In looking at potential destinations in Israel, Caesarea was high on my list. King Herod the Great built his grand port there and the victorious Crusaders had erected a fortress there. In its archaeological remains stood glimpses of these heady…

My father’s family had come from the Abruzzo region of Italy just a century ago. I don’t know why but I felt beholden to get there. My father came from a family of people who cooked polenta and made red…

China.  When I was growing up and there was a road construction project that seemed to be taking much too long, people would suggest that they must be building the Great Wall of China. When you were digging a deep hole in…

Bosnia and Herzegovina.  I was staying at a bed and breakfast establishment in a quiet section of Sarajevo. I enjoyed sitting on their cement stoop each evening with a glass of wine, though I’m not sure the old man of…

Why would I want to re-visit the Galapagos Islands? The wildlife was unabashedly interested in humans. That’s why. There were always curious sea lions, red and quick footed Sally Light Fish Crab, bored iguanas and sometimes, nosey blue-footed boobies.  My…