January 31st, 2026 | Architecture and Design, Europe, General, History, Travel
A slow stroll across Praça do Comércio, a breath of damp air off the River Tagus, a coffee and a croissant were prelude to the ascent. I climbed first to the Romanesque gloom of Sé and its jewel-box neighbor, Santo António da Sé, then descended to the Museu do...
January 26th, 2026 | Architecture and Design, Europe, General, History, Travel, visual arts
My research on Sintra was inadequate. I knew the train ran from Rossio and that my navigante occasional card would zap me there. I would find a stellar collection of historic sites and walking trails to explore. Buses run from the center of Sintra to distant palaces....
January 26th, 2026 | Architecture and Design, Europe, General, History, Indigenous Peoples, Politics, Travel, visual arts
I left the Gulbenkian Foundation astonished, moved, and thoroughly ashamed of what my country has become politically, morally, and culturally. The art I saw returned me to the politics that I had hoped, to some degree, to ignore for a few days. When I was there,...
January 1st, 2025 | Architecture and Design, Boston, Changes, General, Holidays, Popular Culture
First Night in Boston is a venerable event. Forty years ago, I was never motivated to brave the cold—it was always very cold. The temperatures, however, were mild this year and the ice sculptures—one of the most popular traditions—weren’t going to keep their...
December 27th, 2024 | Architecture and Design, Boston, Changes, Family, Friends, General, Holidays, Massachusetts, Pets
A new home, a new address, a new life. New Roommate Ping. She arrived at the Costco parking lot in Newington CT from Texas, late at night on August 23. The cheek swab says she is 67.3% Shih Tzu, 19.5% Lhasa Apso, and 13.2% small Poodle. A “shapsoodle.” I named her for...
November 24th, 2024 | Architecture and Design, General, visual arts
I am good—pretty good—at keeping my hands in my pockets or clasped behind my back while in an art museum. Rules keep the art safe. Even so, between my poor eyesight and exuberance in the presence of objects of wonder, I have driven a number of guards on two continents...