Postcard from guest Tara O’Leary, India: Tasting Royal Rajasthan: A beautiful tented camp was a most unexpected pleasure. From my tent, I watched birds along the water, catching my breath as I saw a flock of pigeons take flight. A hawk came out of nowhere, took one of the group and …
Maggio. The month in Italy when the rondine (swallows) sing and circle in the air,“announcing their place in the family of things.” Irises cover the Italian countryside, which is dotted with delicate red poppies. The wisteria hang wistfully on their vines. It’s breathtaking. The greening of spring, May flowers after a few months of showers, …
The first thing I do when I wake up in the Alpujarras mountains at the foot of the Sierra Nevada is put on my shoes. The earlier the better, even with a brisk chill in the air. I head happily through the village and down the trail to the fuentes …
Arriving in Delhi for the first time is no small thing. India smacked me in the face. It’s everything at once. Chaos, a mixture of classes and faces with eyes deep as the ocean. In my younger years, I always thought I would end up in India as a backpacker, …
The Chhatra Sagar luxury tent village, India: Tasting Royal Rajasthan “Another incredible place! They took Ann Coffaro and I on a guided bird walk. I saw one hundred and twenty new birds in India. My favorite was the Bee-eater. Talk about birding in style! A porter to carry the scope and …
Emily Markel Luebcke, Giulio Picchi, and Graham Markel. Ristorante Cibreo, Florence. June 8th, 2012 Emily and Graham were 12 and 9 when I started. Their sweet natures allowed me to travel back and forth all these years. Emily lived with the Picchi/Vitali family for a semester when she was 15 …
The creek is high, rushing and coffee colored. Surrounding trees are full and green, happy with a full drink of water from yesterday’s rain. The Flatirons sit pretty in the distance looking down on the plains with barely a glow of early morning light coming from a vast, cloudy, yet blue Colorado sky. Birds and hidden animals take delight in the moist air and cool temperatures, and so do I.
Candlelight graces a table on our houseboat in Kerala. Tears well and fall down my cheeks at the taste of okra. The cook comes in, “Ma’am are you alright? Was the food too spicy for you?” I smile and nod subtly sideways, the Indian way that says, no, yes, maybe. …
Leaving the long stretch of Sidi Kaouki’s endless camel colored coast, is always poignant. It’s a refuge. Unplugged. A village with a few stone houses and a camel or two.
High over the mustard field tiny warblers jump from plant to plant. It early morning, but not for the jackals and peahens. A warm breakfast of freshly made yogurt from the dairy and poha, a puffed rice colored with turmeric and flavored with a masala blend of spices, mustard seeds, and red capsicum …