Getting Ready for Spain

Like a preview for the movie I’m about to watch, the table in front of me tonight was four Spaniards. It’s been an inexplicable 13 years since I was in their country, but… Continue reading

The Athenaeum

Time is a bully. Its complete refusal to pause, reverse, or even bounce around a little is stubborn to the point of cruelty. That may be part of why I enjoy travel so… Continue reading

A Walk in Rome

I went for a walk in Rome today, because you never know what you might find in a city like this. I crossed the Tiber, whose now calm waters whisper historical reminders to… Continue reading

A Day Driving in Romania

Today was a day of missed photographs, passing too quickly outside the window of my rental car. Tradition seems mostly held by women in this world, and Romania has so many moments of… Continue reading

Saved Twice

JFK pissed me off. The lack of important signage would have been embarrassing in any international airport, and I was flabbergasted that you have to enter the US in order to change flights.… Continue reading

The Real Story in Tskaltubo

The healing water has been famous for 1400 years and the buildings are relics of the 20th century’s greatest geopolitical tension, but the history I felt most keenly in Tskaltubo happened in 1993.… Continue reading

The Guides of Tskaltubo

Memory was fading from Tskaltubo’s long hallways and grand rooms, trapped echoes of grand aspirations from the other side of a political fight but the same side of our human struggle to find… Continue reading

The Spas of Tskaltubo

As with all proper legends, Tskaltubo’s story begins with a shepherd. Or a chieftain. And undoubtedly somebody tells it as a virgin who first found the miraculous healing hot springs in what is… Continue reading

Sorry Tripadvisor

After weeks in Vietnam, talking too much with other tourists, I jumped at the invitation to join a local for dinner. I was the only identifiably foreign face in the crowd gathered around… Continue reading

Eating the Winner

I want to thank everyone who voted on my Romanian food post, first because it’s always nice to hear from folks in this weirdly isolating place of e-connection, but also because the top… Continue reading