Rubble at Joplin Tragedy is a curious thing. It strikes when and where it will. Wily weather, despite our best efforts to predict and prepare for it, continues to escape our control and routinely leaves us reeling, unable to fathom […]
World Travel
Toasting La Serenissima: Day 1 in Venice
Canal-side drinks in Venice About Venice: Stretched across a group of 118 small islands in Northeast Italy riddled with canals and linked by bridges. The city and marshy lagoon where it is located are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Here composer Antonio […]
An Afternoon in Oviedo
Asturias is the only region of Spain I’ve visited that immediately brings Ireland to mind. Lusciously green and notoriously rainy, even the pearly, luminescent quality of the light filtering through the clouds makes me think of Ireland. Flying into the […]
A Rainy Day in Barcelona: Guest Post on Homage to BCN
Mmmm, hot coffee… Blessed with a generally bright and sunny disposition, Barcelona is cursed with an excess of fair-weather friends with no appreciation for precipitation. Read: the doom and gloom of backlit cumulonimbus are not welcome here. While no one enjoys […]
Sant Jordi in Barcelona: Books, roses and a patron saint.
Flower Booth with a Sant Jordi Statue On April 23rd, la Diada de Sant Jordi, Barcelonais at its best, sort of like a child dressed up and behooved to behave for a special occasion. In the streets radiating out from […]
The Boat to Finland: Adventures in Helsinki
Boat in Helsinki About Helsinki: Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It’s a coastal city that encompasses many islands, bays and peninsulas extending out into the Gulf of Finland. After a few days in traversing Tallinn and […]
Exploring Estonia Part III: Lahemaa National Park: Beaches, Bogs and Bays (Oh My!)
Forest at Viru Bog, Estonia Leonore in front of Signage for Viru Bog The L’s (Leonore and Laurie) are taking us (Oihana and myself) to Lahemaa National Park today. Encompassing bogs, beaches, manors and bays, it is Estonia’s first and […]
Exploring Estonia Part II: Apple-picking in the Baltics
After almost rolling out of my narrow bed and onto an even narrower stretch of floor, I sit up and look over at Oihana. Not more than two feet away, she also sits up. “Desayunamos?” Breakfast? “Café”, I respond. I […]
Exploring Estonia: Part I: Tallinn
Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia About Estonia: Located on a peninsula jutting out into the Baltic Sea, Estonia is a small country in the Baltic Region of Northern Europe. The capital and largest city is Tallinn. After years of domination […]
Green Ireland, Green Champ, and (Not-so-Green) Castles
Guinness in a Dublin Pub Photo Courtesy of Oscar Rodríguez Martínez A stone’s throw, or rather a short train ride from Dublin, sits Malahide Castle on its 250 acres of greenery. The expanse of lawn, formal gardens, and forest surrounding the castle […]