HMS Henning

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Border Crossing: From Switzerland to Italy

Italy, November 28, 2014 For almost a week we’ve been in Switzerland, riding first class trains through heritage cities, art cities, historic viaducts and tunnels, alpine glaciers, and mountain resorts. In every case, the conductors greet us soon after departure, check our tickets, and make sure we know where to disembark or change for our […]

Featured Posts

Gardening on Mother’s Day, and other Travels with Mom

My mother was very well organized, and we all knew what that meant on Mother’s Day. Plant the garden. Never, the rule went, plant before Mother’s Day because, sure as shootin’, if you did, you’d lose all those fragile young plants to an overnight freeze. This was St. Cloud, Minnesota, after all, and both my […]

Book Recommendations

What’s on your bookshelf? What are you thinking of reading next? You’ll never guess where I got a great list of book recommendations recently: Perkin’s Restaurant in Bloomington, MN! Yes, Perkin’s, home of the American-Flag-Flown-as-Advertising-Billboard and Pigs in a Blanket. A couple dozen of us gathered in a back room of Perkin’s, set with tables […]

Library Visit Aborted: Not Seeing the Biblioteca Nacional de España

On our last full day in Madrid this past December, I headed to the Biblioteca Nacional de España (the National Library of Spain). My plan was to sit down with a book of poetry or a random selection from the shelves, to wander and get a sense of the place, to take a couple photos, […]

Dateline

• BELGIUM (April 22, 2014) Just ten days into a three-month trip across Northern and Eastern Europe. At least that's the plan until we decide otherwise. Belgium is fascinating, a place where we've connected with family who served in the wars here, and a place brimming with contemporary art and attitude. #
• COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (February 25, 2014) Wherein we find ourselves in limbo for a while, supporting my 88-year-old mother-in-law in her decisions about home care and/or a move. Side trips to Minneapolis remind us we just aren't that fond of snow and extreme cold any more. A side trip to Napa, CA, reminds us we still love food, wine, and walks in temperate weather. #
• MADRID, SPAIN (November 13, 2013)  Madrid is in the midst of  a street cleaners' strike (that includes garbage pick-up). Central Madrid is not the place to be these days, though apparently the Catalans are laughing. To think we were in squeaky clean Japan just a couple weeks ago! Although the garbage piles up, headlines here focus on the unimaginable storm aftermath in the Philippines. #