Goodbye to a Culinary Legend at a Landmark New Orleans Restaurant

Five days before Christmas 2018, Leah Chase grasped my hands between her warm, papery palms. Her long fingers, steady and strong at then 95 years of age, one missing a tip, gripped mine for minutes. A beatific, genuine smile lit her face as we entered her kitchen at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in the Treme area …

New Orleans: The Garbage Can Serenade, and other Quirks of the Quarter

I’m writing this a few minutes after some dudes decided to serenade us with the sound of garbage cans being kicked around under our balcony at the Royal Sonesta. In any other place, I’d be on the phone yammering at the manager. But not here … we loved it. We’ve been to New Orleans a …

Scandinavia: Pricey Provisions & Puzzling ‘Pantsdrunk’ People

You should know one thing before traveling to the Scandinavian and Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. It is expensive. That is, unless you don’t think $27 hamburgers, a $3 chicken wing and $10 drafts are expensive. But at least the taxes are high. You could try to do it on the …

Nepal Travel: navigating the hairpin-turn cliffs to Kathmandu

Three years after the April 2015 earthquake disaster, Nepal looks like a mountainous, tropical version of London after The Blitz. Nepal travel offers a stark reminder of how long the recovery from such a disaster can last ... long after the news of the disaster has fallen out of the international headlines. The main road …

Visiting Nepal: a delightful food find in a downpour on the streets of Kathmandu

Delicious food at Frens in Kathmandu, Nepal
The rain fell in soaking sheets as we tried to find our way through the mucky streets of back-alley Thamel, the bustling, buzzing tourist area of Kathmandu. We were disagreeing on whether we were lost (She: "Without a doubt." He: "I know exactly where we are.") Delicious food at Frens Kitchen in Kathmandu, Nepal It …

India Retrospective: Letters home from Bangalore & Delhi

Taj Mahal travel when visiting India
This posting is from our original travel blog about our travel to India, published in 2008, and was mainly a collection of emails to friends and family also published on one of the now defunct personal blog sites. It has been edited for clarity and privacy considerations. February 2008: Welcome to Bangalore! Hi everybody! We …
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