Branson, Beldi, and a Birthday

Before moving abroad, my friend, Dana, told me how important–how vital–my expat community would be.  She and I were part of the same school family  in the US, and she had a network of close friends at church.  Still, having already taught in Morocco and having lived in France, she said the way friends live together, work together, do life together when family and…

Four Seasons Marrakech: Pool Days for Tourists and Expats

Last Monday the temperature in Marrakech reached 108 Fahrenheit/42 Celsius making it the hottest day so far this year. Here pools can be enjoyed year round, but in May when temps typically range in the 80s and low 90s, the burning question expats and tourists are asking is where to find a cool pool. In my Southern -Girl -Gone- Global Guide to Marrakesh I will…

Jazzed about Josephine Baker and Riad Star

Staying in the suite of Josephine Baker– Queen of the Jazz Age, civil rights activist, and mom of a “rainbow tribe”–I could see pet cheetah, Chiquita, circling the pool and hear the beat of the brave heart of a woman who changed history.

Must Do in Marrakech: La Maison Arabe Cooking Class

La Maison Arabe Cooking Class Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.—Maya Angelou We are great believers that if you have peace, you have everything.                      …

A Typical Saturday in Marrakesh

My Saturdays in Marrakesh are spent hunting and gathering, hanging out and sometimes haggling.  Though I may have errands to run,  there’s no yard to keep, house to clean, or car to wash.  Shopping in stores, on the street, and in the market followed by lunch in the mix or above it is a time to stock up, catch up with friends, relax. Grabbing…

Gallery in the Sky: MB6 Street Art in Marrakesh

Some use walls to keep people out. Others use them to invite people in.   “Inclusion rather than exclusion is the driving force behind the festival,” says MB6: Street Art Curator Vestalia Chilton of ATTOLLO.  Responsible for a myriad of murals in the medina created for the Marrakesh Biennale Edition 6, Chilton said the global collaboration began at the Marrakech TED Talks a year ago.  There she…

Spanish Steps Offers Camino Tours and Beyond

When in doubt, just take the next small step. –Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage Whether wanting to explore Spain (and other countries’ roads that lead there), pursue a personal dream, ponder in peace, practice wellness through hiking or yoga, learn language, hear stories from travelers around the world, Spanish Steps leads the way in offering options.  I fell in love with Spain last year, and experiencing…

Dream Riad in Marrakech for Weddings, Writing, Wellness

French Elegance, Hollywood’s Golden Age Glamour, and Desert Dreams converge at Riad Emberiza Sahari.

January in Marrakesh

  “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” –Percy Bysshe Shelley It’s January, and my Facebook feed is a flurry.  A snowstorm has hit the US–including my home in the south– leaving all covered in white.  Here temps have been in the 70s and climbed to the 80s this weekend.  The Atlas Mountains that were covered in snow all last winter are bare….

Singing in the Dark

https://youtu.be/HtdVY1ZGiYY Six months after Whitney Houston’s death, the movie, Sparkle, a twelve-year project she co-produced, was released. It was a remake of a movie she fell in love with as a teen. The movie she’d hoped would be her comeback was her swan song. The girl who began in gospel, who struggled, who died…a woman loved by many…  reminds me here that when I…

Seven Secrets Venice Shared

And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.–Rainer Maria Rilke I preferred one waltz with a beauty to a lifetime with someone less rare.–Marlena de Blasi, author of A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance I wondered if I’d feel the same after seven years, Venice. Were the times proof that you are my first love or…

Auld Lang Syne…Best Part of My German Holiday

Age appears to be best in four things: old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. –Francis Bacon It began as a house swap inspired by one of my favorite Christmas films, The Holiday.  My friend, Amy, would stay at my apartment in Marrakesh while I would stay in her apartment in Hamburg, Germany….