Travel
Thirteen hours in Dublin
Earlier this month, I was traveling to Exeter, and my flight had a stop-over in Dublin. Since I always enjoy returning to Ireland’s capital, I was happy to have one night in Dublin, before returning to the airport for an early morning flight. Since I had so little time, I decided to stay centrally, and…
Read MoreCorn, cattle and country music: Driving cross-country to Kansas
In August, I was back in the US for holidays. As is my wont when back in my country for a vacation, I rented a car and took a looooong cross-country trip. In doing so, I managed to hit the last of the continental states I was missing – Kansas – to bring my states…
Read MoreEscaping the heat in the mountains of Abruzzo
After a fairly mild spring and summer, the heat has set in in Rome. So I was happy my younger son suggested a weekend escape to our favorite mountain hideaway, and we left for a weeekend in Ovindoli in Italy’s Abruzzo region. It’s an easy hour and a half trip from Rome, but its slower…
Read MoreWroclaw, Poland from up on high
The first thing I do whenever I visit any city new to me is discover the highest point so that I can ascend it and see the views from on high. In a modern Americam city, that will be a skyscraper. In European centers, that will generally be a medieval belltower. So when my husband…
Read MoreBack to Ohio’s Amish Country
I went for the first time to Ohio’s Amish country back in 2020, when I was bringing my oldest son to college nearby. Four years later, this May, I was with my husband and younger son for my older son’s graduation. They had never been to Amish country and wanted to see it. So as…
Read MoreBack to those Prague cafés and restaurants
I was recently back in Prague for a couple of days, and took the opportunity to return to a few of my favorite cafés – and discovered some new restaurants serving Czech favorites. Obecni dum café in Starometska (Old Town) was one of my old hangouts, back when it was all dark, with red velvet…
Read MoreMozart in Venice…
I was in Venice this past February, during Carnival. As always when in Venice, the best part of the visit is to wander the winding streets around La Serenissima and to climb the countless bridges over picturesque canals. It was on one of these mapless wanderings on this last visit that we bumped into this…
Read MorePrague’s Clam-Gallas Palace
When I was last in Prague last spring, I was surprised to see that Prague’s Clam-Gallas Palace was open to the public for visits. Sadly, in the days I was there, it was undergoing some renovations and was not open to visitors. So when I returned this year, I made a point of going to…
Read MoreStunning Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice
On my last visit to Venice last month, I returned to a magical place – the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. This was founded in 1458, as part of the networks of “Scuole” that existed in the Venice of the time. To grace the grand halls of this space, Venetian painter Tintoretto was commissioned to…
Read MoreThe gnomes of Wroclaw, Poland
This past weekend I visited the town of Wroclaw, in southern Poland, for the first time. I’ve always been curious to visit this pretty town, and my husband and I were staying in Prague and I convinced him to take the bus up for a daytrip … a four-hour bus trip departing at 6 am.…
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