The sun would rise at any moment. I stood in an open grassy space in the Serengeti and watched a half dozen men prepare the green and white hot air balloon that billowed in the light breeze. Every few seconds I turned toward the horizon behind me, afraid that I might miss the sun’s…
I found it. That something ‘different’ I’d been seeking but couldn’t quite put into words? It’s here in Africa. It began on the red eye from Rome to Ethiopia. I’d fallen asleep, despite that the two long-limbed African men on either side of me saw no reason to share the armrests, when I was awoken…
“The city is a museum,” Fernando told me. “If you dig a hole deep enough anywhere you will find something.” We were standing in the middle of what was Ancient Rome’s city center. All around me stood remnants of columns and stone foundations – none of which I would have had any hope of deciphering…
Five days behind the wheel of a rental car have brought to my attention two things: 1. Italian highways are a California driver’s dream come true. 2. Italian drivers are insane. Earlier this week we picked up a rental car – a short and squat white Mercedes of an economy class not available in the…
Today we hopped a train to Rome, bidding ‘ciao’ to Florence after several slow-paced days of espressos, gelato, a little live music, markets and fine weather. It was a lovely time, but I’m glad to be moving along. This morning as we walked over the bridge and down quiet streets toward the train station, we…
I’m a week and a half into this and a funny thing has happened: I’m beginning to feel invisible. It occurred someplace between Paris and Florence – most likely during our two days in Cinque Terre, where the streets and restaurants were clogged with tourists – all speaking different languages, all entirely oblivious to anything…
We’ve begun a tradition of sharing our day’s ‘high/lows’ each night at dinner. The only rule is that we must narrow it down to one ‘high’ and one ‘low,’ though there is no penalty for stating multiples of either. I usually can’t help myself. Yesterday, my high was the train ride from Paris to Genoa,…
Before leaving for Paris, a friend I place in the tip-top echelon of ‘foodie,’ as she not only appreciates excellent food but flawlessly executes complex recipes herself, assured me that I would love the food. In her words: “The French take food very seriously. Everything you eat there is impressive.” After five days of doing…
After fifteen uncannily smooth hours in the air, many of which I passed reading Geoff Dyer’s “The Paris Trance” (how fitting) while picking my way through the 112 songs on HBO’s Girls’ soundtrack, I landed in Paris feeling the way that everyone feels after lengthy air travel: a distinct sense of accomplishment, as if it’d…
The last few days have featured a slew of goodbyes, which has been especially uncomfortable for me. I much prefer the Irish style. But on the brighter side of things, it has brought me an overwhelming awareness of the incredible community of family and friends we’ve built here in San Francisco – a thing that…
Somewhere Seeking 