Blog

Aug24

Migizi Will Fly–A Grandmother’s Journey to Stop Line Three

Migizi Will Fly A Grandmother’s Journey to Stop Line Three  By Barbara Rhine It was my first flight out into the wider world since Covid geared up, so I was a hot mess on May 22, 2021, when I began a five-day trip to Minnesota with an uphill task:...
Read More
Feb17

Paris–Summer 2017

         Jet-lagged of course, and the weather is unexpectedly hot and humid for early June. Our apartment is in an ancient building organized around an outside courtyard, with a modern elevator, encased in plexiglass and big enough for...
Read More
Feb15

The Swiss Alps–Summer 2017

Before we get to the mountains, allow me a word or two about Swiss trains: Clean, comfy, and always on time. So the schedules give maybe five minutes to change trains. But it’s not always easy to find the new track on the signs. But people speak enough...
Read More
Feb07

Salzburg–Summer 2017

Getting there was a trip! On the literal level this involved four trains and a bus. There were razor-thin time margins between the first three trains, but we met them—hauling suitcases off and on with the alacrity of seasoned travelers. The bus from...
Read More
Feb05

Prague–Summer 2017

We arrive in the Old Town of Prague after an uneventful train trip followed by a harrowing taxi ride. The driver drops us off short of the hotel entrance, is angry with me for leaving my car door open when I get out, and charges what we later realize...
Read More
Feb04

Berlin–Summer, 2017

The train ride to Berlin from Prague is long and easy. The taxi from the Hauptbanhof to the Adina Apartment Hotel, near the Hackescher Market in Mitte, is quick. The neighborhood is supposed to be lively, including nightlife 24/7, but it looks so staid...
Read More
Jan15

Amsterdam–Summer 2017

We approach Amsterdam via a calm and simple train ride, with a club car that has decent snacks, good beer and coffee, and a slender grouchy fashionable entitled German woman, set up in the corner of the clickety-clacking vehicle, who keeps ordering her...
Read More
Feb25

JOY IN THE MIDST OF HAITI’S ELECTION

October, 2015  “Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation. André Gide It is 7 AM on Monday October 19th, and I am in Port au Prince...
Read More
Jul01

SEE THE MOVIE CESAR CHAVEZ . .

… and catch it on the big screen if you can.  Or Netflix.  Wherever.  This film is worth your effort. There are clips of old newsreels that are fascinating in themselves, but it’s the made-up scenes that linger. The stunning visuals evoke California’s...
Read More
Jun22

Havana Racism …

    …contained in Havana Red, by Leonardo Padura.  Padura is a contemporary Cuban author whose writing has not been censored, and who has never been punished by the government.  His work includes a quartet of mysteries that features...
Read More