Category: People

Culinary Diplomacy Through Spanakopita in Meteora, Greece

For the past five nights, we’ve been staying at a quaint guesthouse overlooking the mystical Meteora rock formations in northern Greece. Six mighty monasteries sit atop the unusual rocks. Some of the structures date back to the 14th century. As if things couldn’t get any better, our hostess and Greek mother for the week has been surprising…
Finding Harmony on an Accordion in Shkodër, Albania

The moment we stepped into the tiny Albanian bar bearing mint-green walls, I regretted having not been more studious when learning Italian several years earlier. The five gentlemen inside the Shkodër establishment spoke Albanian of course, but between the two of us, Shawn and I only knew about five Albanian words. The seven of us quickly defaulted to Italian. When that…
Orthodox Easter Celebrations in Ohrid, North Macedonia

This spring, we’ve had the fortune of observing Easter celebrations not once, but twice. In Croatia, where Catholicism predominates, we celebrated Easter in late March. This past weekend, in North Macedonia, we had the chance to observe Orthodox Easter festivities. The city of Ohrid has been dubbed the “Jerusalem of the Balkans” since it once…
Albania and its 700,000 Bunkers: Profiling a Man Who Built Them

As our minibus chugged through the Albanian countryside during a 6-hour trip, my husband and I inadvertently created a new car game to pass the time: Who could first spot a bunker as a new one appeared in the ever-changing scenery? With nearly 700,000 bunkers still dotting this southeastern European nation’s landscape, the game didn’t…
A Vietnamese New Year’s Reminiscence

When I unpacked the paper ox ornament last week, it reminded me why I love travel: serendipitous happenings, cultural immersion, and the opportunity to mingle with “citizen diplomats.” With today being the Lunar New Year (called Tết in Vietnamese), it seems fitting to reminisce on a special memory that I made while visiting Hanoi, Vietnam back in 2009.
Europe, Somewhere in Time: An Interview with Artist & Photographer, Maurice Sapiro

I recently happened upon the beautiful, timeless work of Maurice Sapiro, an accomplished photographer, painter and sculptor who calls Connecticut home. The images from his Europe gallery, circa 1956, are what captivated me: honey-toned scenes of Venetian gondoliers gracefully powering delicate boats across a lagoon; black and white images of Bavarians in frenzied celebration; silhouetted-figures…