In Central, my hotel’s elevator opens up directly to the room. It’s got one room per floor, not because it’s a particularly swanky hotel —although it kind of is swanky, if you think about it— but because the building is so narrow that space-wise, this is the only way it could ever work as a…
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We use the weather app as an oracle and agree that Xiamen has just the right amount of sun we are looking for. It’s that draggy period between Christmas and New Year’s, and though restrictions were lifted a couple of weeks ago Shanghai is still anything but normal. People are staying home, either recovering from…
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There’s a vibe to St. Petersburg. It’s a whiff of youthful energy and reckless abandon; a laid-back, almost lackadaisical attitude. Is it because of its proximity to water, or to Norway, the Happiest City in the World? Most probably. I vote that it’s something in the air. Our hotel is practically across St. Isaac’s Cathedral;…
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It is sweltering hot in Siem Reap in May. Probably not the best time to visit Cambodia, but we make do with the vacation days we have. There is a lot I can personally relate to in this country – the tuktuks, the climate, the physicalities. The food, which is rich and soupy and toned…
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I’ve been back in France for about a month now, and things have piled up around here, so I’ll simply backtrack from the most recent happenings… Now, is it just me, or is there something really weird about a train that goes underwater only to pop out in a different country? Apparently, the whole train-under-the-water…
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Hello, Paris! Nice to see you again! I’ve been back for several days now. It’s nice to be back. Happy to report that the weather is giving France a bit of hope lately – in Paris, it alternates between toasty heat and scary thunderstorms, but I don’t hear anyone complaining. Winter jackets have been stowed…
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I’ve been to many-a-souq in my life but the Grand Bazaar is by far the fucking coolest of all. We got lost navigating the streets (there are 60 streets and 5000 shops in there), and most of them had closed down for the day because it was Ramadan. We wandered into this little cobblestone cul-de-sac…
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Something happened to me in Turkey. I got stalked by a bird. Every morning, we ate our breakfast at the hotel restaurant that overlooked the city. It was beautiful, and calming, especially since we always chose a table next to the huge bay windows. And every morning, the same bird was waiting for me. It…
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