August 14th, 2020 | Family, General, Politics, Society at Large
One of my favorite books when I was a child—one of my cherished books still—is a collection of stories by Hans Christian Andersen. “The Snow Queen: A Tale in Seven Stories” was one of the most ghoulish and frightening, and one of my favorites. A Fairy-Tale Pandemic A...
May 26th, 2018 | Architecture and Design, Cooking, Kitchen and Table, Europe, General, literature and poetry, Popular Culture, Travel
Note to self: if there is the chance to drop off luggage before the room has been prepared, drop off everything except for telephone, wallet, camera and guidebook. As we waved hej-hej (that’s “bye-bye”) to Lars the landlord and strolled into town, I realized that my...
May 19th, 2018 | Europe, General, Popular Culture, Travel
I don’t like Rick Steves’ television persona. I find him sanctimonious, arrogant and supercilious, veneered with faux naiveté and faked authority. I don’t like his insistence that the primary and dominant function of travel is “getting to know” the locals—whether or...
May 9th, 2018 | Architecture and Design, Europe, General, Travel, visual arts
My Dear One pointed it out to me on our first stroll: “Mr. Softee.” The spire of the of Børsen, the Old Stock Exchange, with its quartet of dragons, tails entwined, does indeed look at first glance like an attenuated tower of soft-serve ice cream. Above the dragons,...