Here are some photos of Washington DC thanks to Ray Lee.  It’s Cherry Blossom Season, so it’s a great time to visit D.C. The Washington Monument. The Jefferson Monument. Cherry Blossoms. Many thanks to Ray Lee for sharing these photos with us!  Check out the Official National Cherry Blossom Festival site for info about special events in...

When the Cherry Blossoms bloom in Japan it’s traditional to go to the park to view the blossoms and have a picnic.  Cherry Blossom viewing is called called Hanami. Ayako Egawa generously shared her photos of this years cherry blossom viewing.  Ayako wrote, "We walked under the flow of cherry blossoms in the park.  It...

It’s amazing that people over 5000 years ago knew enough about astronomy and the seasons to create a cave and have specific chambers within it be lit up by the sun only on specific days of the year… specifically on the solstices and equinoxes. I’m talking about the Loughcrew Megalithic Cairns in Ireland.   Michael from Newgrange.com...

New Wonton Garden in New York’s Chinatown is a delicious, inexpensive restaurant. It’s not fancy by any means. But it serves yummy dim sum and wonton soup (oddles of varieties). A great place to go if you’re looking for taste without spending a fortune. We fed four for less than $40...

Kamakura is 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Tokyo.  Ayako Egawa wrote to me from Japan about her trip there, “I went to Kamakura where there are many famous historic Japanese sites.  This is “Daibutsu” which means Great Buddha. It was cast in 1252 and its height is approximately 13.4 meters (44 feet).  ‘The figure...

Check out the Toulouse Blog about life in New Orleans. Here’s an excerpt of what he had to say approaching the Mardi Gras… When one is called to Carnival, the first question will always be: what do I wear? …You must simply find or make a mask, one that calls you to wear it, that dictates the...

WWD Fashion asked designers to send in sketches for clothing designs for Michelle Obama and her daughters to wear on Inauguration Day on January 20th – when Obama officially becomes President. Check out the results at WWD.com. The sketch above was done by Isaac Mizrahi for Michelle, Sasha and Malia. My daughter and I...

The Phillies won the American baseball World Series on Wednesday. Yesterday they had a parade in Philadelphia to celebrate it. My friend Ray Lee sent me this photo below. He took it from his office building when the parade was passing by. I love the photo and wanted to post it here. ...

Guest Blogger, Ed Gawlinski, has been involved in many cultural organizations throughout his life. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, near Bay Ridge, which was then a Norwegian neighborhood. The Norwegian neighborhood is now a great place for Middle Eastern cuisine. There are many fine restaurants in this area. Many of the...

Guest Blogger, Ed Gawlinski, has been involved in many cultural organizations throughout his life. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. You can tell his heart still belongs there by something he wrote to me the other day, “It is a small world, and in some ways it revolves around Brooklyn!” Here’s...

Guest blogger Monique Palomares works with me on Mama Lisa’s World en français and Mamá Lisa’s World en español. Monique was also a 1st grade teacher for many years. Now she helps other classes on special projects and accompanies them on trips from time to time. Background: Some classes in France take their students...

A couple of weeks ago, Ray Lee sent me photos from his trip to Hong Kong. Here are some more, from when he visited the The Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas. You have to walk up over 400 steps to get there. On the way up you pass by many Buddha statues,...

I recently posted a photo of a typical Hong Kong street. Below are some more photos that my friend Ray Lee took on a recent trip to Hong Kong. You might like to see them to get a feel for what Hong Kong looks like if you’ve never been there before. Here’s a photo...

My friend Ray, who spent most of his early childhood in Hong Kong, sent me this photo from his recent trip there. He said, “This is a pretty typical side street in Hong Kong, with a lot of small stores and signs.”… Many thanks to Ray Lee for sharing this photo with us! If you would...

In my last post I mentioned that sticker books are a good way for kids to pass time on a plane. They’re also good for doctor appointments and any other situation where kids have to wait. My daughter particularly loves the series of sticker books put out by Barnes and Noble. Each...

We brought our kids along during our recent trip to Europe. It was great having them with us and they really enjoyed it. But traveling with children is not always easy. Here’s some tips, based on our experience: 1) Bring snacks like granola bars (you probably want to avoid high sugar snacks that...

My husband and I just got back from a trip to Europe with our two kids. We flew with American Airlines. I haven’t flown for awhile, so I was surprised to find that almost the whole ticketing process was done electronically or by phone. When we ordered them (by phone) we were...