FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

Victoria Abbott Riccardi

Victoria Abbott Riccardi is a food, wine and travel writer for such publications as Bon AppetitFood & Wine and The New York Times. She is author of the New York Times 2003 Notable Book Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto (Broadway) and a contributing writer for Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat (Delacorte Press); Culinary Biographies (Yes Press Inc.); and The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide (Ten Speed Press). She lives in Newton, Mass., with her husband and white Coton de Tulear puppy, where she loves to bike, take long walks and pursue collage and printmaking.

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Feb 29, 2016

Experience China’s National Treasure at a Peking Opera Performance

Considered a national treasure, Peking opera is said to have developed when four opera troupes came to Beijing in 1790 to entertain the emperor on his birthday. Various elements from each troupe were combined to create this fifth opera form. Through singing, dancing, mime and acrobatic martial arts and fighting, each Peking opera tells a story much like a fairy tale. Actors and actresses don richly hued robes, wigs and headdresses, and use colorful face paints to create their characters. Chinese instruments accompany the singing that expresses either negative moods like anger or sorrow or more positive ones such as happiness. As with Western opera, famous stories are performed over and over.

Explore Egypt on the Most Extraordinary Tour Ever

Picture this: You’re standing in front of the Great Pyramid, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, in complete silence, with no crowds in sight. As you step inside, your guide leads you to hidden chambers inaccessible to other tourists. Here, you’re granted a rare chance to delve into the deepest mysteries of ancient Egypt.

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Jan 25, 2016

Explore The Ancient Turkish Custom Of Smoking A Water Pipe

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing illicit about smoking a narghilè, the Turkish name for water pipe, also known as a hookah, hubble-bubble or shisha. Only tobacco (not hashish or any other drug) is used, and both men and women enjoy the ancient Turkish custom of smoking a narghilè, mainly in cafés. The word narghilè comes from the Persian word nargil, meaning “coconut,” since the first water pipes were made from dried coconut shells. Modern-day Turkish pipes consist of a glass body filled with water, a flexible hose with a detachable mouthpiece, and a tiny bowl on top of the pipe to hold plain or flavored tobacco.