In the past 25 years, I’ve collected about 50 masks from six continents.

The first mask cost me about $10 in Kenya in 1995, while my brother splurged on a $40 one. As we continued collecting, our unofficial guidelines became that a mask had to be bought in the country of origin and cost less than $40. However, I quickly blew past that second stipulation as I gathered masks of camel bone, gourd, ceramic, turtle shell, bamboo, seashells, feathers, fused sand, blown glass, woven...

Reading Rick Steves’ article about fado (Sept. ’20, pg. 27) brought back the memory of an exceptional opportunity I had in February 2020.

I had heard so much about fado, Portugal’s traditional ballads, and wanted to learn more, so on a visit to Lisbon I went to the Fado Museum (Alfama, Largo do Chafariz de Dentro 1, Lisboa; phone +351 21 882 3470, www.museudofado.pt/index.php/en), which I highly recommend.

There, I asked where I could listen to fado and was...

I was obsessed by the Second Mafia War in Palermo, Italy, during the 1980s and early ’90s. This was the era of the “Maxi Trial,” when brave judge-prosecutors pursued the Mafia relentlessly. There were many bombings. I followed the news closely, and I mourned when Giovanni Falcone’s entourage was blown up and when his fellow judge-prosecutor and friend, Paolo Borsellino, was assassinated two months later.

After those assassinations, the citizens of Palermo rose...