I am now in my third full day in Frankfurt where I am visiting my dear friend, Jesse, and his boyfriend, Tim. The weather has been sunny and crisp. And Frankfurt has turned out to be much more quaint, and compact, than I anticipated. Continue reading
On Thursday, I’m off to Germany for a couple of weeks (with a side trip to Prague). I’m planning to do a few entries while I’m gone (including some video entries), so stay tuned for that. Since this is my first time blogging a trip, please be patient. Continue reading
As I plan a trip to Europe next month, I’m having the same dilemma I always have: do I plan a busy trip with lots of activities or a more relaxed version. I almost always go with the more relaxed version eschewing too-tight scheduling. Due to work demands, I’ve cut my trip down from 14 to 11 days, which is never as much as it sounds like and only makes my dilemma worse. Continue reading
My friend, Eric, will be traveling to southern Spain in December, so we’ve been watching travel videos to get a flavor for what he can expect (and what I can expect if I tag along). For the most part, the shows are informative and somewhat entertaining. But do they really help with travel planning? Continue reading
Fall is my favorite time of year and when I prefer to travel. Most places are cooling down after summer and offer some of the best prices of the year. And, living now in San Francisco where seasons don’t really exist, it gives me a chance to experience the fall weather I grew to love as a child.
Whatever time of year I travel, though, I struggle with the same question: Do I go somewhere new or back to a favorite? The latter holds me with a nearly unshakeable grip promising to feed my desire to move beyond the shallow familiarity of the tourist into a deeper understanding of a place and its culture. Short of living somewhere long term, deep connections are slow and arduous requiring many visits coupled with a sincere effort to glimpse the locale behind the pretty facade.
But what of the allure of the new? What if a previously unknown city is the one? I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m still looking for that. I’ve come close with a couple of cities where the connection has been nothing short of spiritual tempting a belief in past lives with unfinished business.
And my journey continues.
When you travel, you expect to have incomparable moments that you can’t – or don’t – have at home. But occasionally, you can have the unexpected and sublime in your own town. I’m having one tonight. Near my new place is an area called Mint Plaza. It abuts one of the old San Francisco mint buildings, which is no longer operable as said mint, and now serves up several restaurants. The area is hopping for lunch, on weekends and during conventions (such as the just-wrapped-up Oracle Open World convention), but on off-nights is charmingly quiet. Continue reading
One of the most wondrous incidental characteristics of travel is how it opens up the traveler to the experiences of the people of another place, for good and bad. Visiting Cairo three years ago, I was struck by how hidden, necessarily, gay life was there. Police frequently raided places where gay men attempted to gather and prison time was common for those arrested. Continue reading
Julius Shulman, Case Study 2
One of my favorite museums is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). I must admit how surprised I was that LA (not one of my favorite cities) housed such a cultural treasure. I visited for the first time in January and, after an initial bout of sadness at how I couldn’t take it all in on one visit, I resolved to return. Next time, I’ll skip the Getty, which is mostly about the structure and its location, and spend all my time at LACMA. Continue reading
Wow! That question can’t really be answered without cocktails, so suffice it to say that life has introduced me to lots of changes since my last entry. Since all of these changes aren’t really travel related, I will leave them for exploration in some upcoming fiction, perhaps. For now, I have a few trips planned and am planning new posts related to those. I will also, of course, be ruminating on the idea of travel and writing about some travel writing I’ve been enjoying. If you are one of my faithful followers reading this, thank you for hanging in with me. If you are new to this blog, just ignore everything I just wrote. Cheers!