Stephen Travels

Category Archives: Museums


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This Twain I Shall Meet

Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Two of the most well-known characters in American letters. Still, despite my Bachelor of Arts degree in English and love of classic literature, I have never read either of their adventures. In fact, I’ve read very little of Mark Twain’s works—just A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and The Innocents Abroad. So, when I found out that Twain’s historic house was located just a mile from where I was staying in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Goodwin Hotel, I decided it was time to better familiarize myself with his canon and with his fascinating life, all of which unfolds beautifully at the Mark Twain House and Museum. Read about it >


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Natural History Museums That Will Rock Your World

Royal Alberta Museum, EdmontonIf you have children and want to take them to a museum, chances are that the best choice is a natural history museum, filled with items that would certainly entertain and, hopefully, educate them, from giant whales to massive dinosaur skeletons to glowing minerals. And if you don’t have kids? These museums are just as fascinating for adults, and I’m never disappointed by their exhibits of every aspect of nature on Earth that exists above, beside, and below me. Read about the top five natural history museums >


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Tile Style

National Tile Museum, Lisbon, PortugalTile art is a common feature throughout the Mediterranean, and Lisbon has the best museum exclusively dedicated to it. After only a couple of days in the Portuguese capital, I knew I had to check it out. Throughout the city, and, indeed, the entire country, you’ll see this art form, called azulejo, everywhere, from the tiniest trinkets to the walls of the parrot house in Lisbon, from huge religious panels on the outsides of churches to grand historical scenes in São Bento railway station in Porto. And the National Tile Museum explains it all to you through its spectacular collection. Read about it >


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Lest We Forget, Indianapolis Makes Sure We Remember

Shrine Room, Indiana World War MemorialIn a city filled with historic memorials and monuments, the Indiana World War Memorial stands proudly in the heart of Indianapolis. This monumental structure, built to honor Indiana Hoosiers who served in the war to end all wars, is a crowning achievement of architecture, thoughtful detail, patriotism, history, and humanity. And it left me rather speechless from the moment I saw it. Read more about it >


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Saturday in the Park

Unisphere, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, QueensThe lyrics from the Chicago song kept infiltrating my thoughts as I strolled around Flushing Meadows–Corona Park on a Saturday morning. It wasn’t the park they were singing about (Manhattan’s Central Park) back in the early 1970s, it wasn’t the fourth of July, and I didn’t hear anyone singing Italian songs. Yet, I did spy a man selling ice cream, and there were people laughing, so there was a bit of an overlap. Even without it, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is a fantastic place to spend the day. The fourth-largest park in New York City occupies about 900 acres of land in northern Queens County. Far beyond just trees and grassy fields (of which it has an abundance), the park also is home to myriad cultural, historical, and sports facilities and attractions to keep you entertained for more than just a Saturday. Read about it >


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Remember More Than the Alamo in San Antonio

Japanese Tea Garden, San Antonio, TexasThe crowds swamping the little Alamo in downtown San Antonio, Texas, seemed torn between visiting the historic mission and the cheesy attractions directly across the street from it. I opted for the former, but not for long. The city boasts so many other fascinating things to see that you’ll soon be bolting away from the tourist mob and investigating its lesser-visited but no-less-interesting sights. Read about the top five things to see and do in San Antonio >


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Living Under a Foreign Occupier

Phone Booth, Museum of Occupations, Tallinn, EstoniaIn light of Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, I’ve been thinking about my visit to the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom in Tallinn, Estonia. Note the plural. This fascinating museum tells the story of how little Estonia was forcibly occupied three times in the 1900s—once by the Nazis and twice by the Soviets—and how it emerged as sovereign nation in 1991. It’s a timely lesson in heartless brutality and inspiring resistance, and a good reminder of how one insane madman can change world history—and what must be done to stop him. Read about the museum >


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The Highest-Quality Art in Norway

"The Scream"One of the world’s most renowned paintings is also one of its most disturbing and mysterious. Almost as famous for its history of thefts as for its quality and impact on the art world, The Scream anchors a tremendous collection of excellent art at Oslo’s National Gallery, Norway’s biggest and best art museum. This one piece alone makes a visit here necessary, but I found so many others that made a wonderfully lasting impression. Read about it >


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Busted: The World’s Best Heads

Bust of Queen VictoriaAn artist’s ability to carve a human head and have the result bear an uncanny likeness to the model never fails to impress me. Such busts may very well cause you to do a double-take, as you question yourself whether that is the real flesh-and-blood person, or their image re-created in marble, copper, stone, or whatever other material the sculptor has chosen to employ. Some, of course, rise head and shoulders above the rest. Read about the world’s top five busts >


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St. Stephen Rocks

St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo, New YorkAt last count, there are at least nine St. Stephens, including a Byzantine monk, an English abbot, and a Russian painter and missionary. I’m familiar with only two: Stephen I, the man who united Hungary into one nation a millennium ago and served as its first king for nearly 40 years, and my namesake, the Biblical Stephen who was stoned to death for his faith, thus becoming Christianity’s first martyr. With the latter’s feast day coming up, on December 26, it seems like an appropriate time to take a look at how this Stephen is presented in art—very often, but not always, holding the rocks that were used to kill him. Read about the top five depictions of St. Stephen >