Sometimes I have a good laugh reading people’s reviews. In one of the churches I visited in Palermo, someone had given it 1 star in Google Reviews, saying “Isn’t there anything else to do in Palermo besides visiting Churches?”. Oh that made me giggle. When I travel and I look at the people around me … Continue reading Palermo Doesn’t Cater: A Journey Through Seven Churches and One Missed Bus
You are what we were, we are what you will be In other words, memento mori. This quote is from one of my favourite places I visited in Palermo - Catacombes dei Cappucini. Remember, we'll all die. Regardless of who we are amongst the living or how much you have. In the end at least … Continue reading The Day I Visited the Dead to Remember I Was Alive – an essay from Palermo
It's no surprise that my favourite part of Krakow - or perhaps the place where I would see myself spending the most time if I lived there - is precisely the most bohemian looking, with scrappy and somehow gritty streets, full of vintage shops, galleries, street art and graffiti, contrasting with cute and stylish cafes … Continue reading Kazimierz & the Jewish History of Krakow
I have lived my life with the certainty that we all have the capacity for immense good and unspeakable evil. That duality lives within us and we face it everyday. It’s not a question of black and white. We walk through life in a fog of greys — murky rivers, muddy roads, skies thick with … Continue reading Auschwitz, Schindler, and the Grey in Us All
I have a treasured childhood memory of licking the skin of my hands and arms on warm beach days. After having played in the salty waters of the Atlantic ocean, I was seasoned. That was the same salt that we the Portuguese (and so many others across the centuries) traditionally used to preserve food, and … Continue reading White Gold: Exploring the the Wieliczka Salt Mines in Poland
The Winged Bone 