AL— It’s hot. We’re exhausted but we walk all day anyway. Scottie and Nelly figured out that if they whine enough, they can ride on my shoulders. Charlie can order food by himself—in Spanish—almost. The kids are all so big now. They miss you more […]
All posts tagged: Europe

Pilgrimage by Julie Stielstra
I left the ashes today. Walked the 3 miles up from Assisi to Francis’s hermitage. Dug a spot in the woods on the hill under ivy and ferns, and read all the names out loud. Cats, dogs, horses…Francis will have to look after them for […]

Postcards: Alone in Matera
Warren: For 14 hours, I was angry that you didn’t come with me. I got to Matera, tired and hungry during siesta. The desk clerk bartered food in exchange for practicing English. At Le Botteghe, a handsome young man, fed me for two hours sharing […]

Sacred and Profane Images in Venice and Padua By Bernie Langs
Travel Essay: The laws and edicts are laid out in the Old Testament in exacting terms specifying the ornaments, utensils and measurements for these objects utilized in the holy temple and for the division of spaces designated as sacred from those places for mortals. The biblically […]

Pilgrimage on the Via Sacra by Tamsin Grainger
The first day was dedicated to my dad who died on October 5th 1998. It was beset with blisters as a result of my new boots, and twice I became lost, a record even for me, taking a detour of at least 2.5 hours and […]

History Narrated as Art by Anita Lekic
Five years ago, I was walking on the paredão from Monte Estoril towards São Joao do Estoril when right after the entrance by the station, I saw big black letters on the wall, announcing: 28 July 1914 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DECLARES WAR ON SERBIA. I paused. Of course! […]