Mary D'Ambrosio

Turkish picnic. Invited to a family party, I'd baked brownies. But I arrived to find a crowd of 300 milling around a roasting goat. Women were shredding salads into washbasins. I stowed my little plate behind a tree. Why had I assumed family meant Mom, Dad and 2.1 kids?

The News from Albania. Even speaking with a foreigner, during most of the Stalinist 20th century, was punishable by death. But the bravest Albanians turned pots and pans into broadcast receivers, and hid them under the house eaves. Western TV beamed in news of Ferraris, discos and blondes -- and also of the fall of the Wall. That brought rebellion, then exodus.

Those Wild Brighton Nights. Discovering why so many Brits vacation abroad.