What did I pack?
You've all heard "Pack light! Pack light!" I agree, absolutely. And I think about EVERY single thing that goes into one suitcase or another. I think about its weight, its volume, its versatility,...
Home Again
Home again. It amuses and pleases me that returning to Milano, Italia, is so known and so comfortable. This is my twelfth "dodecesimo", yearly sojourn. (Included in those years is a period, early...
Dead Ends and Discovery
When driving my car, I go just about the same route every time: the shortest, most efficient path between points A and B: Home, to Post Office, to Bank, to Grocery, to Home. Same old, same old....
At Home Along Milan’s Grand Canal
Journal Entry: Wednesday, 12 September 2018 - Milan Did I really just arrive in my home-away-from-home, Milan, this morning?! Here I am again. And it all feels so easy and familiar. Not that there...
Up North to Haida Gwaii
Haida Gwaii. You can't get there on a whim. It's neither quick, nor easy… nor inexpensive. But it IS stirring and complicated, rich and layered. Full of history and feeling. This year marked...
Machine Guns and Fireworks
Journal Entry. 1 Gennaio 2017 (January 1, 2017) - Milano Day 3 of a cold that has kept me layin' low. Enforced rest. Certainly no kicking-up-my-heels last night. By 8:30 p.m. I was yearning for...
Liberty in Milan
How many times has someone said to me with a sneer, "Oh… Milan. It's so gray and industrial." They turn up their noses and dismiss it as merely a place to fly into as they transfer to their "real"...
St. Francis Would Rail at the Assisi of Today
High on a hill is the town of Assisi, home of Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, born in 1181, later known as Saint Francis, "San Francesco d'Assisi". But Francesco, one who relinquished all his...
Città di Castello
Our first stop on our road trip through Umbria, the region landlocked in the middle of Italy: Città di Castello - City of the Castle. Which "castle" they're referring to, I'm not quite sure,...
Under the Umbrian Sun
When friends start planning their trips to Italy, they immediately think of going to Tuscany - Toscana. And when they ask me about my time in Italy, they often say, "Oh! Like Under the Tuscan Sun!...
Home Away from Home in Milano
Stormy, wild wind and rain last night here in Milano. End of summer, early fall. But I arrived four days ago to a day that was fresh and bright and comfortable. The kind of day that makes one relax...
Hungry? Eat this!
For the record, "Italian Food" is SO much more than pizza, spaghetti, ravioli and fettucine alfredo. In fact, "fettucine alfredo" doesn't exist except in the restaurants catering to tourists away...