Blog Archives

Travel Advice?

  My teenage nephew was going to South America on some sort of group philanthropic endeavor. The day of his departure, he telephoned me and asked if I had any advice for him. My first rule on advice is to

Posted in Travel Know How

Pittsburgh Paint

Pittsburgh.  The picture in my mind was gray and dismal and dull.  Fortunately, my mind’s picture was way out of focus. The neighborhood around Carnegie University does stay awake after 5pm while the Pittsburgh Penguins host evening hockey games. Unfortunately,

Posted in Found in the USA

Recalling Cologne

Cologne:  So they call it Köln nowadays, but I studied French for so many years that Köln never seemed right to me. Decades ago, I stayed at a place by the Rhine and near the Cathedral, a huge gothic cathedral

Posted in World Glimpses

Setting the tone for Italia

“All things ready, if our mind be so.” —William Shakespeare In getting ready for another trip to Italy, I wanted to get my mind in gear. In addition to another Italian language course, I watched some movies and read some

Posted in Thinking Travel

Ice impressions

I am sitting at home and looking out at a world of ice. It is ice not quite thick enough for ice crampons and I like to walk so I am feeling stuck. My mind is wandering to a weekend

Posted in Found in the USA