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Lesley Peterson is a Toronto-based writer specializing in travel, art, culture, history and legendary landscapes. She has a degree in Art History from the University of Manitoba and is a member of NATJA (North American Travel Journalists Association). Catch her on Twitter as @culturetripper or contact her at lesley@culturetripper.com. All content by Lesley Peterson copyright © 2009 - Until the Present. All photos by Lesley Peterson except where other credit noted.
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ArtSmart Roundtable: mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna
Time for the ArtSmart Roundtable, a fun and fabulous group of bloggers sharing the double passion of travel and art. Each month, members publish on a particular topic; this month it’s Art Worth Traveling For. Be sure to scroll down for links to my colleagues’ unique perspectives. Now, the brilliant 6th century mosaics of San [...]
04.03.2013 · Filled under: Architecture, Art, ArtSmart Roundtable, Europe, Italy, Spirituality · Tags: Antiquity, Italy · 16 Comments »
ArtSmart Roundtable: Iconography of the Buddha
This month’s ArtSmart Roundtable topic is Iconography. Inspired by a new Buddhist temple going up in my neighborhood, I chose to do some research on iconography of the Buddha. When I told a friend, her face lit up and she exclaimed, “Oh, I love Buddha, he’s so cute!” Cute? Surely she wasn’t talking about the great [...]
Postcards from New Mexico
Once upon a time I spun a globe and declared to my sisters that I would go wherever my finger landed. It landed on Albuquerque which, at the age of ten, I couldn’t even pronounce. Though I did pass through New Mexico on a solo trip around the U.S. in my early twenties, I wasn’t [...]
16.05.2012 · Filled under: Architecture, Legendary Landscapes, New Mexico, Spirituality · Tags: Artists, road trip! · 6 Comments »
The colour of the goddess
The motorcycle cop waves us down, swings his leg off his bike. My heart kicks an extra beat. In all the times Pat and I have visited Cuba, we’ve never been stopped at any of the seemingly random highway checkpoints. The road can’t be flooded out, I worry; it’s dry season. Heat shimmers off the [...]
Summoning the so-called dead in Lily Dale, New York
A black cat disappears into a bank of tiger lilies, prayer ribbons stir on a puff of air. On Cassadaga Lake, afternoon sun glints off the water in darts of light that drift ashore like summoned souls. Spirit summoning has been going on for over 150 years at Lily Dale, home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community and over 40 registered [...]
05.09.2011 · Filled under: Architecture, New York State, Spirituality · Tags: Buffalo, ghosts, road trip! · 3 Comments »
Why I’m toasting Russia’s Last Grand Duchess today
In Toronto’s North York cemetery, not far from the grave of hockey and coffee legend Tim Horton, “The Last Grand Duchess of Russia” lies beneath an Eastern Orthodox cross as white as a Russian winter. In this city of immigrant tales, the story of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga of Russia is one of [...]
14.06.2011 · Filled under: Art, Canada, Spirituality · Tags: Artists, HISTORY, TORONTO · No Comments »