Travel
The glory of Rome’s Mercati di Traiano
If you’ve ever been to Rome, it’s doubtful you’ve missed the Roman Forum – stretching from the Colosseum to the Piazza Venezia. The Italian word for the Roman Forum is Fori imperiali, which is Imperial Fora – this is because their are multiple fora, each created by a different emperor. The Mercati di Traiano or…
Read MoreA touch of Tuscany in Georgia’s Kakheti wine region
During our recent visit to Georgia, we loved our little touch of Tuscany – in one of the Caucasus’ best known wine regions. For those who don’t know, Georgia is well known for its wine, and especially its robust reds. Although, I still chuckle when I think about how a sommelier asked me what my…
Read MoreA night at the Yerevan opera
This past August, my husband and I were in Yerevan, Armenia as a part of a holiday in the Caucasus. Since it was August, I was certain the opera house would be closed, but while going to admire the placard of the season’s offerings I would not be able to attend, I was thrilled to…
Read MoreNew York Met’s Rooftop installation 2025
Whenever I’m back in New York in summer, I make a point to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop terrace. Each year, they have an art installation. To be fair, while I love art, installation art is … not my favorite. I’ve seen many installation artworks on the Met’s terrace. While I’ve truly enjoyed…
Read MoreArt theft robs us all: The Louvre heist
In a normal world, it would go without saying that theft is bad. But today, with the insane “reimagine justice” movements, I realize we can’t take anything for granted. But museum thefts have always struck me as particularly pernicious. Well-known art works and priceless objects are, by their very nature, impossible to resell. They are…
Read MoreAdmiring Conegliano through the vines
Earlier this summer, I was up in Conegliano, Italy – in the Veneto region – with my younger son for a track and filed race he had there. It was my first time in Coneglaino, a pleasant little town. But its real claim to fame is all the vineyards surrounding the towns in the hills…
Read MoreThe beauty of Armenian khachkars
We had a wonderful vacation in the Caucasus last month – and I’ll be writing more about what we saw in beautiful Georgia and Armenia in the coming weeks. But one of the beautiful objects we saw throughout Armenia were the traditional khachkars, or carved, cross-stone stele. These khachkars are typical of medieval Armenian Christian…
Read MoreA Tuscan hideaway in Civitella Marittima
My sprinter son qualified for the U23 Italian track & field championships. This year’s edition was held in Grosetto, Tuscany. Because we booked late, everything in this Tuscan town was fully booked. Having been to Grosetto’s fabulous track for earlier races, I decided to seek out something new. I started looking for hotels further inland…
Read MoreGhost town? No, ghost castle – in Tuscany…
You’ve probably heard of ghost towns. Towns where residents moved away, and which are now quaint relics from the past. But on a recent trip to Tuscany, I visited a “ghost castle”. Truthfully, it’s not a real ghost castle, since there were a couple of elderly residents who resided there. We spoke to them, and…
Read MoreThe State Capitol in Austin, Texas
I’d been to Texas a couple of times, but had never visited its capital of Austin until a few years ago. My son was at a running camp in Texas, and we traveled through the state, including its capitol building. It was a hot, summer day, and we were happy to take an (airconditioned) break…
Read More