A cronut. I couldn’t think of a better reason driving me to travel to Las Vegas for 48 hours in the middle of the week. I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I’ve even climbed it. I’ve taken the vaporetti (water taxi) in Venice from one island to the next. I’ve even been to the... Continue Reading →
Goldilocks and the Three Bears Syndrome
My brother is the kind of dad who goes out early on a Saturday morning to buy fresh blueberries for pancakes requested for breakfast by his four year old daughter. Or who bakes moon-sized chocolate chip cookies on his day off just for her, a prize for when she eats the kind of food a... Continue Reading →
Crime scene parmigiano
We think of Thanksgiving as a standard holiday, with a standard meal, and yet, there’s no standard way of celebrating Thanksgiving. Some like turkey. Some don’t. Some like a roasted turkey. Some like a deep fried turkey. Or an ice cream turkey. Some have a glazed ham or steaks or a pork roast or vegan... Continue Reading →
Short story: The beach restaurant
A meet cute that happens at the beach...enjoy! Francesca breathed in the sea air as she opened the patio doors to her restaurant with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The marine layer was just beginning to break while some of the later surfers traipsed down to the beach for their morning appointment with wave... Continue Reading →
Making yourself at home in Old Town Bari
Planning a trip isn’t the kind of activity that should break your brain. To Europe anyway. I’ve traveled there so many times, and even lived in Europe – seven years. And yet, I mull over the options until it’s like a last minute cramming session. When I’m planning to travel to Europe, I feel the... Continue Reading →
Taking advantage of the shoulder season in Orvieto
Amazing food with a side of culture. That sums up Italy, and in less than 140 characters. The side of culture comes in different flavors, staying with an Italian family, getting pickpocketed, or eating dinner over a labyrinth of tunnels dug out in 300 BC. Now, now you've got Orvieto in Umbria. It takes some... Continue Reading →
More than a pasta shop
Gelato, cioccolato and pasta. You can marinate yourself in history, culture, and art in Italy. And then there is gelato, cioccolato and pasta. Any bad day, even if you’ve been pickpocketed (unfortunately I know the feeling), can end in one of those shops and erase any negative feelings you have about what happened, or didn’t... Continue Reading →
The places we go
“Are you carrying a lot of money?” the customs officer asked at the airport in Bari, Italy. “Ummm, no,” I said, not sure how to answer that question out loud in front of strangers as I was about to board a local train, with luggage, to a city I didn’t know. I was on the... Continue Reading →
Two Norwegians, a French woman and an American get into a car…
I didn’t go to Norway to learn Norwegian, but almost everything good that happened to me in Norway was somehow connected to Norwegian class. A German colleague once said, “Where else do you meet people in this country but in Norwegian class?” I think my life is still driven by what happened to me in... Continue Reading →
Making peace, one blueberry pancake at a time
The funnest person I get to talk to right now is my three-year old niece. Conversations are about eating, playing and sleeping. We don’t always agree, but she’s a grand diversion from the junk that comes out of the mouths of adults today who get paid millions to say it. When she speaks – she’s... Continue Reading →