“To be alone with yourself is to be in good company.” – Maya Angelou A friend recently mentioned that she is planning a solo trip to Europe, and while she is excited, she is also feeling a little trepidation about how her experience will be by herself. As much as I love to travel, I can totally relate. I don’t think anyone who knew me as a twenty something would have...
“Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.”― Albus Dumbledore London is so cosmopolitan and filled with fabulous things to observe, eat, climb, read, tour, photograph, float upon, learn about, shop for, and feed to your inner anglophile monster (wait that’s me though). This is my...
“A wise bear always keeps a marmalade sandwich in his hat in case of emergency.” Paddington Bear I compiled this list for my nephew’s debut visit to London later this Spring, and it includes many of our favorite spots across the central part of the city. Am I missing anything? OF COURSE I am!! The London food scene these days is dynamic, diverse and ever...
“Thanks to the Jolabokaflod, books still matter in Iceland. They get read and talked about. Excitement fills the air. Every reading is crowded. Every print run is sold.” Hallgrimur Helgason As I book lover I am completely enchanted by the concept of Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic tradition of exchanging and reading books on Christmas eve. The word translates...
“I have fantasies of going to Iceland, never to return.” – Edward Gorey Majestic volcanoes tower over sheer cliffs and steaming foothills sweep down to the churning frozen sea. Swaths of purple lupine frame impossible waterfalls which resolve into roiling azure rivers of pure glacial melt. Any sense of scale is gleaned intermittently from tiny red...
“Crete,’ I murmured. ‘Crete…’, And my heart beat fast.” Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek When I was very young, my father used to sit in my darkened room with a cigar (simmer down it was the 70’s…) and lull me to sleep with fabulous tales of Greek gods, goddesses and heroes, peppered with sea monsters, satyrs, Minotaurs and other magical creatures. As...
So I was just going over my notes from our family trip to Iceland a few years ago as it seems like a lot of friends are heading there this year. Lucky you! And of course I detoured into some music, thinking I only had like two or three bands to recommend. Um, rabbit hole to say the least! Given how expansive and otherworldy so much of Iceland is, it’s not...
“Madrid is full of literature, poetry and music on all four sides, so much so that she is a literary character herself.” Ernest Hemingway Gratitude for my excellent friend Dorian with whom I just spent a delightful 24 hours museum hopping, shamelessly shoe shopping, happily feasting and generally admiring...
Sometimes, despite all our scheduling mastery, a travel day delivers setbacks, cancellations, snafus, missed connections, stressy rerouting, delayed luggage, or just really really really long flights home. I gloat about having pretty good travel luck, but every now and then the karmic goddess who holds the scales of the universe (yes I’m a Libra) balance mine as...
“A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.” – Yotam Ottolenghi OK maybe it’s time to let summer go. Yes, I know it’s almost the holidays, but I’ve been a bit world weary and mentally clinging to more carefree days. Since I’m on a news fast (ahem!) and I’m majorly...