I first met van Gogh when I was a 14-year-old bookworm devoted to exploring the richness of the local public library’s holdings. I had been making my way through the English literary canon and was already deeply committed to the written word when I found myself casually browsing through the […]
Tag: Travel Pursuits
Everything’s Coming Up van Gogh
For those of you who, like me, read everything on Vincent van Gogh you can get your hands and eyes on, there are several recent works you may enjoy, from books to films to art exhibits. First is Bernadette Murphy’s 2016 work Van Gogh’s Ear. Scrupulous as to details, research […]
On Food and Friendship: Anthony Bourdain Tribute, Part 1
[Editor’s note: This is first in a series on the role food has played on Classical Pursuits trips as we remember the formidable, exuberant Anthony Bourdain. Enjoy!] By Nella Cotrupi Often, it is the most modest of food that creates the ambience for friendships to bloom and take root. During […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Welcome to the Rock!
“Knock, knock.” “Come on in. The door’s open.” That’s the kind of open-armed reception you receive in Newfoundland, where we will be returning this August on the Travel Pursuit In Search of the Newfoundland Soul. As before, we will split our time between St. John’s and the Eastport […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN—More Than Mojitos
In just a few days Ann will be following in the footsteps of Pope Francis, Barack Obama, and the Rolling Stones. She is off on our first-ever Travel Pursuit to Cuba. As she was reading and packing she realized she needed a crash course in Cuban history and so prepared […]
ANN’S MUSINGS—My Penchant for Portugal
I confess that I have not yet been to Portugal but have been for some time under its sway. Classical Pursuits is going to Portugal this October because it has charmed and wooed me from afar. Why has this small corner of Europe come to sing so sweetly to me? […]
Countdown to Portugal: Five Reasons Why the Time to Go Is Now
We hope you’ll join us for Portugal: Poised Between Proud Tradition and Global Modernity in October 2016. There are so many reasons to visit Western Europe’s westernmost country, and in this post we present our top five. Portugal is small in size but offers such diversity of landscape, architecture, music, […]
GUEST BLOG—East Meets West; West Embraces East by Sean Forester
The Japanese prints, so the story goes, had first arrived in Paris in the 1850s as packaging protecting ceramics. The prints attracted the attention of Claude Monet, who hung works from his large collection on his dining room walls at his home in Giverny. Monet was not alone in seeking […]
GUEST BLOG—The Best City in the World to Visit by Sean Forester
Each travel experience is unique, with its own set of rich memories. But what if you had to choose a favourite city? Would you choose the romance of Paris, the grandeur of Rome, the energy of New York? Perhaps your special city is Barcelona or Buenos Aires? In June, Travel […]
GUEST BLOG—Nella Cotrupi on Trieste and Tristezza
I flip pages of my memory like the pages of the many books we’ve read together. What do I come up with? The flotsam and jetsam of a world modern and yet defined by the ever-present layers of its past, its names, its words from many tongues, its wisdom, and […]