Recently, my friend Anna asked me to review an anthology which included an essay of hers. It is important to note that I take book reviewing seriously, especially when I'm allowed more than 140 characters in which to share my opinion. Remember that I am part of this book's target…
57 Posts
All posts tagged Travelogue
Reading Nafisi in Breuil Cervinia
I write in the margins and on the blank pages of books authored by other writers. It's a habit. When I happen upon those scribblings later, it's always a treat. The following is an essay I penned on a trip to Northern Italy in 2009. All summer long I'd been…
One Year in Oslo
"I want to repeat one word for you: Leave. Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word... Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed." -- Don Miller So we left. Maybe it…
Trip Report: Pywiack Dome (Zee Tree)
Yosemite National Park. The best granite climbing in the world. The Tuolumne region of YNP is famous for its giant granite domes: Stately Pleasure Dome, Lembert Dome, Fairview Dome, and Pywiack Dome. One of our favorite multi-pitch climbs in Tuolumne is Zee Tree on Pywiack Dome. We've completed this ascent…
Trip Report: Boy Scout Rocks (Butt Rock)
With its wildflowers, abundant wildlife, and sparkling, emerald panoramas, Mt. Diablo State Park is an East Bay must-see for any visitor, but it's also a popular destination for climbers. Jonathan and I have climbed there multiple times over the years. The photo at left shows me atop the Lower Tier…
The Imperatives of Travel
Jonathan and I travel because we want to see the whole world together, but we have our individual interests, too. He wants to climb every mountain. I want to see all the people. The farther I go, the more people I see and meet, the more convinced I am that…
Elle aime parler français en France!
Around me swirls an exotic tango of French dialogue and cigarette smoke. We approached the Café Limo on this, our final night in Paris, tentatively. We had been worried that our whim, a quick stroll for a night cap and a chance to soak up our last hours in the…
Elle aime les lumières de Paris!
Though awash in the deep shadows of late evening, my face is aglow with the reflected light of a single, hearty flame rooted in the concrete before me. The flame bends and writhes in the breeze which channels between the massive stone columns to my right and my left. I…