Stories of Life in Faraway Places

Notes from the road—places traveled, stories gathered, and moments that linger long after the suitcase is unpacked.

  • All
  • Portugal
  • Greece
  • Netherlands

Lisbon, January 2025 — Perplexity in Portugal

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January 22, 2025 I can’t get Donald Trump out of my mind. His face invades my waking hours. Even his voice is a pervasive din that invades my inner world. I can almost smell his breath. I imagine it to be foul. Watching and reading about his inauguration and various press conferences this week has…

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Chania, October 2024 — Addendum

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October 27, 2024 It occurred to me you might not have noticed that the two female figures in the boat at Chania were actually mannequins. It was the strangest sight – so unusual, that I asked a local person about it. Carolina laughed and informed us that the figures are intended to call attention to…

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Heraklion, October 2024 — Arrivals & Passages

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October 22, 2024 We’re now in Heraklion – the capital city of Crete. People from the Continent of Africa have been arriving here for millennia. They still are. Moustafa smiled broadly when I told him that Bill and I were going to Crete. He is a young man from Egypt we met in Santorini, who…

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Imerovigli, October 2024 — Wordle

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October 19, 2024 I’ve started doing Wordle with Bill every morning. I’m not usually one for puzzles and word games, but If you haven’t Wordled yet, I recommend it. Bill says, “It keeps the cobwebs out”. Who knew that coming up with 5 letter words could be so much fun? You get positive and affirming…

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Santorini, October 2024 — Context

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October 16, 2024 During our tour of vineyards in Santorini, we heard a lot about context. Second to tourism, agriculture is the most active industry on the island – producing rare whites and sweet desert varieties. Wines are known to us by their taste, viscosity, color and smell – all shaped by their particular surroundings.…

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Pyrgos, October 2024 — On the Scale of Time

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October 15, 2024 Instead of decades or centuries; being here, in Pyrgos, prompts me to look back even further. To consider thousands of years, millennia. It’s almost unfathomable, walking among ruins of the Bronze Age – being a witness to ancient signs of human habitation. Just the thought of Akrotiri demands adjustment to my lens…

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Mykonos, October 2024 — Not Just Another Friday

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October 11, 2024 What a week! My mother made it through the latest hurricane in Florida. She hunkered down with her 99 YO sister. No damage to their properties, selves or relationship. Friends in Carmel and Monterey survived record breaking heat and fires. 110 degrees over several days in Central California! Unbelievable. I received awful…

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Mykonos, October 2024 — Quantity Over Quality

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October 9, 2024 There are five massive cruise ships in the harbor today, with literally thousands of passengers. They, along with numerous yachts, catamarans, speed boats and transport vehicles create the shapes and color of the landscape. Long white rectangles sit against brown mountain ranges, separated by ribbons of deep blue. This forms our horizon. Black smoke belches upwards, and then…

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Athens, October 2024 — So Far, the Bubble Holds

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October 7, 2024 I’m so glad we were in Athens last February. We had empty galleries and unobstructed views of antiquity. At that time our retail experiences weren’t reminiscent of Filene’s basement. And we could actually stroll (and not be shoved, or have to bob-and-weave) down the meandering ancient streets of Plaka. Acropolis, Parthenon and Meteora remain untouched,…

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Amsterdam, October 2024 — Becoming

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October 4, 2024 Looking out of windows offers only one perspective. Actual experience in the world offers so much more. Kandinsky, Outsider Art, The Museum of the Mind, and the unexpected warmth of this sunny day catapults Amsterdam to the top of my list of favorite cities. Crushing tourism, immigration and the lack of affordable housing continue to be the popular lament…

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