I've been in Venice for 10 days by the time I meet Enrica Rocca; long past the point where I can stomach another meal from a restaurant with unappetizing photos of pasta plastered in the window. I'm desperate for something authentic and, as I walk with her through the Rialto markets, I sense I've found it. A native Venetian, Enrica is on a first name basis with most (if not all) of the vendors and shopkeepers in the city. The fishmongers at … [Read more...]
Amsterdam -Top Hats, Absinth and Chocolate Sprinkles
“I want to live in ONLY places where I can wear a pink wig.” These were the heart felt, love stricken words of my friend in love with the way Amsterdam made her feel. So far I have been to two cities that made me feel magic in the air. One is San Francisco where I have lived since I left home at 18; and the other is Amsterdam. There is something about the air there that makes you want to stay and never go home. I remember as a kid whenever … [Read more...]
Learn the Ropes to Cruise the Waterways of France
When I first went to Paris, I was struck by the beauty of this city. I was also amazed at how many boats I saw. Before I went I read about its history and about the things to see, food to taste and museums to visit. But being one who has spent a lot of time on boats, I was really surprised that I had not seen anything written about, or photos of, all the boats. Walking along the Seine I saw numerous vessels and wondered where they all came from. … [Read more...]
Experience Midsummer Like a Local in Five Baltic Sea Cities
In Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Riga, Warsaw and Hamburg alike, Residents Enjoy Their Summers to the Fullest, Inviting Visitors to Join Celebrations and Laid-back Summer Activities. Los Angeles, April 29, 2014 – Connected by the Baltic Sea, shared history and cultural traditions, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Riga, Warsaw and Hamburg have, above all, one thing in common: Locals worship their summer with warm winds and short nights when the sun barely … [Read more...]
The Bar with no Name – New York City
Coming to loggerheads with an obvious British actor at an anonymous Irish bar in TriBeCa is like slumming it for a short story. . . . “What do you call this place anyway?” I asked over a pint of Harp at an attractive antique bar with no name in TriBeCa on West Broadway below Canal Street. “We haven’t decided on a name yet.” The bartender, who resembled Tom Jones, was drying glasses. His name was “Seamus” (as in Seamus Heaney, translator … [Read more...]
Plum Blossoms Mark a Spring of Festivals & Events in Hangzhou China
International Tea Expo, Cartoon and Animation Fair, Spring Festival Temple Fair, Winter-sweet and Mume Blossoms Show and the Wild Monkey Festival Hangzhou, China — The winter bloom of China’s distinct Mume flower, or “Plum Blossom,” marks the first signs of a Spring full of festivals and events in the ancient city of Hangzhou, described by Marco Polo as “the most beautiful and splendid city in the world” for its ancient temples and the UNESCO … [Read more...]
The New Alchemists of Prague
Prague Spring Break: Bohemian Rhapsody or Bozo Nightmare? The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Time Traveler in Prague In a possessed city Kafka called “a mother with claws,” John M. Edwards discovers the unbearable lightness of being a tourist in overcrowded Prague. Here a cost comparison of Communist and Capitalist Prague reveals a long history of alchemy and occupation, sorcery and intrigue, apparatchik chic and uneasy redemption. Welcome … [Read more...]
Odd and Unusual Bangkok
So, where do you go when you have seen most of the major attractions in Bangkok and you have a friend in town visiting for the first time? You seek out the odd and unusual. First we jumped on the Skytrain, got off at Chitlom, wandered for a bit until we reached the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert. We were not coming specifically to see the hotel, rather we were after the Tubtim Shrine on the grounds of the hotel. This is a fertility shrine … [Read more...]
Biscuits, Booze, and Bodies – 36 Hours in the Florida Keys
Normally, I'm not big on cocktails before 10am. But when we blearily wandered in at 8am to the Blue Heaven, one of Key West’s signature restaurants, that’s what our server suggested. Sitting in the crazy-quilt courtyard, with its rustic artwork and scurrying chickens, looking up at the former bordello on the second-floor, and knocking back some booze seemed in keeping with all things Keys. I opted for the pancakes, which I found just as … [Read more...]
Bradenton Area: Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing
Oh, the places they stole. Four times this year I’ve been to the canals of Venice, without ever setting foot in Italy. In Vegas, Macau, Qatar and where I live, Venice, California, there are facsimiles of the famous waterways, only cleaner, shinier, and without the creases of deep history. Theme parks, made-made-islands, cruise ships, old quarter facades, entire cities fashioned to appear as someplace else. It’s hard, these days, to … [Read more...]
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