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Lesley Peterson is a Toronto-based blogger tripping on travel, art, culture, museums, cities and legendary landscapes. 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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Villa Palagonia, Sicily’s Baroque garden of monsters
Monsters, mirrors and 18th century excess all meet at Villa Palagonia, one of Sicily’s strangest attractions. Villa Palagonia is one of the earliest examples of Sicilian Baroque architecture, begun in 1705 by architect Tommaso Napoli as a summer residence for Don Francesco Ferdinando Gravina, fifth prince of Palagonia. Located in the seaside town of […]
Island-hopping in the Atlantic with Azores Airlines
Black volcanic cliffs shrouded in mist, fantastical ferns and flowers that look like props from an episode of Star Trek. I’ve just returned from a big adventure, island-hopping in the Atlantic Ocean with Azores Airlines (SATA). The two-island 12-day package took us on a voyage of discovery to a part of the planet we’d never […]
28.12.2015 · Filled under: Destination Guides, Europe, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: Beaches, Gardens, water
An auld tale of Scotland on Robert Burns Night
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne! – Robert Burns (1759-1796) A box in the basement. A brittle album, faded images tucked behind cellophane, a flood of feeling. As my husband hustled up some tea, I remembered my own auld lang syne and a very […]
ArtSmart Roundtable: Reopening of the Mauritshuis Museum, Netherlands, June 2014
Hello 2014! The ArtSmart Roundtable–an art-savvy group of travel bloggers–launches a new season with a look at Art to See in 2014. Scroll to the end of this post for links to my colleagues’ posts. l’ll be writing about one of the most-anticipated events of 2014’s culture calendar: the reopening of the Mauritshuis Museum, The […]
Brussels’ fabulous Atomium
It was immense fun to visit the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium, one of Europe’s top landmarks and icon of mid-century design. Gleaming under beautiful Belgian skies, the Atomium is both symbol of Brussels and the space age. Constructed as centerpiece of the 1958 World Exhibition, the Atomium’s mid-century architecture expresses the optimism and confidence of […]
In Brussels, the visual enigmas of René Magritte
Green apples, bowler hats, clouds–the imagery of Belgian Surrealist painter René Magritte (1898-1967) is familiar to all of us. His personal iconography has pervaded popular culture via countless movies (Toys, I Heart Huckabees, The Thomas Crown Affair), posters (The Exorcist), video games, television shows (the Simpsons), music videos and rock album covers (Paul McCartney owns many of his […]
Rijksmuseum reopens! Amsterdam
Is the Rijksmuseum now the best museum in the world? I wondered as I entered the Netherlands’ national museum for the invitation-only press preview earlier this month. Years ago, when I first visited the Rijksmuseum as an art history student, I remember floorboards creaking as I approached Rembrandt’s iconic Night Watch. The Dutch Masters were […]
Postcard from Europe: Rijksmuseum countdown, Amsterdam
Walking through Amsterdam’s Museumplein tonight after a gala candlelit dinner at the Concertgebouw, I noticed the Rijksmuseum is keeping its own ‘night watch’ countdown until the museum’s official reopening to the public on April 13. The building looks spectacular from the exterior and I can’t wait to see the interior tomorrow at the press preview. […]
The exquisite 6th century mosaics of San Vitale, Ravenna
The 6th century mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, have been drawing pilgrims, art historians and lovers of beauty for nearly a millennium and a half. In all my Italian travels, how did I avoid visiting Ravenna for so long? It was always slightly out of my way, easy to postpone. My art […]
04.03.2013 · Filled under: Architecture, Art, Europe, Italy, Spirituality · Tags: Antiquity, GLASS, Italy
Welcome to Narnia: The Malvern Hills, England
“It all began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion.” So author C.S. Lewis explained the inspiration for his epic children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. One of the books’ most memorable images is that of a gas lamp glowing in a snowy wood just beyond the wardrobe that serves as a […]
13.12.2012 · Filled under: Europe, Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends · Tags: Books, England, water