A war refugee turned MD takes the plunge into Africa’s gorilla country.
Europe/Africa
The Filthy, Fecund Secret of Emilia-Romagna
It’s Italy’s unsung region, yet its food has conquered the world—or at least the table. Think prosciutto di Parma, Parmesan, porcini, and half of all pastas known to man (just for starters). The source of its power? Po Valley dirt—fine, dense, almost chocolately, accumulated over millennia. Patrick Symmes feasts on the cities of the plain [Continue Reading]
Playground of the Gods
It was a whisper, barely enough to flutter the sails of Agamemnon, that originally set me careening down the mountainous coast of Turkey in my puny Renault, searching for a colony of backpackers living in the trees. A 21-year-old wanderer from Iceland, whom I’d met in Egypt, had murmured of a narrow valley that spilled [Continue Reading]
A Wild Country Grows in South Sudan
The new country of South Sudan is blessed with oil, water, and a safari bonanza: one of the largest, most stunning animal migrations on earth. But without roads, laws, or infrastructure, can Africa’s youngest state turn potential into stabilizing profit? Patrick Symmes joins the adventure. Day one is Thursday, and we roll out of Juba, [Continue Reading]
City on the Edge
No place has come so far in so short a time as Cape Town. A generation ago, it was struggling with apartheid’s dark legacy and a tarnished reputation. Today, it’s bustling, with chic restaurants and celebrity tourists. Patrick Symmes reports from a city that’s learning to cope with the shadows of the past while keeping [Continue Reading]
Sleepless in Stockholm
The Swedish capital reveals itself to those who get an early start—or, better yet, never go to bed to begin with. Patrick Symmes stays up all night in a city that has morphed from cloistered enclave into a multi-ethnic mecca with a perfectionist streak a mile wide Arriving before dawn, dwelling in that foggy realm [Continue Reading]
