One man defines the streetscapes and skyline of the trendy Mediterranean city of Barcelona, Spain, and that man is the artist and architect Antoni Gaudi. After viewing the tenth store filled with Gaudi kitsch, Brett joked that he was the ‘Mickey Mouse’ of Barcelona. Barcelona is a laid back city with my kind of hours—breakfast…
After the fierce, hectic gallery life of Florence, the Cinque Terre is just what the doctor ordered—a perfect place to have some R&R, to kick back, to take it slow. We found our way to our accommodations at La Dolce Vita, the sweet life—and this place was appropriately named. We had an apartment, two bedroom,…
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times . . . just kidding. This is the tale of one city, the city of lights, Paris, France, and its sacred spaces. We arrived in Paris via an overnight from Barcelona. We stepped off the train into the brisk Paris morning and momentarily regretted…
Shh!!! Listen . . . Ghent is full of confluence. To some, this may be mistaken as confusion. The greys of industrialization are interspersed with the prismatic flowers the horticulturalists are growing. The city is alive, yet no stores are open. Here, you’ll hear Flemish, French, German, English spoken. Here, the 3 rivers get interwoven. Ghent…
Switzerland is a country known, if not for its peace, at least for its neutrality during war. To look around the landscape of Switzerland it is hard to imagine how anyone could feel anything but peaceful when surrounded by such sheer, crisp beauty. Lucerne is an interesting mesh of old and new, the old covered…
“Prague is like a pearl of the earth for me. I feel happy here as if it was the last city on the earth where there would be a place for artists left. You can tell it from the way the city is full of art and not commerce, from the way the people treat…
We felt it an appropriate start to the Great Idea of Empire to be picked up from the train station in a convertible Jaguar, driven to what would be our personal apartment for our stay, then driven out to John’s home in the countryside for dinner on the terrace. I felt like an Empress anyway. John introduced…
The Hill family was traveling through the countryside when their car broke down. Mr. Hill hiked up a mountain to the castle of a count. Nice Mr. Dracula allowed the family to stay overnight, promising he’d help them get on their way in the morning. Well, when the Hills all went to sleep, Count Dracula sucked…
So we’re going from one end of the spectrum, from the farcical, the fantastical, the un-reality of fairy tales to an entirely different great idea—that of authenticity with its tangible, touchable, real reality. Why this sudden change of heart? Well, once upon a time, in a land far, far away two young travelers found themselves…
In the book, The City of Fallen Angels, written about Venice, one finds out that you can never believe anything a Venetian tells you—Including that statement (if said by a Venetian). Venetians have had a long love affair with secrecy. Our tour guide at the Palazzo Ducale stopped a young boy from snapping her photograph, “In…
