Boston, Massachusetts, USA

This be Boston. If you haven't noticed, the last week of posts has honored B cities and their inhabitants: Bath, Bursa, Brașov, Brussels, Battambong, Bandung, Belize, and now Boston. And, what preceded the beta cities? An alpha city, of course: Amsterdam. That's how we get ready for the school year. We practice our alphabet. [2008]

Belize City, Belize

He is not your typical taxi driver. Then again, this is not your typical taxi. It is Belize City's water taxi. You can even find one to take you to Mexico: 2 hours and 45 minutes! But you would be missing so much if you didn't stop at Caye Caulker or San Pedro. [2015]

Bandung, Indonesia

Wherever you live, keep your folk culture alive. And, if that culture includes traditional dance, learn the moves and perform, just as these young women are doing. Their feet, hands, and bodies, rather than their faces, express the essence of Javanese history and transmit it to the next generation. [2016]

Battambong, Cambodia

Cambodia is almost wholly Buddhist. Every town has at least one wat, and, each wat has at least three and sometimes dozens of monks. These young men live simple lives within the enclosure, venturing out to beg for alms (expected and respectable in the eyes of Buddhism). They spend each day meditating and sufficing for themselves. [2016]

Brussels, Belgium

She had her children after 'the war.' Her offspring, however, decided to have only one child or perhaps none. There were many like her, and Belgium's fertility rate dipped below replacement level in 1973. But, the economy continued to grow, and immigrants arrived to take the jobs created. Think of those immigrants as the children her offspring never had. [2015]

Brașov, Romania

Performance art is usually staged to make you think of something in an unconventional way. So, is this what you think of when someone says 'Transylvania'? Probably not. Here on the stage that is Brazov's plaza, these unwitting performance artists are asking you to re-boot your geographical imagination and think of their home more like they do. [2014]

Bursa, Turkey

Just as the Ottoman Empire reached its peak of power, a great "caravan palace" was built to accommodate all the trade, especially in silk, that wound its way to and through Bursa. Today, Koza Han is still devoted to trade, but it's the retail trade that matters. The structure here, in the middle of an outer courtyard, was once a mosque. [2007]