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
Category Archive: Europe
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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
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
Merry Christmas and Happy Eating (3 min read)
Hello and merry Christmas my friends! I hope this finds you warm and cozy, as this year’s Once in a Lifetime Storm battles our coats and window panes, making America’s dogs wish they… Continue reading
Tradition you can Taste
When my grandfather talked about wringing the neck of a chicken, we listened with moderate horror and more-than-moderate fascination. I was particularly confounded and titillated by his gesture of grabbing it by the… Continue reading
Your New Holiday is Here
Holidays tell the stories of those who celebrate them, so when Thailand celebrated its 3-into-1 Loy Krathong festival a few weeks ago, it mirrored the blending of history, religion, and ancestral veneration in… Continue reading
How Do We Travel in an Age of Travelers?
How do you take a group of people to see the Sistine Chapel? A guided tour of the Vatican Museums is a rugby match between 50 teams at once, played out in beautiful… Continue reading
Tastes like Empire
My language acquisition usually begins on the menu. I don’t speak French but when it’s cold in Paris I look for a boisson chaude. I don’t speak Turkish but every morning in Istanbul… Continue reading
European spring 2022
The night before my first tour of Europe after two years of covid-enforced sabbatical, I wrote a post about the energy filling my mind and rattling through my body. But then I took… Continue reading
