I went to Tim Horton's in Madrid. Being from Buffalo, New York, and having spent a lot of time in Canada before this fast food chain opened in my home town, I have a soft spot for Tim Horton's. So, seeing one right outside my hotel window a few weeks ago, I had breakfast there … Continue reading What is Authentic?
Tag: Russia
Sanctuary 2.0: Princess to Pioneer
Once upon a time, I lived in a land far, far away. A land of fairy tales populated by peasants and kings, bears and wolves, composers and poets. A land filled with beautiful things: lacquer boxes with miniature paintings, Orenburg shawls, intricate samovars, khokhloma kitchenware, matryoshkas, faberge eggs, and gzhel. In this magical land, I had a … Continue reading Sanctuary 2.0: Princess to Pioneer
KiZhi, Russia (Spring 2005)
While You Are There: Imagine that you are a Russian peasant living in the 1700s. And then be glad that you aren't and that we live in the 2000s and you can go admire places like this as a tourist. Just don't pay for one of those absurdly overpriced cruises up the Volga to get here. … Continue reading KiZhi, Russia (Spring 2005)
железная дорога (2002 – 2006)
Yes, I realize I'm fudging the alphabet a little here because this should technically be under the letter Z, but since the Cyrillic letter looks like an X, let's just go with it. This post is the Railroad! While You Are There: You can do everything on a train. A train is a world unto itself. … Continue reading железная дорога (2002 – 2006)
Uniform
I've had my fair of jobs that required me to wear a uniform, starting with my very first official job at Burger King. I still remember the stiff and scratchy navy blue pants, the chunky black orthopedic sneakers, the visor that did nothing to keep all the grease out of my hair, and the polo. … Continue reading Uniform
Sierra
Sierra Mist? That seems to be my only association with the word sierra, although Sierra Mist really came out after my soda drinking phase. My house was full of soda when I was a kid. Soda and Little Hugs (remember those?). We had pallets of soda in glass bottles in our garage and back hallway, and … Continue reading Sierra
Papa
Well, I could tell a story about my father but I never called my father Papa, so I don't think that's appropriate. But when I was a child I read a lot of fairy tales and stories in which the father was called Papa, so I'll write about one of those. My favorite storybook was … Continue reading Papa
Delta
My first international flight, which was also my first flight ever, cost $899 one way. It was scheduled to go from Buffalo to New York City to Manama to Melbourne. A snowstorm in Buffalo derailed that plan, so I ended up on a flight from Buffalo to Washington, DC to London to Singapore to Melbourne. This was … Continue reading Delta
Six Months in the Mountains: Snowpocalypse
Today marks our six month anniversary at The Sanctuary, and Mother Nature has chosen to celebrate by dumping 18 inches of snow on us since Sunday afternoon. After the stereotypically warm and sunny Front Range January, winter is back. The pure gravel road that I walked down on Saturday to meet my friends coming up … Continue reading Six Months in the Mountains: Snowpocalypse
eXpatriation
Yes, I’m aware expatriation doesn't really begin with X. But what else can I write about for the letter X? I don’t think I had any big misconceptions in my younger years about x-rays, xylophones, or Xerses the Great. I've never been xenophobic either, obviously, or I wouldn't have been an expat for so long. … Continue reading eXpatriation
