I just got back from a long day of walking and seeing sights. But, apparently, mostly walking: exhibit A being the 12 mile Google map I have produced, which doesn't include wandering around the Galleria Borghese.

Show my insanity.

I am taking another little break after a full day of walking around Rome. Two observations ( Read more... )

OK, I'm in Rome, I survived my sleeper train without incident (except for three hours of delay....) but I just want to take this brief hostel siesta to mention a sandwich I got in the train station, which was the weirdest thing ever. It was labeled "oeuf crudites + thon + cheddar." This makes you think that it's a nice big tuna sandwich, right? ( Read more... )

We are in a serious economic crisis, and I am in an equally serious economic crisis if I don't get my transportation and housing reimbursements from the French government! So in honor of our dire financial straits, here is a subject that occupied much of the trip to Nice. When you are fabulously wealthy, will you settle down in a seaside villa, or ( Read more... )

I just got back from Nice!! I will not say the obvious thing about Nice, because it is not true, it is better than that - Nice is charming. Charming! Even in the pouring rain, like on Friday, my friend Velina and I still appreciated the little streets and the pastel-colored buildings with pretty red roofs and the green vegetation everywhere. In the ( Read more... )

This post deserves a new title. I just wanted to quickly sing the praises of Stefan Zweig's novella (short story?) Le Joueur d'échecs, which can be equally known as Chess Story, since both of these are a translation from German. (I read it in French, but whatever, it's probably great in English too.) It was written in 1942, and is less than 100 ( Read more... )

The reason I haven't posted anything substantial is because I've been crazy busy. My parents came last weekend, bringing suitcase-loads of instant-type food (soup mixes, mac and cheese, Indian microwaveable dinners...), and we basically spent the weekend walking from one fine dining establishment to another. This quest took us all around Paris and ( Read more... )

I just spent way too long on this Facebook thing where you're supposed to say 25 things about yourself. I'm posting it here, because it took me ages and I feel like I came up with a pretty decent list. If anyone else has a list of their own, I'd love to read it.

( My list. It's long. 25 things long. )

I just finished Thérèse Raquin, the first book I've read by Emile Zola, and chosen only by chance out of a used-book bin in a little street somewhere. (It was the only one of his books in the bin that didn't have disgustingly small print.) And, let me say, **shudder**. But this is a good shudder, since it's one of the few French classics I've ( Read more... )

Condom ads abound!

You know how I like Bollywood. Well check out this brilliant ad! It's got AIDS education, legitimately decent Bollywood dancing (OK, maybe only a couple times but...), and funny condoms waving their arms around! Worth watching til the end for the suddenly explicit drawing of gay male sex.

Also, if that wasn't racy enough for you, ( Read more... )