I had it all planned: we were in route from Florence to Urbino , and we would jump off the train for a few hours in Rimini to visit Alberti’s Tempio Malatestiano. HOB and I were in the midst of our self-designed Ideal City trip across Italy. Were studying the work of five Renaissance architects/urban planners: Brunelleschi, Bramante, Alberti, Michelangelo and […]
My first time was in a rather upmarket restaurant in Paris. I asked for the bathroom and when shown the way I entered what surely was the wrong room, since it was only a porcelain hole in the ground. I ran out, looked at the sign on the door, went back in, and to my […]
It was snowing and we were lost in Halberstadt, Germany looking for a John Cage performance. There were signs: “The longest piece of music in the world-639 years!” but we still had to stop passersby and ask in terrible German “Wo ist John Cage?”. We followed a well-intentioned woman and two toddlers several blocks in […]
I get asked this a lot. I mean, I’ve gotten emails from co-workers I’ve never had a single conversation with that are like, “Hey, someone told me you can get me a cheap flight.” Sometimes it’s true. I don’t want to brag, but…. oh heck, I do want to brag. For instance: a friend just […]
We arrived by school bus. This was the only form of public transportation available, a once- a-week bus into Conques in Southwest France, population 281. A five minute walk from the bus stop, through the tiny but perfectly preserved village to our half-timber hotel room next to the Abbey-Church of Saint-Foy. The abbey has been a […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 