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Photo du Jour: Under the Rainbow – Heidelberg, Germany
Our visiting friends and family are both horrified and sympathetic when they learn that our circa 1762 apartment has 87 stairs, and dare I say, no elevator. I argue that the views of the Heidelberg Castle, church steeples and Königstuhl and Heiligenberg hills make the long ascent worthwhile.
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The Beauty and Tragedy of Sevilla, Part II
We arrived at Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla in the evening hours. The summer sun was still blazing down, the stadium grand with elegant trimmings. It is Spain’s oldest bullring; its construction began in 1749. There was anticipation in the air as merchants peddled striped seat cushions, cigars, frozen…
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The Beauty and Tragedy of Sevilla, Part I
Sevilla. The name evokes a variety of passionate images: Flamenco-dancing women clad in vibrant, polka dot-studded dresses, their feet striking a floor with thunderous blows… A matador de toros poised to enter a ring facing possible goring or death… Spirited bodega-goers clinking glasses overflowing with jewel-toned sangria and amber cerveza… On a balmy long weekend earlier this summer, Shawn…
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Candy Apples, Saloons, and a Sagebrush Cemetery: A Day Trip to Virginia City, Nevada
For a scribe who’s been in Germany for the past ten years, there isn’t much of a better way to reconnect with her American roots than to visit the wild, wild west. That’s just what Shawn and I did exactly one year ago when we spent the day playing in Virginia City, Nevada… Once a…
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Lessons From Erna: Remembering a Talented Musician, Teacher, and Friend
In a black and white image, bordered by a simple silver frame on my piano, she is seated behind the wheel of a classic roadster. Coyly sporting a riding cap, cream-colored driving gloves, and her trademark smile is a woman who not only taught me about arpeggios, flats, and sharps, but also about life, its…
