3 min read
Ever been stranded on an island? I was. It was a surprise. But then, being stranded usually is… unless you’re living in a romantic comedy and you planned the stranding. I don’t live in a romantic comedy.
5 min read
I like family vacations. I really do. Even when things go south. Even when the kids are whiny and miserable. Even when everyone is crying and fighting and having a terrible time.
The keyword here being time. Time is the most valuable currency in a family. Because we never, ever have enough time together. Best of times, worst of times… who cares? The point of family vacations is that we finally stop everything else we’re doing and spend some time together.
4 min read
This is a New York kind of story about a New York kind of trip. I love traveling to that tough talking town and there was a special bonus this time: I got to cross paths with a couple of Wise Guys. Plus a future mayor of New York and a New York Times reporter. Like I said, it was a New York kind of trip.
5 min read
If you don’t know who Shimon Peres is – you should. President of Israel. Also Prime Minister of Israel… twice. Plus:
But what I want to know is... how does 92 year old Shimon Peres get all the girls?
3 min read
Do you remember near the the end of "The Graduate" where Dustin Hoffman finally realizes he's in love with Kathryn Ross and wants to be with her? He jumps into his Alfa Romeo and races to the church where she is about to be married.
Ben (Hoffman's character) gets to the church, runs up the stairs and spots Elaine (Kathryn Ross) at the alter. He's too late - she has just gotten married. It's too much - he erupts in despair.
3 min read
The Birth of Venus. Michelangelo’s David. Yes, we’re talking about Florence. Or Firenze if you want to pretend you know Italian.
It had been a crazy year and I had found myself in Florence five or six times. A few of those were with the family. We ran around like the tourists we were – buying Florence t-shirts and toys for the kids, laughing and eating gelato on the terrace of the Uffizi Gallery.
4 min read
Aruba is One Happy Island – it says so on their license plates.
The first happy inhabitants were the Caquetio Indians who came from nearby Venezuela to escape persecution. Then came the Spanish who enslaved the Indians, ending their happiness.
In 1637 the Dutch arrived and made everyone speak Dutch. Then came the most blood-thirsty intruders of all: the Tourists. Their invasion has been relentless and unforgiving.