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New York Times 52 Places to Go 2026: My list of five that I suggested

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Every January the New York Times posts a timely feature entitled 52 Places to Go. It’s one destination per week for that upcoming year. The Times has its part-time writers scour the Internet and phones for interesting places that have big events, celebrations or anniversaries. I am one of them. I send in five a year and this year they chose my suggestion of Assisi, Italy, which is celebrating the 800-year anniversary of the death of St. Francis. I write about it and my other four suggestions as my own personal Places to Go 2026.

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12 years in Rome: Anniversary calls for another list of reasons why I love this city

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Twelve years ago Sunday I showed up in Rome with three bags which weren’t nearly as heavy as my dreams. My retirement in Rome has surpassed all of them. Every year around Jan. 11, the date of my arrival in Rome in 2014, I list all the reasons why I love this crazy city. This is my latest edition. Stay tuned for more in coming years.

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“Emily in Paris”: Playing an extra in Netflix’s global chick flick hit a humble way to spend a sunny day

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Resuming my side gig as a film extra, I played an obnoxious tourist in Netflix’s hit series “Emily in Paris.” It filmed Season 5 in Rome and I got to spend a sunny day in May in Ostia Antica’s pretty Piazza della Rocca. The series is a chick flick on estrogen but star Lily Collins is nice, the work is easy and the piazza is beautiful. There are worse ways to make wine money.

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Lebanese wine: How a growing 5,000-year-old tradition was started by a hungry, wily fox

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As a lover of wine and Lebanese cuisine, a visit to Lebanon’s biggest and oldest winery was the perfect way to wrap up my five-day trip. Chateau Ksara dates back to 1857 and its storage area is a cave that stretches two kilometers. It produces 70 percent of Lebanon’s growing wine industry and has won more than 200 awards. My Travelers’ Century Club visited and had a wonderful wine tasting.

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Dahiyeh: Trip through Beirut’s most dangerous neighborhood shows Lebanon’s war isn’t over

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I paid a taxi driver in Beirut $35 to drive me through Dahiyeh, Beirut’s most bombed neighborhood. It was like a mini Gaza. Buildings cut off at the second floor. Blown-out windows. Entire blackened buildings shaved of their outer layer. My driver gave me warnings not to get out of the car or take pictures and at one point, told me not even to take notes. It was a riveting inside look at Israel’s war with Hezbollah where its stronghold is Dahiyeh.

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Armenian wine: A 6,000-year-old tradition becoming a major player from a small mountain village

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Armenian wine is growing on the international wine scene and its center is a small village of only 1,700 people in the south end of the country. The town of Areni boasts not only three of the biggest wineries in the Armenia but also the oldest winery in the world. In 2007, archaeologists discovered a cave that had all the well-preserved remains of a wine manufacturing operation. Areni is a fascinating place and delicious, too.

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Armenia: Surviving and thriving after generations of suffering

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Is there a more persecuted people in the world than the Armenians? After spending 10 days there last month, I suspect there isn’t. But despite earthquakes, genocide, Soviet rule and the recent wars with Azerbaijan, Armenia is growing and thriving. Marina and I loved it, particularly the bustling, lively capital of Yerevan.

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