Monthly Archives: June 2017

This Month — 2 Classic Trains in England. One’s Powered by Water. Really.

railway car of the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway

It’s surprising that something so automatically associated with Switzerland, should be one of England’s top tourist attractions. As a kid growing up in Great Britain, and even then seeking out offbeat things to see and do in travel, I loved the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Situated in a setting of steep, ruggedly rolling green hillsides alive with unequalled beauty, …

Time Capsule Cinema: Petulia

Petulia DVD cover

No doubt about it, Richard Lester has “the knack”: considerable intelligence, explosive visual invention, unequalled cleverness with a camera. Petulia, his latest, parades these virtues – and reveals the defects which prevent him from becoming a major artist. Petulia starts with an almost insurmountable disadvantage...

Treasures of Ireland: The Irish Goodbye (Dispatch #20)

Irish sunset

The narrative has now come full circle as the “band of merry media” – 18 travel writers and photographers invited by Insight Vacations (Insight) on its Treasures of Irelandjourney – gather for the very last time in colorful Dublin, the starting and ending point of our incredible week on the Emerald Isle. Greeted warmly with “Céad míle fáilte (One-hundred-thousand welcomes)” …

Remembering My Dad

PA-28-140 Cherokee taking off

My father died while I was roaming through Northern Italy. He was 52. He passed away peacefully in his sleep in his home in Florida. I found out about it at the American Express office in Istanbul three weeks later when I opened a letter my brother sent me. This was 1970. There were no computers, no smartphones, no Skype. …

Lazy Person’s Farfalle con Piselli e Pancetta

Farfalle con Piselli e Pancetta

The late stand-up comedian-slash-social critic George Carlin once observed, “The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity.” You know, George was right. The poor lumbering caterpillar did all of the heavy lifting, actually lots of eating, just so he/she could eventually go into total isolation encased in a silky cocoon awaiting his/her rebirth as a …

Tapas Master Class for World Tapas Day

elaborate tapas on display

I first met Toño Pérez (of Atrio Restaurante in Cáceres, Spain) in Manhattan. I took a master class he taught last October at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). He handed out photos and descriptions of his signature tapas dishes and then created them for us. It was amazing!

Relaxing at The Inn At Laguna Beach

The Inn at Laguna Beach

There is nothing like sleeping in an ocean-front room and awakening to the sounds of waves crashing against the sand. It is one of the finer things in life. And it is exactly what I experienced recently on a memorable getaway to The Inn at Laguna Beach.