I return again to Robert D. Kaplan’s superb book that I’ve almost finished reading. As discussed previously, his aim here is to shed light on the lives and thoughts of the grunts, the men and women who are the heart of America’s military. He goes to Algeria with the Green […]
In am embarrassment of riches, I now am getting two copies of my beloved WSJ delivered, so more chances to read fascinating stuff. Evan Ramstad and SungHa Park reported today about a rare meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea. There were some tidbits worthy of note: Mr […]
In one of the trade papers a small item caught my eye. ‘Busty Tourist told to cover up or leave,’ it said, quickly getting my attention. Stuff.co.nz had the rest of the story. “A night of celebration turned to humiliation when an English tourist’s “offensive” breasts upset fellow punters at […]
I got a nice rejection letter from my friend Jim Benning who runs World Hum, an interesting travel website based in California. I have been interested in Jim because earlier this year the website was acquired by the Travel Channel. I remember talking with him about his business a few […]
Nicholas Eberstadt writes an op-ed piece in today’s WSJ that highlights a striking problem with man messing around with nature. He weighs in the China’s One Child Policy, that since 1979 has created a juggernaut of population make-up problems and caused something that has never happened before. Now there are […]
Sitting in the cafe on a gorgeous fall day…wishing more people had come in today. Oh well. I read in a column in the Republican by Leonard Pitts…the story began with a horror show and ended with a lesson in how things can change for the better. He describes a […]
The ultimate seafood pasta is made with squid ink and infused with chunks of calimari. We ate this in Portoferraro, our last meal in a ‘housewive’s cafe’ on the enchanting island of Elba. Since I’ve returned I’ve been talking up the place and can’t wait to go on Arthur’s Around […]
Today was the classic Italian beach day. But first it was time to visit the market in Marciana Marina. A typical Italian weekly market, with the usual stuff–clothing, shoes, kitchen stuff and one highlight–rotisserie chicken. We had asked our guide Tatiana her favorite place for lunch and she steered us […]
We took a long walk this morning up to the top of Madonna del Monte, the tallest peak on Elba. There is a chairlift that brings people up, but we took the path that is marked by 14 little white stone domes–stations with pictures of Jesus that look like phone […]
Here is a perfect cup of espresso. Note the thick ‘crema’ that’s what baristas the world over try to achieve. I drank one of these at about 7 pm one night last week and regretted it, as I tossed and turned ’til 4 am. Never again, at least at that […]
Some of the best moments on our trips are the times we arrange to meet ‘interesting local people’ and learn about fascinating work that is being done in the very place we are visiting. We had an eye-opening visit in Roberta Adami’s home this afternoon in the tiny village of […]
Elba is fantastico and fabuloso. I knew we’d like it here but I didn’t count on such stunning cliffside vistas, such gorgeous beaches, and such crisp dry wine and fresh from the sea meals. We began our day at the Hotel Ilio and met Maurizio, who had just returned from […]