The only time I wish I were a man is in public bathrooms and shoe stores. While I recognize that I don’t have the anatomy to use a urinal, I am beyond frustrated with shoe stores and their lack of practical options for women. Let’s say you’re a dude, and you need some decent walking […]
I use guide books when I travel, but always selectively and with skepticism. Why am I a skeptic? Because many guide books are inaccurate and poorly updated. Here’s a perfect example: for the past 18 years I’ve worked at the same museum, and throughout those 18 years customers have steadily approached our staff looking confused […]
We arrived in Arezzo at dusk and by the time we walked to the highest elevation of this medieval hill town night had fallen. The interior of San Domenico, a Gothic church, was dimly lit so we slipped a euro in a pay light-box. Crucifix, Cimabue c 1268-71. San Domenico, Arezzo. Cimabue’s startling crucifix lit up above us. Here was Jesus is […]
A few years ago I was browsing for cheap airfares (okay, so I do that everyday) when I found a remarkably cheap flight into Northern Italy. People, these tickets were under $400, in late May!!! Obviously I snapped up the tickets in a hot second. Almost as quickly, I drafted an itinerary since I already knew where I […]
Cathédrale Ste-Marie is a pilgrim magnet. Once you catch sight of this Romanesque-Gothic beauty at the foot of the Pyrenees in the village of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges you are inevitably pulled in by it’s compelling attraction. Don’t you want to come closer? Unlike the scenery, the weather during our visit to Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges was less than idyllic. Not to put […]
When it comes to travel wayfinding I’m old school—I use paper, as in maps and notes, and I talk to people. It’s not that I’m opposed to technology (although I am possibly the last non-grandmother alive still using a flip-phone), it’s just that technology can and will fail just when you need it most. How’s […]
Saint-Just Basilica is cozily nestled in the tiny village of Valcabrère, population 164, in the Haute-Garonne department of Southwest France. This small Romanesque church built in 11th -12th centuries is handsomely proportioned, with well-preserved portal sculptures. As if the setting wasn’t picturesque enough, what with the red chickens clucking about, antique barns and strategically placed […]
The Chicago Public Library once had a book on Romanesque art I repeatedly checked out, renewed the maximum amount of times, and then immediately put on hold again. I’d leave bookmarks inside of the artworks I planned to visit, and the book would usually return to me with my bookmarks intact. One of the bookmarked […]
Bilbao is just right: budget friendly, full of lively contemporary architecture, a handsome old town, decent public transportation and of course a spectacular museum I’d really hate to be a pig in Spain. This isn’t even a specialty store–just a regular grocery and your choice of hanging pig legs. The Zubizuri (that’s White Bridge in Basque) […]
Hey everyone–meet my new girlfriend: This is Santa María del Naranco, also known as my girlfriend. (In case you were wondering, I also have a wife and a husband.) Santa María del Naranco was a summer palace built in the mid-9th century in the kingdom of Asturias, present day Oviedo. At the time, Asturias […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 