Travel

Dear Santa

The world's most heartfelt wishes find their way to a post office near Rovaniemi, Finland

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Little Shop Around the Coroner

The Los Angeles County Morgue sells ghoulish souvenirs for a good cause

Chiricahua Mountains

Crash Junkie

Flight instructor Craig Fuller scales mountains, combs deserts and trudges through wilderness to track down old airplane wrecks

View of Downtown Dubai

Dazzling Dubai

The Persian Gulf kingdom has embraced openness and capitalism. Might other Mideast nations follow?

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Greener Pastures

Some things do get better

A handful of residents (including Claire and Bill Hale) still summer on Peddock's. The couple, passionate advocates of the island's tranquil beauties want the park service to preserve at least one cottage as a museum.

Shore Thing

In the new Boston Harbor Islands national park area, city dwellers can escape the madding crowds

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Korea: A House Divided

Fifty years after the armistice, the two Koreas' legacy of conflict underlies a deepening crisis

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Olmsted's Triumph

One hundred and fifty years ago this month, the New York State legislature set aside the land that would become Central Park

The Hatiguanico River, largely untouched by industry or farming, flows through the Zapata Swamp. Tarpon is the catch of the day.

The Nature of Cuba

Tiny frogs. Vast swamps. Pristine rivers. Whether by design or default, the island boasts the Caribbean's best-kept wildlands. But for how long?

Central St. Petersburg, with its scores of palaces (including the Belozersky), has witnessed many crises in Russia's turbulent history.

Russia's Treasure-House

Searching for the past on the eve of St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary, a former foreign correspondent finds the future

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Finally, the Top of the World

A witness to the first ascent of Mount Everest recalls Edmund Hillary's aplomb, Tenzing Norgay's grace and other glories of the "last earthly adventure"

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Playing by Ear

People say the darndest things. At least I think they do

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Hewed From History

In Charleston, South Carolina, shipwrights re-create a 19th-century schooner

The house of "Vlad the Impaler" lies in the center of Sighisoara's well-preserved, walled historic district, which dates to the 13th century and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Uproar from preservationists, including England's Prince Charles, prompted planners to find another site for the Dracula Park.

The Curse of Count Dracula

The prospect of a tourist bonanza from a Dracula theme park in Transylvania excites some Romanians, but opponents see only red

Dishes made by Michelin star restaurants

Fare-Minded Arbiter

Quelle surprise! Englishman Derek Brown presides over France's prestigious Michelin guide to haute cuisine

Machu Picchu remained unknown to the outside world until the 20th century.

Winter Palace

The first major exhibition devoted to the Incas' fabled cold-weather retreat highlights Machu Picchu's secrets

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World Class

Smithsonian associates circle the globe for fun and firsthand adventure

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Southern Comfort

Traveling back roads, brothers Matt and Ted Lee track down authentic foods for mail-order customers hankering after a taste of the Deep South

Despite heavy internecine fighting near Kabul for more than a decade, the simple but majestic marble tomb of Mohammed Babur the Conqueror has largely escaped damage.

The Enduring Splendors of, Yes, Afghanistan

A writer and photographer crisscross a nation ravaged by a quarter century of warfare to inventory its most sacred treasures

Grisly glory: relics (fragments of leg, skull and hand, encased in gold and jewels, are said to be remains of the city's patron saint, Blaise) attest to wealth amassed by trade in goods from wines to woolens.

Magic Kingdom

Within the Adriatic fortress of Dubrovnik, cafés, churches and palaces reflect 1,000 years of turbulent history

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