<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Distant Dwellings</title>
	<atom:link href="http://distantdwellings.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://distantdwellings.com</link>
	<description>Faraway Places ~ Amazing Homes</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:49:49 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1</generator>
<xhtml:meta xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" name="robots" content="noindex" />
		<item>
		<title>Belgium&#8217;s Castles Offer Homey Comforts</title>
		<link>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/194</link>
		<comments>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/194#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:01:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jackie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Belgium]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Castle Tours]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.distantdwellings.com/?p=194</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When my editor asked me to check out castles in Belgium, I conjured images of opulent palaces and imposing châteaux. Instead I found something better. In Belgium—as in much of northern Europe—&#8221;castles&#8221; are often large but homey buildings with tidy square towers, plump furnishings, and folksy nobility who welcome guests with cheery warmth. Hard white stone in Belgium&#8217;s French-speaking region, the Ardennes, gave rise to hundreds of these cozy castles. Some villages boast several, built in the 11th and 12th centuries to protect the growing population from invading armies. Most of the original castles fell to ruins, but new residences were built atop the medieval foundations and now more than 160 are open for tours, dining, or overnight stays. Visit three castle hotels&#8230; Three Castle Hotels Joining a motorcoach tour in Brussels, I headed south, meandering past the historic sites of Namur and Bastogne, looping through the nature center at Botrange, and stopping at three castle hotels: Château de Ramezee Château de Jannée Château de Waleffe As the owners invited us inside, we marveled at just how much we felt at home. These so-called castles were places where we could kick off our shoes, suck the froth off a sweet [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/194/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Trying to See Japan</title>
		<link>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/93</link>
		<comments>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/93#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:28:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jackie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tourist Tales]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.distantdwellings.com/?p=93</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One summer, before the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis, I think I saw Japan. I traveled the country on a motorcoach with 30 other Americans, mostly art students and their spouses and children. We were an odd mix&#8230; Next: Whirlwind Tourists ~~~ &#160; Whirlwind Tourists Do Japan Agnes, a retired teacher, lugged brightly colored geometric forms so she could photograph the Nihonji Daibutsu inside an immense red circle. Cindi, a  sophomore, played Taiko drums on her iPod as she cruised through the Kiyomizu Temple. Melvin, a long-legged, sour-faced man, shuffled through the Todai-ji Temple at the heels of his patient, adoring wife. Because he was an Agatha Christie addict, Melvin often stayed behind to finish a particularly suspenseful chapter rather than look at one more wooden god. &#8220;What are you reading?&#8221; I asked as we rode Japan&#8217;s famous bullet train to Osaka. Scowling over the rim of his book, he growled, &#8220;Murder on the Orient Express.&#8221; He meant well. We all did. Armed with cameras, guide books, and preconceptions, we made a determined effort to visit every one of Japan&#8217;s top-rated attractions. Yet what&#8217;s remarkable isn&#8217;t what we saw so much as what we failed to see. Next: Flirting in Kyoto&#8230; ~~~ Flirting [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/93/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Tao of Taos</title>
		<link>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/43</link>
		<comments>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/43#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jackie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[USA: New Mexico]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art Tours]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.distantdwellings.com/?p=43</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; So many stories surround Taos, New Mexico, I felt a bit trembly when Highway 518 emerged from the evergreen Carson National forest and looped down into the remote New Mexico valley. According to legend, people who enter Taos are destined to remain there forever&#8230; or else become so restless that they can&#8217;t be content anywhere else. But as the wide Paseo del Pueblo Sur carried me into the village, I could shrug off my jitters. The bustling plaza was a sea of tie-dye T-shirts. Outside the adobe McDonald&#8217;s, an art festival was in full swing. I stopped to buy earrings shaped like UFOs. I could leave any time I wanted. I simply didn&#8217;t want to yet&#8230; Next: Mystery Mountain&#8230; ~~~ &#8220;Mystery Mountain&#8221; Lures Artists to New Mexico &#160; &#8220;When the mountain wants you, you will stay,&#8221; warned a woman with silvery hair. She was from Texas, but the mountain had wanted her, and suddenly here she was at the festival where her husband &#8211; whom the mountain also wanted &#8211; had won a prize for his birch panel designs. When good fortunes such as this happen, &#8220;you know.&#8221; She tapped her heart. &#8220;You know in here.&#8221; Only 4,700 people [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://distantdwellings.com/archives/43/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

