Fort Worth Texas Cowboys Cowgirls and Culture

Cultural Heritage Museums Water Resources and the Environment Local Food Wine and Beer Public Transport Initiatives

Originally settled in 1849 as an army outpost along the Trinity River, Fort Worth was one of eight forts assigned to protect settlers on the advancing frontier. The cattle industry was king for a generation of people working the Fort Worth leg of the historic Chisholm Trail, which ran from the 1860s to the 1870s when the Texas & Pacific Railway arrived. In the years that followed, oil and aviation brought new wealth throughout the region.

The post-war years found Fort Worth capitalizing on its strengths as a transport, business and military center. Cultural pursuits included the development of the city's internationally acclaimed museum district. The mid-1980s saw the start of a major revitalization of that city's downtown and the introduction of Sundance Square, a 35-block commercial, residential, entertainment and retail district. Fort Worth's red brick buildings and its Western heritage live on as visitors can experience the Old West beautifully preserved through the Stockyards National Historic District.

Food Brews and Spirits experience cowboy cuisine, trendy farm-to-table, authentic Mexican and bayou fare. Highlights include beef briskets, pork ribs and locally grown, organic artisan cheeses, alongside nicely paired wines. Artisanal distilleries offer straight bourbon, premium blended whiskey and vodka made from black-eyed peas. Also handcrafted beers, some brewed with milk, honey and sugar, accompanied by live music and local food trucks.

The Outdoors the Trinity Trails extend through Fort Worth for over 40 miles along the Trinity River with amenities for hikers, bikers, runners, and horseback riders with connections to the Stockyards, Downtown, the Zoo and the Cultural District. The Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge is a 3621-acre preserved natural area designated by the Department of the Interior as a National Natural Landmark Site in 1980. Established in 1964 as the Greer Island Nature Center, it has small, genetically pure bison herd, a resident prairie dog town, and the prairie upon which they live. It is one of the largest urban parks of its type in the United States.

Museums renowned for their architecture and the quality of their collections, the Cultural District is home to six museums; Fort Worth is also home to museums devoted to Western heritage and the city’s colorful past. 

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is dedicated to honoring trailblazing women of the American West. Its multimedia exhibits and historic photographs, papers, clothing, spurs and saddles tell the stories of women pioneers, ranchers, performers and rodeo stars.

Log Cabin Village 19^th century Texas nestled on three acres and nine historic structures, Texas history is portrayed through authentic log homes, a blacksmith shop, a one-room schoolhouse, smokehouse, water-powered gristmill and herb garden. Experience frontier chores, including candle making, spinning and weaving.

The Modern Art Museum maintains one of the foremost collections of international modern and contemporary art in the United States with works by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko are displayed in a concrete and glass building surrounded by a reflecting pond.

The Kimbell Art Museum is a permanent collection with major works by Fra Angelico, Velazquez, Bernini, Rembrandt, Goya, Monet, Cezanne, Picasso, Mondrian and Matisse. It is also home to Michelangelo's first known painting. The collection comprises Asian and non-Western as well as European art as well as traveling exhibits on display throughout the year.

The American Airlines Museum is dedicated to commercial aviation and the world of flight. Exhibits include hundreds of historical artifacts, photographs, full-scale aircraft engines and a rare Douglas DC-3 airliner.

Transportation it is easy to get around Fort Worth or travel to nearby and Dallas and Grapevine. 

Bus the T – Fort Worth Transport Authority – provides extensive service throughout the city and its cultural attractions.

Rail the TRE - Trinity Rail Express - connects Fort Worth and Dallas with transfer access to DFW International Airport.

Air DFW is only 17.5 miles from downtown Fort Worth via bus, rail or taxi service. From here, you can reach any major city in the U.S. in less than four hours.

Walking is a wonderful way to experience the city’ entertainment districts and the Trinity Trails.

Bike Sharing: Bike sharing is an inexpensive, healthy and environmentally friendly way to get around Fort Worth. Pick up a bike at any of the 40 docking stations.

Planning Your Fort Worth and Texas 
Business Trip or Vacation

Italy

City Countryside and Regional Itineraries

Travel Programs for families, schools and theme groups with educational workshops, food and wine tasting and visits to museums, medieval villages, nature parks and archaeology sites.

Abruzzo is located on the Adriatic Coast, east of Rome. It is home to national parks, hilltop medieval and Renaissance towns and numerous nature reserves. The Apennine mountain chain forms much of its interior while the coastal plain has sandy beaches and dunes.

Basilicata, also known as Lucania, is a southern Italian region bordering with Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, with one coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania and Calabria, and a longer one in the Gulf of Taranto on the Ionian Sea.  

Campania the ancient Romans called it Campania Felix. Baia, Puteoli, Pompeii, Stabia and Capri were their favorite destinations. Then and now, Happy Campania is famed for its ancient ruins, coastal resorts and world-renowned culinary traditions. A cultural and national capital for much of its nearly three-thousand-year history, Naples is home to art museums, the San Carlo opera house and a spectacular bay framed by Mt. Vesuvius, affectionately and fearfully referred to by the local inhabitants as The Monster.

Lazio - Latium is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the eastern and southern districts. The coastline is mainly composed of sandy beaches. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the coastal plain of Maremma Laziale. The center is occupied by the Roman countryside, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, and the south is characterized by flatlands. The Apennines of Latium are marked by the Tiber River valley and three mountains of volcanic origin whose craters are occupied by Lakes Bolsena, Vico and Bracciano. South of the Tiber, the Alban Hills, are of volcanic origin.

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Marche is slowly being discovered as the new Italian frontier; an abridged expression of the varied charms of Italy with a variety of attractions offered seasonally and year-round, including: authentic foods, breathtaking landscapes, a lively cultural landscape, artistic and natural treasures.

Puglia borders the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southernmost portion, the Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the boot of Italy.

Veneto Venice is comprised of 118 islands intersected by 150 canals and linked by 400 bridges. Among the neighborhoods to choose for your visit: Cannareggio – Ghetto, Santa Croce, Miracoli, San Zanipolo, Rialto, Frari, Dorsoduro, Giudecca and Castello. This incomparable city is full of secret campos, Gothic palazzos and neighborhood wine bars. San Marco square with its bell tower and the Doge’s Palace, the Grand Canal surrounded by Venetian style palaces, numerous art galleries and boutiques.

Emilia-Romagna Bologna Modena Ferrara and Dozza. Arrival and private transfer from the Bologna airport or train station to a Farmhouse in the countryside. Lunch and guided tour of the city center. Dinner with typical dishes from Emilia. The Food Valley full day excursion and visit to some of the best Emilia food producers:

Langhirano - Prosciutto di Parma production plant and food tasting

Reggio Emilia - Parmigiano Reggiano Dairy with explanation of the production cycle

Modena – Acetaia (vinegar loft) and the aging process of traditional balsamic vinegar.

Milan Italy

Art Architecture Cuisine Design Fashion and Shopping

Milan is located between the Po River, the Alps and Italian lakes region. The concentric layout of the city center has been influenced by the Navigli, an ancient system of navigable and interconnected canals, now mostly covered. There are only few remains of the ancient Roman colony of Mediolanum.

Following the edict of Milan in 313 A.D., several basilicas were built by the city gates, still standing and refurbished over the centuries. The cathedral was built between 1386 and 1577, is the fifth largest in the world and the most important example of Gothic architecture in Italy. In the 15^th century, an old fortress was enlarged and embellished to become the Castello Sforzesco, the seat of an elegant Renaissance court surrounded by a walled hunting park.

Economy the Milan metro area generates approximately 9% of the national GDP and is home to more than 8 percent of all businesses in Italy, including many media and advertising agencies. Milan is a major world fashion center - 12,000 companies, 800 show rooms, and 6,000 sales outlets - and manufacturing center. Other important products made here include chemicals, machinery, pharmaceuticals and plastics. Other key sectors in the city's economy are advanced research in health and biotechnologies, engineering, banking and finance.

Museums and Art Galleries the Brera Portrait Gallery holds one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings. The Sforza Castle hosts numerous art collections and exhibitions, especially statues, ancient arms and furniture. Leonardo Da Vinci worked here from 1482 until 1499 and was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks and the Last Supper. Milan was affected by the Baroque in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, hosting numerous artists, architects and painters of that period, such as Caravaggio. In the 20^th century, the city was the epicenter of the Futurist artistic movement. The Museo del Novecento is a 20^th Century art gallery with sections dedicated to Futurism, Spatialism and Poor Art.

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Music Milan is a major national and international center of the performing arts, most notably opera. La Scala is considered one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, hosting the premieres of numerous operas since the mid19^th century. Other major theatres in Milan include the Arcimboldi and the Lirico.The city also has a renowned symphony orchestra, conservatory and is a major center for musical composition.

Fashion and Shopping a global capital in industrial design, fashion and architecture, Milan is the commercial capital of Italy and one of Europe's most dynamic cities, it accounts for the lion’s share of the fashion trade, with some of the most renowned fashion houses headquartered here. Its upscale fashion district and Galleria, the world’s first shopping mall, offer the best shopping opportunities. 

Architecture and Design the city’s modern skyscrapers and unique liberty style office and apartment buildings make it a trend setter in architecture. Milan is also a leader in high-quality furniture and interior design and is home to Europe's largest permanent trade exhibition - Fiera Milano - and one of the most prestigious international furniture and design fairs. Milan has recently undergone a massive urban renewal with several famous architects taking part in projects such as EXPO 2015.

Food and Wine home to a proud culinary tradition, Milan specialties include classic dishes like cotoletta alla milanese, cassoeula, stewed pork rib chops and sausage with cabbage, ossobuco, risotto, busecca and brasato, salami and gorgonzola cheese. Sweets include chiacchiere, panettone and tortelli. World-renowned restaurants and cafés can be found in the historic center, Brera and Navigli districts.

Venetian Countryside Food and Wine Itineraries

 Cooking Classes and Culinary Tours

Veneto is the most productive wine area in Italy and a unique area where the flavors of the local products combine to create delicious dishes, both in traditional and innovative ways. When natural products are put together to create a dish, the choice of ingredients and the way they are combined, cooked, and eaten are a function of identity, lifestyle and social status.

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Travel Plans     Intercity & Local Transport

Cooking classes designed to acquaint you with Venice and its territory by explaining how these local dishes developed and changed over the centuries. Learn to cook a savory risotto al radicchio, sweet white asparagus, baccalà, corn meal with boiled baby shrimp seasoned with Italian dressing, homemade noodles with basil pesto and scampi.

Tiramisù was created in Treviso just 40 km from Venice

Wine tours include an overview of the issues facing winemakers and how they retain family traditions and preserve the local environment. The Prosecco Wine Hills visit includes stops at local wine cellars, an ancient abbey and an imposing medieval castle

Medieval Treviso walk along its narrow, pebbled streets and chic boutiques. Learn the history and mysteries of the city known as the Garden of Venice. Have lunch in a typical restaurant and enjoy a typical Spritz with Cicheti in a local Cicchetteria.

Venetian Villas participate in a typical cooking class, where you will learn some of the secrets of the Venetian cuisine, in a charming Venetian Villa designed by Palladio and walk through the medieval village of Asolo, a widespread museum.

Connect for Travel to Venice and the Veneto Region of Italy

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Exploring the Brandywine Creek and Valley

Brandywine Creek is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. The Lower Brandywine is 20.4 miles long and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams.

Development and Conservancy Issues in the 1960s, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in the historic Brandywine Valley, faced a possible massive industrial development that would impact a largely rural community.  Also, development plans in floodplain areas threatened to devastate water supplies for numerous communities in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware.

Residents bought endangered land and founded the Brandywine Conservancy in 1967.  The first conservation easements, protecting more than five and one-half miles along the Brandywine, were granted in 1969. 

These Experiences have placed the Brandywine Valley communities in the forefront of responsible land use, open space preservation and water protection with a focus on integrating conservation with economic development through land stewardship and local government assistance programs working with individuals, state, county and municipal governments and private organizations to permanently protect and conserve natural, cultural and scenic resources.

The Conservancy opened a museum in 1971 in the renovated Hoffman’s Mill, a former gristmill built in 1864, part of the Conservancy’s first preservation efforts.  It contains an unparalleled collection of American art with emphasis on the art of the Brandywine region, illustration, still life and landscape painting, and the work of the Wyeth family.

River Museums Microbrews and Shopping in Delaware and Southeastern PA

Professional Enrichment Tours address suburban sprawl, declining water quality, diminishing water supplies, vanishing agricultural land, loss of historic character, wildlife habitat degradation, and threatened biological resources. Learn to:

·         Protect and conserve land and water, natural, cultural and scenic resources;

·         Create and strengthen local government efforts that support resource conservation;

·         Improve site planning and design to support resource conservation;

·         Plan and conserve of natural and cultural resources;

·         Enhance awareness and knowledge of conservation approaches.

Travel to the US Mid-Atlantic

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Travel Plans     Intercity & Local Transport

On the way to the Brandywine Valley, it is worth visiting three cultural venues in Wilmington:

Rockwood Mansion & Park, an English country estate featuring unique gardens, a Rural Gothic mansion with conservatory, and a Victorian house museum with 19^thand 20^th century furnishings.

The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, located in the Wilmington Riverfront District, is a non-collecting contemporary art museum dedicated to the advancement of contemporary art. The DCCA houses seven galleries with over 30 exhibits annually, featuring the work of regional, national, and international artists.

The Delaware Art Museum founded in 1912, it offers vibrant family programs, studio art classes, a diverse collection of American art and illustration and an outdoor sculpture garden.

Explore the Brandywine Valley, Delaware and Southeastern PA

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The Capua Archaeological and Provincial Museum

Capua is an illustrious and antique metropolis in Campania. Its museum contains the most resplendent archaeological and medieval relics from this region of Italy.

The Archaeological Museum stands on one of Capua’s most ancient settlements, first occupied by the Torre di Sant’Erasmo during the Longobard era. Inaugurated in 1995, it contains archaeological finds coming from the excavations carried out in the territory. The complex consists of 32 exhibition rooms, 20 areas for deposit, three large courtyards and a vast garden. 

Twelve halls, illustrative panels and legends allow visitors to retrace the history of the territory from the first millennium BC to the 9^th century AD, a period of decline for the city. From Bronze Age to Iron Age, from the archaic period to the Etruscan civilization, from the Sunnite to the Roman period, a history full of influences and changes retraceable through the objects on display. Votive sculptures, weapons, golden jewels, grave goods, bronze vases, the reconstruction of a tomb crypt with a natural size fresco of the dead, red figure chinaware, votive medals, architectonic elements and many other objects.

The Provincial Museum of Campania in Capua was founded in 1870 and inaugurated in 1874; it is the most significant museum of ancient Italian civilization in Campania. The museum is in the historic Antignano building, whose foundations go back to the 9^th century and incorporate the ruins of San Lorenzo ad Crucem, a church dating from the Lombardic age. The building boasts the splendid Durazzesco-Catalan portal which bears mountings of the Antignano and Alagno coats of arms.

a royal decree led to the museum’s founding to house the region's archaeological and artistic heritage

The first director, professor Gabriele Iannelli, a distinguished archaeologist, historian and epigraphist who, according to the words of Norbert Kamp "possessed a truly unique vision for his time of the entire Capuan tradition "- was a tenacious organizer who managed the museum for over 30 years.

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The museum is a mirror-image of the three millennia old life of a metropolis which has seen rulers that include the Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites, Romans, Longobards, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese and Spaniards. Its history is linked to names such as Spartacus, Hannibal, Pandolfo Capodiferro and Pietro della Vigna, Cesare Borgia and Hector Fieramosca. By 1956, with the addition of new rooms, the collections had been rearranged with the most modern criteria. The new Museum of Campania is among the most important in Italy and Europe. The layout was realized by prof. Raffaello Causa, responsible for the medieval and the modern section, and by prof. Alfonso De Franciscis and Mario Napoli, responsible for the archaeological section. The museum is divided into an archaeological and a medieval department along with an important library.

Ships, Captains and Leaders

Crisis, Accountability and Responsibility

This is the story of two ships, their masters and how they reacted in the aftermath of a mishap. You have heard of the Costa Concordia; a ship with state-of-the-art navigation and communications technology. The other ship was a 1637 ton sailing barque that lost all its masts in a storm off the Falkland Islands in December 1905.

So, at face value nothing in common; different times and ships, part of the world as well as type and cause of the accident.  Even the ending is different: the sailing ships managed to limp into Montevideo harbor after 46 days with its valuable cargo of nitrates intact.

What they have in common are the culture, values and traditions of the two masters and crews. So, how could their behavior and performance after their respective mishaps have been so different.

There are of course many reasons but the one that is key is the role of a ship’s captain, and for that matter any business or government leader, in the 21^st century compared to 100 years ago.

Today a ship and its captain are pretty much on automatic pilot; in fact, many decisions are made off the ship in an office somewhere where “managers” decide on a course of action. While maintaining objective responsibility, a captain is reduced to a mere figurehead.

The captain of that other ship was the ultimate decision maker. He had no choice, being so far away from home and for long periods of time. He and the ship owner shared in the risk and responsibility as well as in the rewards in the event of a successful voyage. In other words: total accountability!

Technical issues aside, this could be a determining factor in the performance aboard ship and in the conduct of a business, a government or a nonprofit institution.

A century ago the captain had every incentive to perform. He also had total responsibility and the unconditional allegiance of the crew; the ultimate team effort with a clear leader! Today’s captains are salaried employees. Nothing wrong with a salaried employee but who are the real de-facto captains of today’s ships? The implication is that today’s highly trained and sophisticated managers do not take responsibility by design. They have a job to do and they do it extremely well. Under this scenario, when something goes wrong it is difficult to establish accountability and assign responsibility. More importantly, it takes a long time to determine the causes of a problem and make the necessary adjustments.

Systems with diffused power and limited liability have major advantages but, as with the economic crisis of the last several years, they also lead to disasters with long term consequences for everyone.

Note: The captain of the sailing ship was this writer’s grandfather.