Midway through Anton Chekhov’s first trip to Western Europe, after he’d been blown away by Venice, pictured above, he started to get a case of homesickness. I immediately recognized this as “that mid-trip feeling”. “I’ve seen everything and dragged myself everywhere I was ordered,” Chekhov wrote in a letter home. “When I was offered something [...]
Archive for the ‘Travel to Europe’ Category
Chekhov is Homesick – Perceptive Travel/USA Today
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On History, Travel to Europe on April 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Duck Pie in Paris – About
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Food & Drink, On Places & Travel, Travel to Europe on May 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
There was nothing not to love about this “duck pie”, which I enjoyed at Hotel le Bristol, Paris. The memory of it, along with other delicacies enjoyed on my most recent trip to the city this past January, are encouraging me to press on to the finish line and wrap up my coverage for [...]
Some Thoughts on the Sublime – Perceptive Travel
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On History, On Places & Travel, Travel to Europe on May 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Sublime” is a word that’s frequently used to describe the taste of a delicious confection, often chocolate, or to express the exquisiteness of a tropical island that looks like a screen saver. It is commonly used to describe a peak experience and in fact it is derived from words that mean “up to the lintel”, [...]
The History of Chocolate: Not So French (About.com)
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Food & Drink, On Places & Travel, Travel to Europe, tagged chocolate, france, history, Paris on April 13, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The French can lay historic claim to so much in the world of cuisine—including the word cuisine itself— but it turns out its chocolate pedigree isn’t as long as you’d think. This is the latest in a very long series of stories on About that I’m working on from my January trip.
Not Pretty in Paris: The Smart Set, 3/21/2011
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Culture & Trends, On History, On People & Co., On Places & Travel, On Too Much Information, On Writing and The Media, Travel to Europe on March 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
My essay, “Not Pretty in Paris”, has been published in The Smart Set. It’s the story of a haircut I got in Paris, but also the history of mirrors, Charles Garnier and his Opera, Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, global franchising and the overall sense of anxious insecurity that I experience in that city. Here’s [...]
Scenes from a January
Posted in Daybook, On Places & Travel, Travel to Europe, United States Travel on February 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In January, I traveled to Paris and Bordeaux, and then to Houston. The Eiffel Tower. A photo that makes my hands ache when I look at it, because I’d misplaced my gloves that night. And the Saturn V Rocket at the Johnson Space Center.
I’m an American and I’m So, So, So Sorry – Perceptive Travel
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Places & Travel, On Politics, Travel to Europe on January 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I started to get hungry on somewhere on the long train journey between Cologne and Baden Baden, and so I flagged down the man pushing a food cart down the aisle. It became clear that his English was just a bit better than my German. This meant that we were not going to have a [...]
Germany’s Fairy Tale Forest and an Unexpected City – Luxist
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Places & Travel, On Politics, Travel to Europe on September 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Although I’d never before been to the Schwarzwald, or the Black Forest, in Southwestern Germany, it felt immediately, and somewhat eerily familiar. It turns out that these woods were the setting for many of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and as I drove from Baden Baden to my destination, Traube Tonbach hotel in Baiersbronn, [...]
Staring Down the Evil Eye in Istanbul – Perceptive Travel
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Culture & Trends, On Places & Travel, Travel to Europe on September 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When I first visited Istanbul, I found myself fascinated. I mean “fascinated” in the word’s original sense — to cast a spell, through the use of a fixed stare. All over the city, there were many eyes fixed on me. Blue eyes. They were hanging from the walls of restaurants, displayed in quantities in the [...]
My Venetian Crime Spree – The Toronto Star, 7/28/2010
Posted in Alison's Portfolio, On Places & Travel, Travel to Europe on August 1, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Like any criminal who would prefer not to get caught, I smiled and made eye contact with the mariano. He nodded briskly, then untied the ropes. As the vaporetto plied the chalky green waters of Venice’s Grand Canal , I sat, tried not to fidget and scoped out the situation. The ferry had its customary [...]
