It’s hard to believe it’s down to my last month of this Europe trip. This month I’ll be based in Toulouse in southwestern France. It’s the first major stop on this trip that isn’t on the coast, not that this is a major consideration for me. I was in Toulouse for part of two days…
This was a day that wasn’t supposed to happen. Today, I was meant to take the train from my base in Genoa to the town of Santa Margharita Ligure, a coastal city best known as the place one catches the bus to the luxury mecca of Portofino. I was going to remain in Santa Margharita…
Editor’s note: back in 2021, as the world was just beginning to open up from COVID, Curacao was my first destination. I spent three weeks on the island, and fell absolutely in love with the place and its people. It is really great to see that Sam felt similarly, even in a much shorter span…
Wandering the narrow alleys (called caruggi in Italian) of Genoa’s old city is magical. Tiny corridors open to small piazzas. Wider streets (though barely enough to fit a car, even if such things were allowed, which they are largely not) lined with shops, restaurants, and cafes host magnificent architecture, buildings with carved stone facades that…
While for some people, cemeteries evoke the macabre, for me they are a truly wonderful cultural experience. It isn’t to say I’d gladly stroll these paths at night - and indeed I am grateful most cemeteries aren’t even open after dark - but even on a gloomy January morning, a walk through an old cemetery…
A while ago, I started this series, trying to give readers a basic idea of my process as a writer, and what it takes to make The Royal Tour happen. Part one was how I organize my article ideas, which you can read here. Today, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite topic: research. I pride myself…
There is a nostalgia here. Like other iconic places in my hometown of Los Angeles, the Original Farmers Market has a strong association with my childhood, of being something special to be done with family or friends. I remember visiting every year or two, and being treated to something new: a smell, a taste, a…
Editor’s note: First, a disclaimer. This is NOT an article about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This IS an article about a cool Palestinian city. I was in Ramallah when I was in Israel as a high schooler. The Oslo Accords had been signed and everyone in both countries was hopeful for lasting peace, so travel between…
In the 1930s, the great age of American railways was coming to an end, as with the end of World War Two, automobile dominance would become ascendant, never to look back. While most major American cities already had their monumental rail stations constructed by this point, a couple stragglers made it in under the wire,…
A couple years back, I wrote a story about William Henry Harrison, the shortest serving president in US history. I visited his mausoleum and a monument to the man outside of Cincinnati, and had a grand time learning and writing about this basically forgotten president outside of trivia contests. (Read the story here.) And then,…