I am struck by the irony that, on the eve of, arguably, the most controversial presidential election in the history of the United States that is being closely followed all over the world, we are watching the results from our suite on Nautica, in the Gulf of the Suez Canal, one of the most volatile…
Continue reading →When we returned to the ship in the afterglow of our lovely day in Trapani, Sicily, gazing one last time at the city from our veranda, we curiously noticed the approach of a large boat arriving at the port next to us. It was filled, standing shoulder to shoulder, with black skinned people, some in…
Continue reading →Because of its vulnerable geographic exposure, Sicily was much dominated during its history, by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Normans, Germans, Arabs, French, Spanish, Bourbons, and Italians, each leaving their architectural and cultural footprints, but never conquering the fiercely proud and independent spirit of its people. While Sicily has only been part of Italy since 1861, the…
Continue reading →We hardly had a chance to get acquainted, but I think I’m in love…with Sorrento, Italy. The city plays hard to get, perched high atop the cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea, accessible only by winding, steep roads, and ancient carved out switchback stone stairways. But the reward at the top is worth it. I saw…
Continue reading →I don’t need to say exactly how many years ago I was last in Italy, but there were still remnants of scaffolding in Florence then, from the long reconstruction effort after the great flood of that beautiful city. When I arrived this time, at Leonardo Da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport outside of Rome, I was glad to…
Continue reading →We are off again. Check out my Journeys page to find our latest itinerary as we will be cruising back-to-back segments from Rome to Dubai and Dubai to Cape Town for two months, from October 21, 2016 to December 21, 2016. These are mostly places we have never visited and, if we don’t go now,…
Continue reading →I worked as a designer at Hallmark Cards during a charmed time, when the company was the social expression leader of the world, the country’s economy was flush, Hallmark was at the top of their game, and the company spared no expense to extract the best out of their broad artistic staff, searching the world…
Continue reading →It kind of seems that every single Norwegian has, essentially, won the lottery. In the 1960’s, huge oil reserves were discovered under the North Sea, and in 1990, the government declared that their oil wealth should be used to develop a qualitatively better society, defined as “greater equality”. The industry was put under democratic control…
Continue reading →Raw beauty, extreme seasons, luminous summer night skies, dancing northern lights, and snow-capped mountains has, for centuries, drawn explorers, adventurers, royalty, and the curious to the northernmost tip of Europe. Standing atop the mysterious North Cape, the gusty winds, lingering fog and rain, and icy water are all that lie between this 1,000 foot-high steep…
Continue reading →In 1584, access to the Baltic Sea was mostly controlled by Sweden, so the Russian Czar, Ivan the Terrible, founded Archangel (or Arkangelsk) as Moscow’a almost sole link to the sea, even though the navigation season was limited to just seven ice-free months during spring and summer. When Peter the Great arrived a hundred years…
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