Don’t cry, Angelita. Tonight I’ll buy you a house, or I’ll dress you in mourning. – Manuel Benítez, “El Cordobés,” to his sister before his bullfighting premiere in Madrid The promise of a matador to his sister summarizes the high stakes game of fighting bulls on the world’s grandest stage – get rich or bleed … More Or I’ll Dress You in Mourning
The next great European war will probably come out of some damned fool thing in the Balkans. – Otto von Bismarck If you’ve followed my travel book reviews so far, you may have noticed something disturbing. One reader did. After posting the last review of Peter Mayle’s Toujours Provence, I received a note asking why … More Albania: A Narrative of Recent Travels
The code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules. – Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean When Robie and I started cleaning out the house and preparing for this adventure, I made an exception to my rule about not reading a book twice. Because like Captain Barbossa, I believe rules should … More Toujours Provence
All places, no matter where, no matter what, are worth visiting. – Paul Theroux I used to avoid reading travel narratives. I just couldn’t stomach following someone else’s voyage down the Amazon or trek across the Himalayas. Not when I so desperately wanted to be the protagonist in a far-off adventure and reading their … More The Pillars of Hercules
The world is a book, and those who don’t travel read only one page. – St. Augustine People don’t write books about travel any more. And why would they? Digital photo albums pop up to remind us of places we’ve been while social media provides a steady stream of other peoples’ selfies in front … More A Walk in the Woods
Reid & Robie 