With the Academy Award nominations for the films of 2014 about to be revealed, now is the time to go back to the 2013 near-win of The Wind Rises, the latest and probably last project of Japanese film director, artist and animator, Hayao Miyazaki. The animated story of aircraft designer Jiro Horikoshi was first released to Japanese audiences in 2013 and it was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe last year. It didn’t go global until 2014, and then with the voices of Emily Blunt, Jennifer Gray, John Kransinski, Stanley Tucci, Martin Short and William H. Macy. Westerners may feel a film about the design of Japanese fighter planes in… Read More…

Bear with me for a moment because at first glance you may not think a post about Sony Pictures and the movie, The Interview is about travel, but it is. It is about the metaphorical journey we take as we try to live together on this planet in spite of our cultural and national differences. Or maybe its about why Amy Pascal, Seth Rogan and the rest ought to travel and listen more and express less. When my son, Antonio was in elementary school, he took responsibility for an act of vandalism in the boys’ restroom. He did not actually do the damage, he told… Read More…

While viewing the fantastic and seemingly-endless Jean Paul Gaultier special exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia in October; my mind traveled back to Puerto Rico. My father’s side of the family is from Borinquin and over the years, I have visited there many times.  Whether the French-born fashion maven and professional pot-stirrer has ever traveled to Puerto Rico, I can’t say. But as I viewed the products of his inventive mind, I was also thinking of the runway show of Puerto Rican fashion designer  Luis Antonio which I had seen the month previous during New York’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Both… Read More…

The night I did not bring my camera with me when I went into the village of Cadaqués center for dinner, I took a side street on my way back to my hotel and found myself at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. I was here working on a story for The New York Times Travel about the painter Salvador Dali, who spend most of his life on this rock-crusted community and who depicted it in various works of art. Dali had his paintbrush, his sculptor’s’ hands. And I have little doubt the magnificent scene before me would have inspired him to create something. Without… Read More…

When the sun set and the temperature dropped from oh, say, 109 Fahrenheit to something in the neighborhood of 85, I ventured out from my air-conditioned airbnb to have a look around Doha, the largest city, heck practically the only city in the gulf state of Qatar. As destinations go, the desert metropolis is not to my taste with its showy architecture and “luxury” this and “exclusive” that. But on this evening of moonlight and temperatures moderate enough to allow a walk without risking heat stroke, I wandered into the Souk Wakif for an as-close-to-authentic experience as one can have in this capital of reinvention where 94% of… Read More…

Some travel is a lot of work, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. Having just returned from a five week round-the-world trip that was ninety percent business and involved a lot of on-the fly booking of transportation and accommodations, I returned home exhausted. Times like this are when I crave the vacation that’s like home; but better. For me, that means a stay in a rambling inn in some unique setting where, unlike at my own house, people take care of my needs and leave me with no decision more difficult than what time to get out of bed in the morning. I started thinking about this… Read More…

There’s nothing original about our present-day affection for the spa. People have been enjoying a communal soak for millenia, and nowhere is that more clear than at the bath so famous England named a town for it. While the Celts apparently discovered Britain’s only natural springs in 600 BC, it was during the Roman occupation that the water source was used to create a complex of pools, health areas and temples. Much of this survives to this day, drawing a million tourists a year to Somerset County, about 2 hours drive south of London. These days though, the water is a brownish/green and it no longer looks inviting though… Read More…

My dear friend and former neighbor, Marion Mapstone once told me the most important thing to know about gardening is not to be afraid to pull up, clip back and move things around. Her simple guidance didn’t turn me into a master gardener but I am no longer someone who keeps dead plants in the house because they are easier to care for. (Though once upon a time, I did.) While I now tend to a sizeable flower patch, Marion did more than show me how to handle plants, she taught me to appreciate them as a multi-sensory experience.   This came to me on… Read More…

Ancient myths like Iceland’s Sagas continue to be told in their countries of origin because the themes are so timeless. In Hero, an Icelandic one man-show playing this summer in tourist-friendly  West Iceland, Kari Vidarsson puts a modern spin on the Saga of Bardur Snaefellsas. Haven’t heard of him? No worries, this summer for the first time, the play will be performed in English. This is great news because Kari’s interpretation of the Snaefellsas saga is a wild joy ride of cultural insight, delivered with poignancy and humor. Kari takes on the personality of a dozen characters who are part of the story of Snaefellsas, an… Read More…

I went to Siem Reap to see the ancient temples. My friend Marion Mapstone visited in 2012 and came back to show me photos that I couldn’t believe were of a real place. So don’t get me wrong, I loved climbing them, wandering through their aged stone walls, listening to the guide tell the stories behind the murals and carvings. But there’s something else in this city that’s not old and very much worth getting to know and that’s the young, animated and energized Generation X. Student Visit in Wat Bo On a late morning walk, outside of the tourist district, my husband Jim and… Read More…