Before the main course, we feasted on spicy calamari rings, dipped in warm, homemade marinara, I’d created myself. I never imagined myself standing in the kitchen, dancing to Persian music with my prince, feasting on fresh calamari, in the middle of a tropical, Japanese island paradise. Nasser slipped in and out of the kitchen snagging … Continued
Theme : A place that inspire you to be brave . We never know how brave are we until that moment of aloness. Where you are completely on your own, your blood rising high like the top of Himalayas, your heart beat unusually fast and you can feel the heart beating in your ear you … Continued
Inner Bravery On the first night of our arrival to the Grand Meliá Golf Resort in Río Grande, Puerto Rico, some twisted deity drew a string of rainclouds over the beach. Back home, in Maryland, a storm shackles its suburban citizens to their homes. This storm, however, cinched my restraints, and freed me. … Continued
I have never been particularly fond of the winters. But one city made me change my mind. And that was Rishikesh….. Sometimes I can still feel the icy winds haunting me, calling me back to Rishikesh, but what can I say; I am a busy person. When I visited Rishikesh it was during November. All … Continued
Paris at Night When I walked by the Pantheon in Paris the first time, I had no idea of the impact it would have on my memory. Like most memories, it was one that I had no intention of holding on to, but ended up having it seared into my brain. One’s mind has a … Continued
I closed the car window as soon as I smelled it, and even then, the odor found a way in from some interstice or another. It was only a matter of time before the rows of pine trees on my left and right gave way to a vast expanse of round fields of grass exposing … Continued
His piercing emerald eyes still haunt me. The brave, young Marine lost his life by drowning…in the desert. How can this happen? Another chip from the corner of my heart. “Doc, you want to call it?” They’d brought him in on a litter, “bagging” him from the field, throughout the flight all the way to … Continued
JUMPING THROUGH FEAR When my husband Bud and I traveled to New Zealand in 2004, we knew the trip would include stunning scenery and fun adventures. We traveled with Overseas Adventure Travel, a company we’d used before that does an excellent job of exploring the more famous highlights as well as lesser-known marvels. What we … Continued
Taking the Stairs There is no elevator. No shortcut. No free ride. Sometimes the only way up is step by step powered by sheer will.“There it is. This is where the Olympic Team trains.” my mother announces. The five of us squished together in a Toyota Prius, nudge one another. Groggy from the drive, I … Continued
A number of Irelands co-exist in my mind. The lullabies my father used to sing painted Ireland as a land of green meadows and thatched cottages, a tame, quiet place inhabited by fishermen and beautiful maidens and sad mothers. The mythology book I treasured as a child, wearing the pages thin from reading and re-reading, … Continued