Our journey to the Dominican Republic, which occupies the Eastern side of Hispaniola, was uneventful. Just the usual de-icing delay and cabal of seemingly unaccompanied children kicking the back of my seat. At just over twenty-one million people, Hispaniola has the largest population of any island in the Caribbean and is, in fact, the eleventh […]
Two tickets to paradise Read More »
It takes five hours on a LATAM Chile Dreamliner to get to Easter Island from Santiago. It’s mostly full of Easter Islanders and their extended families, who use it like a bus into town to stock up on provisions. Judging from the cargo they carefully stow in the overhead bins, the most valuable mainland commodity
A Traveller in an Antique Land Read More »
The Charles de Gaulle Airport is a chaotic conundrum that holds steadfastly to its belief that at worst stooping to install signage is unpatriotic and at the very least insulting to the French notion that if you don’t already know what’s going on it is your problem. I am sure Monsieur de Gaulle is happy
If you are approaching Versailles by road from the outskirts of Paris, you wind through mostly pleasant countryside on the A5, which is infested with transport trucks that somehow don’t seem to annoy the cows lounging on the receding farmland. Our helpful guide says you can tell what country is schlepping Euro goods by checking
You might think the Anna Maria Oyster Bar specializes in oysters. That’s certainly what I thought. Judging from the decibel level that accosts you at the front door, the AMOB is considered by many people to be the place to see and be seen on a Florida Saturday night. The ambiance is Eau-de-Margarita with whiffs
An adventure in dining Read More »
Apparently, these days you can make serious money doing almost anything – especially things that have nothing to do with solving world hunger, avoiding global nuclear war, or talking some sense into the US of A. Case in point: I have just discovered the world of Major League Fishing. MLF (as those in the know
Playing in the big league Read More »
I somehow missed the news about the lionfish invasion of the Caribbean, which has been a thing for at least 15 years. Forget about Johnny Depp – these are the real marauding pirates. Lionfish are particularly attractive saltwater fish and that is where this whole problem started. Apparently, people with salt water aquariums liked their
Wondering where the lions are Read More »
Because hotels in Las Vegas have the tendency to be torn down and replaced every 10 years, the amount of conference space has grown exponentially. No hotel is worth its salt unless it can accommodate 10,000 bums in seats for a keynote speech and as a result, you can have half a dozen events happening
Three cities. Eight cab rides. Eight cab drivers that relied solely and completely on their GPS to find my destination. In five out of the eight cases, if I had not come prepared with a printed Mapquest map and detailed directions, I would still be circling the Atlanta suburbs or be hopelessly lost in downtown
I now have my fingerprints on file. This might be a good thing in case something bad happens to me (and a note to all: if the basement floor looks recently enrobed in concrete, please ask some questions). On the other hand I now have my fingerprints on file, which places certain constraints on future
Private eyes are watching you Read More »
