Gone South…to Franklin

We drove the Tennessee backroad to The Loveless Café from Franklin where Taylor, Cole and I stayed twelve days in the home of friends, Kim and Andy.  Switching places, they went abroad while I stayed home with their cat and three dogs. As much as I love back roads, I adore back yards with big porches to grill and chill. Theirs backs up to woods. I…

Tennessee Backroads…Natchez Trace and Loveless Cafe

My life is a Tale of Two Cities…both tourist towns.  At Nashville’s center, 2nd Avenue, I rubbed shoulders this summer with girl gangs in shorts and boots out for barbecue and beer.  In Marrakesh’s marketplace, Jemaa el Fna, I rub shoulders with girl groups in harem pants and sandals out for a bargain and mint tea.  But sometimes the best stuff is found on…

Luxury Tent Experience…Camping in the Country

At Manzil la Tortue one escapes the mayhem of Marrakesh and enjoys glamping at its finest.

Discovering Costa Brava’s Bounty: Part III

Catalan cuisine is something to celebrate.  Below are two must-eat restaurants of Costa Brava. Marc Genes of Visit Emporda  and  Alba Plana of Costa Brava Tourist Board  introduced my group of travel bloggers to locals excited to share their tables brimming with goodness.  Outside the Museu de la Mediterrania we sampled raw and cured sausages prepared as they were in the 14th century; brunyols, fried, sugared dough…

To Russia and Rick in Casa

“Play it again, Sam…” Like Tom Cruise I’d been sent on a mission. Anxiety, however, made me fancy myself more like Frodo. I was to go to Casablanca on a workday to the Russian Consulate to pick up a dozen passports/visas. I opted to take a Sam—my friend, Kate–in search of Russia and another Sam at Rick’s cafe on the Moroccan coast. The plan…

Cupid Crawl from Riad Mur Akush to La Maison Arabe

Each day for six months has been nothing but new. My only constant has been change. Even traditions–Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve—were celebrated in first-ever ways. St. Valentine’s Day 2015 I climbed with friends to a riad rooftop supported by 300-year-old walls. New chums encircled by the snowy Atlas Mountains, we sat sleeveless  on a sunny summit above the Marrakech Medina. Good company,…

Les Jardins de Bala for Lunch with a View

Les Jardins de Bala, my favorite lunch spot in town, is perched atop the 5-star hotel, Les Jardins de La Koutoubia, located in the front of Marrakech’s Medina.  Sun lovers can eat the best Indian food I’ve found while overlooking the pool, the Koutoubia Mosque, and the Atlas Mountains.  Around the corner are tables in the shade with comfy leather couches overlooking the ground floor pool….

Christmas Day in London

Christmas Day we attended the service at Westminster Abbey, another gift.  Seats had been reserved months in advance but days before our trip someone returned three.  The sermon referenced the truce on December 25, 1914 between English and German soldiers.  More on the story here.  As we sang hymns and heard the children’s choir in a cathedral built in 1066 where William the Conqueror…

Christmas Eve in London

Seems like old times.  My children are asleep in the next room and I’m up early writing.  The Three Musketeers are together again. We spent a Happy Christmas in Merry Ole England, my first love as an English lit teacher when I began traveling abroad.  My son wanted to see London, and my daughter has loved it since she, my niece, and I toured…

Incognito: Moments in Marrakesh

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.  Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden So… my cover was blown. Last weekend I lost my huge floppy hat—the one I wear to shield me from the sun and would-be purse-snatchers. Gone are the days of tucking my hair in its crown and hiding behind sunglasses and in…

Friday Night Lights: Jemaa el Fna Square

They were women who wore brightly coloured djellabas with silky hoods halfway down their backs, and their hands and feet were covered in an intricate web of design. ‘Tattoos,’ Bea whispered. ‘Henna,’ the woman nearest me laughed, noticing my fascinated stare.-–Esther Freud, Hideous Kinky Last Friday my friend, Jasna, and I returned to Jemaa el Fna where Esther Freud, great granddaughter of Sigmund Freud,…

Cooking for Company

Ok, so I was going to write that tonight I am cooking and eating with Frank.  No lie, I have shared more time in the kitchen with that boy, Sinatra, than any male I know.  But to be truthful, I’m hanging with the whole Rat Pack.  Dean Martin, fav of my sis and Mama Sargeant, is singing right now as I eat my new…