, she said, I had to see the fireworks….
Holy Horse!
There’s an especial magic to seeing animals in urban environments, like a bonus prize, an expected and even undeserved doubling up on beauty. I usually prefer nature to cities (though Hong Kong is pretty nice), but I recognize what cities have to offer. I like good restaurants and air conditioning and gourmet espresso and book…
Graffiti in Sofia, Bulgaria
What I didn’t expect was the ubiquitous graffiti in this former Soviet bloc country that was now part of the European Union.
Orfali Bros: The Poetry of Dining in Dubai
To dine at Orfali Bros in Dubai is to discover poetry for the first time after a lifetime of prose. So even though I don’t usually write about food or restaurants, I’ll make an exception this time. Orfali Bros — one of S. Pellegrino’s 50 best restaurants in the world and the recipient of a…
Dubai: The Very Model of a Modern Major Desert
This is Dubai, a cosmopolitan city carved against all odds out of the Arabian Desert — which in turn is almost a million square miles of harsh, barely livable, practically uninhabited vastness. But to look around Dubai you’d think water grows on trees (and you’d think there are trees). Here an outdoor pedestrian mall is…
