Italy · EuropeMarch 2020
Quarantine: Notes on Going Nowhere
We are under (self) quarantine now. If you are not yet, you will be soon. In some places it is still voluntary. In other places, it is compelled…
Europe
Essays
Portugal · EuropeJuly 2017
A Great Fire in Portugal
During my last trip to Portugal, I stayed at a bona fide palace, complete with flying buttresses, a butler, a maze garden. It was hotter than the dickens,…
Greece · EuropeJuly 2017
Getting Stuck in an Elevator in Athens
After it happened, we had a new point of reference for terrible things. It became our shared refrain: “Well, at least it’s not as bad as getting trapped…
Greece · EuropeJanuary 2017
On Athens and the Greek Economic Crisis
Coming from Detroit, the first major city in the world to go bankrupt, I was interested in how the statistics and stories about the Greek debt crisis matched…
Romania · EuropeJanuary 2016
Two Romanias
Romania came out from behind the Iron Curtain over 25 years ago, but it's still a country with one foot in the past as it moves resolutely into…
Italy · EuropeNovember 2015
Florence, 15 Years Older
Florence is a city by which you measure your life every time you return.
Italy · EuropeNovember 2015
A Virgin in Florence
I was only 15 the first time I visited Florence, when I traveled there with a class of high schoolers (and their parents) on one of those fully…
Itineraries
Portugal · EuropeSeptember 2017
Portugal Travel Guide
An art deco bookstore with the most beautiful gilded staircase. A castle more colorful and crazy than Neuschwanstein. Rocky coasts and white beach sands and surf. Port wine.…
Spain · EuropeSeptember 2016
Segovia, a Day Trip from Madrid and a World Away
Segovia is just over 50 miles away from central Madrid and a world apart. The UNESCO world heritage city has a historic downtown set against the backdrop of…
Spain · EuropeSeptember 2016
The Best Free Things to Do in Madrid
Some of the best things I did in Madrid last week were totally free (or so cheap they might as well be). Eating African hot peppers and 6€…
Greece · EuropeJuly 2016
Athens City Guide
Athens was all protest art, the glow of the Acropolis at night, ancient ruins next to concrete apartment blocks, olive oil, homemade souvlaki, cold coffee, and nearly suffocating…