It’s a landscape you would expect to find on Mars. A high Anatolian plateau, guarded at its reaches by a series of extinct volcanoes. A collection of rose-colored valleys and pinnacles of stone, carved by water and wind over millions of years. And entire cities built directly into—and underneath—soft deposits of volcanic rock.
For much of this blog’s life, I’ve written about the virtues of living and traveling in the San Francisco Bay Area. From towering redwood forests to a ruggedly beautiful coastline, the natural splendor of Northern California has made it one of the most alluring destinations in the United States. So what happens when you add in a world-class wine region and some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the nation?
A few months back, I turned The Long Weekender’s focus to the city of Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire in southeastern Peru. With its rich history, awe-inspiring architecture, and beautiful Andean setting, Cusco has long been an alluring destination in its own right. Yet no adventure through the Sacred Valley of the Incas would be complete without a visit to its crowned jewel, Machu Picchu.
“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. I want to ask you to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”
As a late winter snowstorm barreled toward Washington, D.C., this week, my seasonally depressed thoughts turned to the Mediterranean climate of Croatia, whose island residents enjoy up to 2,800 hours of sunshine each year. It certainly isn’t fair to the rest of us, but it helps explain why the Dalmatian Archipelago is quickly becoming one of the world’s most desirable vacation destinations.
The Long Weekender 