Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. They surround us for the better part of our days, whether we are aware of them or not. We shelter behind them during the brief winter and then…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. I had always imagined that we had done something terribly wrong, something so unpardonable that we were now suffering the consequences of this unnamed act. Something must have…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. The other morning as I was walking my two daughters to school, we were surprised by something you don’t see every day, even if you do live in…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. Long before moving to Caceres, I spent some time teaching and traveling around the ex-Soviet republics that straddle the Caucasus Mountains. Cowboy capitalism was rampant in the area…
Way back in 1350, Ibn Battutah noted that Ronda was one of “the strongest and best sited fortresses” in all Andalusia and even today attacking it would be a bad idea. Neatly tucked behind the Sierra de las Nieves, this rocky outcrop has been a favored place to hang your hat since long before the…
Sandwiched between two immense deserts, Yazd has been a welcoming oasis for a long time, no really, a LONG time. Whether UNESCO is right in claiming it is one of the oldest continually inhabited places on the planet or not, the cool shade thrown by the shapely adobe walls and the refreshing breezes trapped by the…
Inching along at a crawl, bumper to bumper and the only thing you feel is…peace, quiet, and the gentle lap of water on your pedal foot. After all, this is not your everyday crosstown traffic. Under the summer sun, skip the gridlock and get to Skaha Lake by floating down the four-mile waterway that cuts…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. Like it or not, the first and last faces that visitors encounter when arriving someplace new are its taxi drivers. And while the vehicles they drive around the…
Malaga means grapes, and has for a long time. While the ancient Greeks were spreading philosophy and art throughout the Levant, they thankfully left behind the art of viniculture on the Costa del Sol. The pious Muslim traveler Ibn Battutah, who passed through in 1350, may have frowned on it, but even centuries of Muslim…
Damascus, Istanbul and…Cáceres. Wind up the narrow lanes of Europe’s third biggest intact medieval city and emerge from the labyrinth near the Plaza de las Veletas. Scan for the palace with the strange ceramic gargoyles and enter the museum. Breeze past Roman statues, Visigothic tablets, and prehistoric pig carvings that prove Spaniards have always had…