Living in Chicago, I am fortunate to see the architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe almost every day. I love to slip around behind the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments and look out to the sun shining off the waves of Lake Michigan through the glass plaza. HOB gets off the train early most mornings […]
Tourist traps are the junk food of traveling: get trapped by one and walk out with a lighter wallet and that sick, empty feeling that comes with high calories but no nutrition. If you want to be a smart budget traveler, learn to spot tourist traps and avoid them in favor of a more nutritious […]
We were all alone in Vézelay’s Sainte-Marie-Madeleine Abbey, the light was fading, darker, darker…and then we climbed down into the crypt. No, not actually a horror story ending, but in fact the ending to a perfect day, a day we spent from sunup to sundown in and around one of the world’s greatest Romanesque churches. Vézelay […]
My routine is the same every morning: I get out of bed, trip on my cat, and make a single espresso in my stove-top moka pot. It’s a safe bet that you, my reader, have a similar caffeine routine (though maybe not a 19 pound cat circling your feet). So how do you satisfy your coffee […]
It’s a devastating moment in the life of Joachim, a pious and generous man. He wants most of all to give to the poor and sacrifice to the Lord, but the rabbi rudely rejects him. As Joachim and his wife Anna are growing old but still childless, the rabbi declares they are cursed by God and unwelcome […]
While wandering about Naples, we took a detour from munching street food and dodging vespas to oggle fascist architecture. HOB and I groaned and giggled at the aggressively symmetrical fascist post office and then decided to go in–why not? We really did need stamps. On entry a machine instructed us to take a number. We […]
The Chancellor of Burgundy, Nicolas Rolin, like a lot of other rich people in the 15th century, was trying to insure his place in heaven through charity to the poor. He founded Hospices de Beaune (also known as Hôtel-Dieu) in 1443 as an almshouse during a time of terrible famine and disease. Most American guidebooks […]
The Palatine Chapel and throne of Charlemagne had been burning hot near the top of our travel list for years, so “Charlemagne’s throne room is closed today” was definitely not what we wanted to hear on arriving in the tourist office of Aachen after a journey of two flights and three train rides. I had […]
I have a crush on arches. Technically an arch is any rounded architectural structure that spans an opening. The curve of the arch disperses the vertical weight it holds horizontally to allow for greater distance between supports. But let’s leave the technical details to the engineers–what you need to know is this: arches are practical, arches […]
You know those fantastical hybrid animal monsters abounding in Romanesque church art? They really pissed off Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux. I love to read and re-read his attack on Romanesque art extravagances in his Apologia c. 1124: But these are small things; I will pass on to matters greater in themselves, yet seeming smaller because they […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 