Paris Notre-Dame: What the Fire Revealed
I have stood inside Notre-Dame three times, and each time it has been a different building. The first time I stood inside the cathedral was…
Why I Travel
The places most people only read about turn out to be exactly what they promised — and also something else entirely. Notre-Dame in Paris, the…
Faial: From Green to Ash at the Edge of the Atlantic
I had imagined the Azores as something like Hawaii — tropical, volcanic, Portuguese. I was wrong about the first part. We had come from Lisbon,…
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Brussels: The Second Reading
Brussels was cleaner than we remembered — the soot that had darkened Sainte-Catherine on our first visit was gone, the church bright now where it had been dull. A single night in the capital, this time without day trips or rail connections outward. The city concentrated itself accordingly.
The Asado: What the Fire Requires
In Argentina, an asado is not a barbecue. It is a social event that happens to involve fire. The name comes from the Spanish verb asar —…
Asado in the Tigre Delta
Before we left for Argentina, I had said it out loud: I wish I knew someone so we could experience a real asado. The universe,…
The American South: Three States, Three Campuses, One Tornado
The American South carries a history that shouldn't be forgotten. It happened. We can't erase it. What we can do is preserve the beauty it…
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The Space Needle: What Was Gained, What Was Lost
The Space Needle was never meant to last. Built in 110 days for the 1962 World's Fair — a fair whose theme was Century 21, meaning…
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La Nit de Sant Joan: Fire, Catalan Pride, and a Sleepless Night in Girona
From the shallow Juliet balcony of our apartment in old Girona, rhythmic drums rose from the plaza below. Then horns. A crowd assembled. We had…
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The Italian Bar: How a Country Drinks Coffee
In Italy, the morning doesn't begin with coffee. It begins at the bar. The dapper barista steamed the milk with precision, poured the creamy froth…
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