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? […]
البعد جفاء “Distance equals disaffection.” ― Arabic proverb “Life is meant to be shared. We need each other.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita, a Ghanaian writer Lamentably, cultural divisiveness is stubborn. Travel is often touted as one of the best ways to build bridges and break down barriers. But it is […]
“And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again” – Bob Dylan Sometimes one has the chance to be an eyewitness to history at a remarkable moment. Ten years ago, visitors were told what we now know to be true: that along with the end of the Castro regime would come […]
[wowslider id=”101″] These were taken with my phone. Better pics are bound to come from those with serious cameras and better eyes. Music is Icelandic, a free download. Iceland in words can be found here, ON THE ROAD WITH ANN — Iceland, an unlikely nation and here, GUEST BLOG – Bobbi Speck on incredible […]
“Once you’ve come to be part of this particular patch, you’ll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real.” ― Nelson Algren, Chicago: City on the Make “I must confess a shameful secret: I love […]
The man on the left sits solitary. The bartender seems to be speaking, but no one responds (the woman looks at what she is holding in her hand, and the man seems to be lost in his own thoughts). Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks creates a powerful atmosphere, a feeling of melancholy. […]
Today, when I was proofing Lisa Pasold’s GUEST BLOG on her walks four our Belle Epoque trip to Paris, I came across this phrase, “…writer Emile Zola—whose famed letter J’Accuse courageously spear-headed the defense of Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus.” I paused at the word defense. Should it be defence? I […]
Paris is beautiful at any time of year, but autumn is my favourite season for conjuring the glittering world of the Belle Epoque. In September, the early fall light turns the city’s streets into scenes worthy of Degas and Monet. The Belle Epoque encompasses wonderfully diverse creative energies: composer Debussy, […]
In Woody Allen’s film Midnight in Paris, the central character gets into a taxi and finds himself transported back to the 1920s. He walks into a cafe and sits down next to his literary heroes Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds. Wow. But then he meets a beautiful girl who dreams not […]
Our last days in Cambodia were packed with magnificent and mysterious Angkor temples and local culture. Heat and humidity sapped my remaining energy, so I am now composing a final post from the comfort of home. Click on thumbnail images to enlarge. CAVEAT: Please understand that a trip of several […]