Winter Festivals Part III: Fastnacht

  In the heart of Lucerne, Switzerland’s most populous city, winter brings out one of the quirkier festivals in Europe. And it’s teeming with some of the kookiest of costumes and customs. Every year towards the close of winter, revelers take to the streets to hunt down and cast out the cold, grim spirits of Read More …

Winter Festivals Part II: Three Kings Day

Our next stop in Explorica’s three-part winter festival series is for Three Kings Day, which is also known as Epiphany. Three Kings Day is a Christian festival that is celebrated twelve days after the birth of Jesus when the three kings are said to have first set eyes on the newborn baby. But if you Read More …

Modern-day Kids vs. the Ancient Mayans

What’s the difference between kids of today and those who lived over 1500 years ago? Not as much as you think, especially when it comes to Mayan youth. Kids of Mayan culture—an ancient tribe of people who lived where Mexico, Belize and Guatemala are today—chewed gum, learned the three Rs and even went to ball Read More …

Germany and the Berlin Wall

What do Leonard Bernstein, Pink Floyd and David Hasselhoff have in common? They all rocked a common cause—having performed concerts celebrating the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall over 20 years ago. With hundreds of thousands of attendees plus enraptured television audiences around the world, Berlin went from dismally divided to the official party Read More …

Authentic souvenirs from around the world

You spend a lot of time mapping out the perfect itinerary, taking in all the sites you can cram into each day and sometimes even pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone to experience something new. All that and you’re thinking of bringing home a T-shirt to remember your trip? Before you go on the hunt Read More …