Posts by Kimberly Sullivan
Turn-of-the-century elegance in San Sebastian, Spain
During our holiday in France’s Pays basque, we also enjoyed crossing into Spain’s Pais vasco. I’ve already written about the regions’s Bilbao and its Guggenheim Museum. We also had an enjoyable tome visiting beautiful San Sebastian – or Donastia, in the Basque language. This elegant city is close to the French border, and was the…
Read MoreBook review: The Great Alone
I didn’t love the only novel I’d read by author Kristin Hannah, The Winter Garden. To me, it seemed a pale copy to Helen Dunmore’s much more impressive The Siege. But I was intrigued by the storyline of The Great Alone and decided to take a chance on this novel. I’m glad I did. I…
Read MoreFrom lunatic asylum to ideal escape from the lunacy of NY: Randall’s Island
Randall’s Island – actually the conjoined islands of Randall’s and Ward’s – is an ideal city escape in New York’s Manhattan. Located in the East River, at the height of Harlem and Queens, this peaceful oasis allows you to feel far, far away from the chaos of daily life in New York. Not surprisingly, this…
Read MoreBook review: The Rosie Project
I enjoyed reading The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, an amusing, lighthearted novel about a highly intelligent but socially awkward man who has devised a ‘foolproof’ test for finding a wife. I always have a soft spot for novels about social misfits, and Professor Tillman fit the bill perfectly. What is perhaps most interesting about…
Read MoreSwans and medieval atmosphere in Bruges, Belgium
I’ve already written about the great spring day my younger son and I had last year biking around picturesque Bruges. But I also wanted to spotlight this stunning town, whether you plan on exploring on two wheels or two feet. If you’re taking public transport, Bruges is an easy train ride from Brussels. We came…
Read MoreMarch travels to Alaska, North Korea, Australia, Dubai & NY
Although I am an avid traveller, I am neither an airline pilot nor an international spy (even if both professions sound rather intriguing…) I did travel to all these places last month, but alas, only on the written page. And isn’t that the point of novels? To transport us around the world, to different periods…
Read MoreGuayaquil’s modern Santa Ana Port
I’ve already written about my early morning jogs when I was staying in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil. I would pass along the Malecon, up the (killer) stairs to the panoramic lighthouse and through the picturesque, colonial Las Peñas neighborhood. On these jogs, I would also loop my way through the modern Santa Ana Port. This complex…
Read MoreBeach reading season 2019 officially begins…
Last weekend was the first weekend of spring. The sun was shining. The temperatures were rising. And a trip to the beach was far too tempting… My younger son and I took off to one of our favorite beach hangouts south of Rome – the beautiful, medieval beach town of Sperlonga. And …. it was…
Read MoreA day in elegant Bayonne, France
We loved our family holiday in France’s Pays Basque region – on France’s southwestern Atlantic coast. While there, we explored many interesting Basque cities and towns – and Bayonne was a great place to wander for a day during our travels. Bayonne, slightly north and inland from Biarritz , is worth a visit when you’re…
Read MoreBook review: Middle England
I somehow missed this novel by Jonathan Coe, and only learned about it when a colleague suggested I read it, and lent me her copy. This novel is set in London and ‘Middle England’, which I learned to be Birmingham, opens in 2010, in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis, and as London is…
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