by Julie Skurdenis (part 2 of 3 on the Balkans)

The small country of Kosovo, in Eastern Europe, has seen its share of turmoil in recent years, especially since the breakup of Yugoslavia that began in the 1990s.

When Serbia emerged from the old Yugoslavia (more accurately, it “reemerged,” since Serbia once existed as an independent kingdom in the Middle Ages), Kosovo was part of this “new” Serbia, a political fact that changed in February 2008 when...

by Julie Skurdenis

Buenos Aires’ history stretches back almost 500 years. In 1536 King Carlos I of Spain sent Pedro de Mendoza to the Rio de la Plata in what is now northeastern Argentina to establish a fort. This fort was the first site of what eventually became Buenos Aires.

Forty-four years later, Juan de Garay “refounded” the city just a mile and a half from the original site, naming it Ciudad de la Santisima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa Maria de los Buenos...

by Julie Skurdenis (First of two parts)

My husband, Paul, and I journeyed through the Caucasus countries of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia on a customized itinerary organized by Boston-based Kutrubes Travel (details will be in part two) in May-June 2010. Situated between the Black and Caspian seas, with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia, these three countries share the common thread of the spectacular Caucasus Mountains as well as a recent past of Soviet domination.

...