Guest Blog Post by Judith L. Katz “There is so much to eat here,” proclaimed the cab driver as he transported us away from the night market in Tainan – Taiwan’s ancient capital. This particular night market is a multi-acre maze of pop-up booths offering fried food, sugar-coated fruit Read More
EB Lande
Travels to Taiwan on the Tail of a Typhoon
Guest Blog Post by Judith L. Katz Typhoon Soudelor swept across Taiwan on August 7 as one of the strongest recorded, with over 50 inches of rain in some locations and wind gusts well over 100 mph. Here in the capital city of Taipei, much of the damage was related to Read More
Great Books to Read While Traveling
Reading and traveling – does it get any better? These books have kept me company on long flights and sleepless nights, on the beach and in shabby hotels with bad lighting. Some are fun – even hilarious, some are great adventures, some are historical companions. Most of these are Read More
Sicily: Ortygia
The sculpted faces in the glass cases in the archeological museum in Siracusa are a parade of Athenas, Minervas, Madonnas – seamlessly slipping from Greek to Roman to early Christian. But a significant difference is the proud straight-on view of the Greek and Roman goddess morphing to the Read More
Rome: Nature and Nurture
Mass on Pentecost Sunday at the Pantheon ends with a shower of red rose petals fluttering down from the oculus, the open “eye” in the center of the massive dome, thrown by the basketful by intrepid firemen hanging from ropes. Seating for Mass is by reservation only and a huge Read More
Rome: Saints and Sinners
Is there a theme here? Rome — Corporate headquarters for Christianity Inc., RC. All things WILL pass. Whatever you are doing here — eating succulent lamb chops, poking through tiny, jewel-like shops, admiring the ochre and pink buildings, being wowed by marble choreography, deciphering frescoes, trying to figure out Read More
The September 11 Museum, NYC.
Architect Daniel Libeskind, praised for “his ability to weave memory into physical space (Jewish Museum, Berlin)” has created an underground memorial museum to the lives lost on 9/11 that takes up the entire footprint of the original north and south towers and the plaza between them, seven floors below ground. Read More
Egypt: Exodus
Did the Exodus happen? Ancient Egypt’s massive temple and tomb building projects required a huge number of people slaving in the heat, building for someone else’s afterlife. Were there ever Israelite slaves in Egypt? Did they escape Ramses II by the hundreds of thousands through the Sea of Reeds, Read More
Egypt: Is it Safe?
Is it safe? This is a question we were either asked or asked ourselves for weeks before we left. Actually, we were asked much more directly – are you nuts? Why are you going? My dear friend, Judy, who lived in Egypt off and on several years ago, was so Read More
Egypt. “Insha’allah”
If you called the airline (assuming they would answer) to find out if your 9:00 AM flight tomorrow morning was leaving on time, and they answered, “Yes, God Willing,” you might not get on the plane. The Western mind, no matter how religious you might be, wants to know that Read More