Tag: Food

  • Long Time, No …

    Long Time, No …

    Well, well. Where have you been? Apparently, my hapless website is suffering from languishing like the rest of us in this loathsome pandemic.

  • The Kindness of Strangers

    The Kindness of Strangers

    Day Two in Vienna, 2019. The kindness and sheer delight of strangers is becoming a theme on this trip to Europe. It started with my flight overseas. Even though it took me 8 hours longer to get here than scheduled – the voyage was good. Bad weather was the culprit. T’storms forced a series of…

  • I Puffi

    I Puffi

    Or, How I Fell in Love with the Kilogram Scale I burst out laughing when I saw that the Italians call “Smurfs” “Puffi”. Or, to take the grammar to its proper usage. A “smurf” would be a “puffo.”  Or, “puffa” (feminine). It became the leitmotif of my culinary – how you say – overindulgences.  You…

  • Time for Reflection

    Time for Reflection

    I have always regarded travel as a chance to learn about myself by seeing the reflection of who I am through the eyes of strangers. So, for me this has been a time of self-awareness. And, also a time to see what it means to be an American at this particular moment of history. I…

  • Not Constantinople

    Not Constantinople

    A dear friend decided he wanted to spend his 65th birthday with 24 of his closest friends.  We’re not talking ice cream cake and candles here: we celebrated in Istanbul. I understand now why they call those Sufi mystics Whirling Dervishes. My head was whirling after just one week in Turkey — that mad, exotic,…

  • American in Roma

    American in Roma

      Having missed my annual trek to Italy in ’05, I gave myself two full weeks this year for much needed R&R in my adopted città.  So many missions: study, shop, mangia bene and explore my neighborhood. My first day in Rome, I wandered from my apartment near the Colosseum to explore another ancient site: the Roman Forum.…

  • Back in the USA

    Back in the USA

    That first view of my city was awe inspiring. Most sunrises are. But, this was no ordinary sunrise. This was the moment when I first looked for that hole in the skyline. It felt strange, yes, but as distant as if it were on television. I am not yet in my apartment because my subletters…

  • Festa del Ringraziamento 2001

    Festa del Ringraziamento 2001

    During the week of Thanksgiving, folks back home were having their Festa del Ringraziamento.  Back here in Rome, we were having our own festival, an international party of foods from our home countries. The international festival at school was a party to which we are all asked to share typical dishes from our own countries.…

  • Trip to the Villa 2001

    One of my best friends here took me for an excursion outside of Rome.  A Dane and former Lutheran minister, he is in Italy studying to be a Catholic priest. My friend Gregers is living in the English College in Rome, where he is staying while he studies for the priesthood. The college was built…

  • Rome for Three Months, 2001: Week One

    Rome for Three Months, 2001: Week One

      That first week was a dizzying week of new discoveries, new friends, and a rare case of the event being greater than the anticipation! What a city! My tiny little room overlooks the Tiber and, once the leaves fall from the trees in front of my window, I will be able to see St. Peters…