Emilie C. Harting - Freelance Writer, Cultural Travel, Ecotourism, Travel Resorts, National Geographic

See Credit List for Alphabetical Listing of Publications.

Food Articles

An American's qualms melt away in the steam of a Turkish bathhouse, under the ministrations of the graceful Nurgül.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 1, 2012. "'You must go," insisted my Turkish friend Sule. " Hammans, Turkish bathhouses, are important social gathering places all over the country. Read Article .

Tranquilty on a hotel barge in Italy's Po Valley
Boston Sunday Globe, September 25, 2011."The author explains the difference between hotel barges and river cruises, and describes a week on the hotel barge La Bella Vita." Read Article.

Sleuthing for Venice Art
Dream of Italy, September 2011 The wish list my husband Rob and I had for our eight-day trip to Venice was long and mostly included seeing in real life, the major works from art history courses, guidebooks, and coffee table books on Renaissance painting. How could we see them all? The most well-known museums and churches were on Venice maps, but we had many more locations to scout out. Read Article.

Rheinbeck Beckons
The Hudson Valley Traveler, April 7, 2011."I've been visiting Rhinebeck since the 1960s, and always stop by whenever I’m on my way to northern New York State or New England. When I’m recommending the village to friends, I find myself waxing lyrical about how Rhinebeck is the most enchanting place in New York State, and has the kind of tranquility you just can’t find in urban areas." Read Article.

Studying Art for Spring Break
The Miami Herald, January 16, 2011."San Miguel, in the mountains four hours northwest of Mexico City, developed as a provincial art city in the 1920s with the establishment of the Art Institute, a huge castle-like building behind the walls across from our guesthouse. Now there are many art schools, photography workshops, galleries, museums, concert venues, and a profusion of small, relatively inexpensive restaurants." Read Article.

Pera Palace Hotel
Robb Report, January 1, 2011."Pera Palace Hotel served for decades as the glamorous final stop for Orient Express passengers following their three-day journey from Paris to Istanbul. The train stopped serving Istanbul in 1977, and the hotel gradually lost its luster, eventually closing in 2006. But last September, the 116-year-old Pera Palace reopened after a $29 million restoration that preserved and modernized the landmark." Read Article.

Beyoglu: A Soho in the Heart of Istanbul
National Geographic Traveler, October 15, 2010."Stay in Beyoglu," advised my Turkish friend Haldun when I was planning a trip to Istanbul, his hometown. The historic district quiets down at night. In Beyoglu you'll be in the midst of restaurants, cafes, and shops." Read Article.

Dublin: A Walk on the Wilde Side
The City Traveler, March 12, 2010. Dublin’s most famous residential street, Merrion Square, is formed like a long U, its three sides bordered by tall, attached red brick townhouses with curved fanlights above brightly colored doors and wrought iron railings. At its center, a lush park finishes the composition. Read Article.

Tour Guide: Malta's Mysterious Crypts
National Geographic Traveler, January 6, 2010.Going to Malta, an intriguing and historic isle in the center of the Mediterranean? Be sure to reserve tickets way in advance for the amazing necropolis Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, an underground cemetery that'd be a shame to skip. Read Article.

Top 10 Hotels and Resorts for Young Children. www.grandparents.com, February 12, 2010. Many resorts claim to be family-friendly but that's only if the family doesn't include a baby or toddler. Read Article.

Also appeared on Yahoo.

Best Guided City Walks. www.forbestraveler.com, October 5, 2009. Exploring a major tourist city? Take a guided walking tour. Yes, I know about all the iPod tours... However, after taking many guided walks in London, Rome, Paris, Dublin, and New York, I’m convinced they provide a much richer experience... Read Article.

Also appeared on MSNBC.

Belfast Getaway: Rathlin Island. The City Traveler, August 11, 2009. After driving north from Belfast along the Antrim coast to the Giant's Causeway and the Glens of Antrim, hikers, birdwatchers and divers can take the ferry to Rathlin Island, a nature preserve where puffins and other rare birds nest on the cliffs. Read Article.

Bicycling though Renaissance Ferrara. Dream of Italy, July/August 2009. A World Heritage Site in Emilia-Romagna, the medieval and Renaissance city of Ferrara has excellent food, art, and architecture. And music year-round -- in fact, Ferrara and its bigger sister Bologna, 27 miles to the southwest, are known as northern Italy's Musical Cities. Read Article.

The World's Best Shopping Districts. Forbes Traveler, March 19, 2009. The author steers readers toward top shopping districts and streets in major cities around the world. Read Article.

Also appeared on MSNBC.

European canal journeys fit for king. The Boston Globe, September, 21, 2008. Yearning to take a European river cruise, but afraid of being cooped up on the boat? Consider luxury barging, once the preferred getaway for royal families. Read Article.

Cruise Guide PHOTOS: Luxury Barges

Also reprinted in Boston.com as one of six articles
on ways to cruise the world, and in the Worcester Sunday Telegram.

Metropolitan Norway. National Geographic Traveler, September, 2008. Tucked in a narrow harbor and further sheltered by mountains, the compact Norwegian city of Bergen—medieval capital of Scandinavia—bustles around the clock. Read Article.

Paths of Irish History. Philadelphia Inquirer, The Front Page Feature in the Sunday Travel Section, May 18, 2008. We were on a hike through the western counties of Galway and Mayo, on the opposite side of the island from Dublin. Each trail was on different terrain, though at every moment I felt I was walking through Irish history, imagining life in ancient huts built into the hills… Read Article.

Also appeared on World News Network and The Record: North Jersey.com.

Finding an old Irish homestead, and new cousins. Philadelphia Inquirer, December 23, 2007. Inspired by a tattered photograph, the writer travels to Northern Ireland and unearths 400 years of family lore. Read Article.

Reprinted in Hornpipe.

Leading Up. Executive Traveler, Special Adventure Issue, Summer 2007. When Emilie C. Harting follows the footsteps of Mike Useem, founder of outdoor leadership programs for the Wharton School’s M.B.A program, she discovers that keeping one’s hubris in check is important not only in business, but also while climbing mountains. Read Article.

Norway, Where Nature is the Culture. Distinction. Norway is a country of fjords, deep inlets with cliffs and slopes on the sides. I have been there three times, and am already planning to return again. On a recent hiking trip with friends, I saw the flora, fauna, and geology of Norway up close, often thousands of feet up in elevation from the valleys. Read Article.

Mexico City, An Ancient Goddess in Avant Garde Dress. TravelClassics.com. Mexico City has a vast overlay of cultures and centuries. Tall modern office buildings with hues of blue, pink, even bright red on navy, rise up next to tan and yellow colonial buildings, ancient stone statues, and modern sculptures. Toltec, Aztec, Spanish and modern images meet the eye in many places. Read Article.

Light and Stone: A Walk through the Burren: Southwestern Ireland. Continental. I sit against a pile of rocks inside a ring fort on top of a crusty hill. It is a large circular room about 20 feet across and two stories high with walls of weathered stones piled one upon the other. Read Article.

Hudson River Valley Remains a Work of Art, Dallas Morning News, August, 2004, reprinted in TravelClassics.com as “On the Trail of the Hudson Valley Painters.” I stand on a wide plateau of rock at the edge of a 2000-foot cliff in the Northern Catskill Mountains of New York State and look sixty miles to the horizon to the north, east and south. Read Article.

Into Charleston’s Storied Past. Los Angeles Times. Full page. Taking a literary walk in the city’s historic district is like reading an atmospheric Southern novel, except that you get to see the scenes, not just imagine them. Read Article.

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Maine. The New York Times. The Whitehall Inn, where Edna St. Vincent Millay began her career as a poet, is nestled along a treelined road leading north from Camden, Me. Though it has been more than 70 years since the girl from the nearby fishing village of Rockland read ''Renascence'' at an August talent show for guests and employees, her legend lives on... Read Article.

Point of Inspiration:Yeats’ County Sligo, Ireland. Buffalo News (Front Page Feature). The poetry of William Butler Yeats was larger than life, his famed 'Lake Isle' much smaller. It was a sizable island of rocks and pines on a large lake. White waves, speckled by the sun, would lap at its shore. Read Article.

Living a Dream in Southern Belize. Front cover feature in May Travel Issue, Distinction. Just south of Mexico and east of Guatemala, Belize is a tropical haven replete with barrier reef, rainforest and Mayan ruins. This, our third trip to the tiny independent nation, would be spent on the... Read Article.

Exploring the Riviera Maya: Sand, Sea and Ruins on the Yucatan Coast. travelclassics.com. We were exploring the Yucatan's Riviera Maya, the corridor of beach and rainforest that runs north and south on the Caribbean Sea, starting with the unspoiled fishing village of Puerto Morelos on the northern end, and running down to the major Mayan ruin, Tulum, at the south. Read Article.

Suan Doi, a Peaceful Waystation in Northern Thailand (describes Chaing Mai temples). The Los Angeles Times. Chiang Mai is a cultural treasure trove, home to 300 temples and the center of northern Thailand's arts and crafts--a magnet for Buddhists and shoppers. I am neither. I was in Chiang Mai because my daughter, Thea, was on an Antioch College program affiliated with Chiang Mai University, and it seemed a good place for a family vacation. Read Article

FOOD ARTICLES

ISTANBUL: Emilie Harting Attends Istanbul Culinary Institute. www.GlobalFoodie.com, November 14, 2010. Were it not for the large letters "Istanbul Culinary INstitute" above the front entrance, one would assume that the restaurant Enstitu was an elegant cafe in a row of buildings next to the Pera Museum southeast of Taksim Square. Read Article.

NEW HAMPSHIRE’S: Manor at Golden Pond Offers Vegan. www.GlobalFoodie.com, May 11, 2010. Set on a hill overlooking New Hampshire’s Squam Lake and the White Mountains, the Manor at Golden Pond, with its sprawling main house, croquet setups, swimming pool, and surrounding woods, brings to mind an English country house. Read Article.

Elegant Food and Design in Vermont's Mad River Valley. www.GlobalFoodie.com, January 7, 2010. The front entrance of the Pitcher Inn hugs the side of the road on Main Street in the charming village of Warren, Vermont. Here the cadences of everyday life slow down. Often, the only sounds are the wrens and sparrows, the flow of the river behind the general store across the country lane, and the rustling of wind. Read Article.

The Tavern, the Valley, and the Bird and Bottle. www.GlobalFoodie.com, August 10, 2009. Dinner at the Tavern at the Highlands Country Club or at its sister restaurant, the Valley, as the sunset folds down over the mountains and river, is a sublime conclusion to a day in the Hudson Highlands. Both have accolades from The New York Times and Esquire, and a number of food magazines. Read Article.