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What to Eat—or Not—in Peru

The ceviche carts and meat grills are colorful pieces of scenery, but eating a cherimoya or a sweet and starchy lucuma could be the truest taste of Peru

Accompanied by a mat of long brown hair, these broken bones on the side of the highway most likely belonged to a woman.

Braving the Pan-American Highway of Death

Along the roadway in Peru, hand-built memorials to accident victims occur almost as regularly as the kilometer markers themselves

Dracula shaped pasta

How Kraft Uses Patents to Dominate the Mac and Cheese Wars

A tour through the patent files reveals a wide range of odd shapes, which collectively are a far cry from the elbow-shaped pasta of your youth

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The Hot Condiment of 2013? Barrel-Aged Hot Sauce

Restauranteurs across the nation are feeding a new trend by feeding hot sauce into whiskey oak barrels

Illustration from Illustrated London News, April 8, 1865.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: The Menu From President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball

What delicacies and confectionaries were found on the 250-foot-long buffet table?

Hurt says now when he visits soul food restaurants, he tends to fill his plate with vegetarian options, staying away from chicken and meats.

Is America a Nation of Soul Food Junkies?

Filmmaker Bryan Hurt explores what makes soul food so personal, starting with his own father’s health struggle, in a PBS film premiering tonight

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No Place Compares to the Unrelenting Lifelessness of Peru’s Sechura Desert

From tropical mountains, we descended into a landscape of flailing-armed cacti, spiny succulents like giant artichokes and sand dunes as high as mountains

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The Novice’s Guide to Venturing Into the World of Craft Beer

From food pairings to the best brews for beginners, Dan Koester presents a comprehensive guide to craft beer

The miserable sprawl and slums of north Lima make a poor first impression for tourists fresh out of the airport. Here, the author’s brother, Andrew, is shown 15 kilometers north of Lima, on the way to the mountain town of Canta.

From the Slums of Lima to the Peaks of the Andes

After unpacking and assembling his bicycle at the airport terminal, the author heads north on the Pan-American Highway toward the mountain town of Canta

Reconstruction of Cable Car 520 Showing Partial Disassembly of Car | April 28, 1967.

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About San Francisco’s Cable Cars

Ever since they became a part of the city’s transit system, they have been iconic mainstays of its cityscape

Peru’s mountainous terrain is the landscape of dreams for climbers, hikers and cyclists.

A Short Bike Ride in the Peruvian Andes

The author kicks off 2013 with a 1,100-mile cycling journey through the Andes from Lima, Peru, to Ecuador’s lofty capital of Quito

Marcos Rodrigo Neves says that his passion for creating street art saved him from gangs and drugs.

A Look Into Brazil’s Makeover of Rio’s Slums

The Brazilian government’s bold efforts to clean up the city’s notoriously dangerous favelas is giving hope to people who live there

Is our world really not enough? Simple pleasures like swimming in the Adriatic Sea or hiking in the hills of Greece (in the upper right of the photo) will require staying on Earth.

Do We Really Need to Take Vacations to Space?

The possibility of entering a sealed aircraft, buckling up and exiting the atmosphere in the name of leisure is nearing reality

It was at the La Comédie-Française where Hugo brought his controversial new play, “Hernani,” that became a spark plug for Paris’s greater societal and political tensions

Take a Tour of Victor Hugo’s Paris

As a film version of his Les Miserables hits theaters, consider traveling in the French writer’s footsteps

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The Best Places to See and Celebrate the Winter Solstice

Many temples and monuments were intentionally built to face, frame or otherwise “welcome” the rising winter solstice sun

Larissa and Michael Milne, shown here in their hometown of Philadelphia, sold nearly all their belongings in 2011 and embarked on a tour of the world. Along the way they visited the frightening but fascinating country of North Korea. Also shown in this photo is the Milnes’ travel companion, “Little Rocky,” a six-inch figurine of one of Philadelphia’s most famous native sons.

Faces From Afar: A Frightening and Fascinating Journey Through North Korea

Larissa and Michael Milne, shown here in their hometown of Philadelphia, sold nearly all their belongings in 2011 and embarked on a tour of the world. Along the way they visited the frightening but fascinating country of North Korea. Also shown in this photo is the Milnes’ travel companion, “Little Rocky,” a six-inch figurine of one of Philadelphia’s most famous native sons.

A Frightening and Fascinating Journey Through North Korea

When a Philadelphia couple took a world tour in 2011, they quickly struck upon the idea of visiting one of the world’s most mysterious places

The lodge at Bolivia’s Chacaltaya Glacier was once the world’s highest ski resort—until the glacier melted away almost entirely in just 20 years. The lodge closed its ski facilities in 2009 and stands today amid a rocky, almost snowless moonscape.

As the World Warms, the Future of Skiing Looks Bleak

Climate change is delivering serious wounds to the winter sport all over the globe

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Should Trophy Hunting of Lions Be Banned?

Some argue that tourist safari hunts generate important money for African nations—but can lions afford the loss?

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Where to Watch the Biggest Waves Break

From Waimea Bay to “Mavericks,” here are some superb sites to watch surfers catch the biggest breakers in the world this winter

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