The first stanza of Federico Garcia Lorca’s poem ‘Romance Sonámbulo‘ (‘Sleepwalking Romance’) translates: Green, how I want you green Green wind, green branches The boat out on the sea The horse on the mountain Written by the 20th century Spanish poet, the poem was arguably inspired by a European landscape and context, an azure Mediterranean sea and […]
Namibia delivers wide open spaces in a way that few other places on earth can. Dominated by a massive and ancient desert, the dominant image in people’s mind seems to be landscapes of unchanging and endless sand. While it’s true that there is a lot of sand (and I do mean a lot – I […]
Matt McClune, coffee roaster extraordinaire at St Romain Coffee Co. in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, approaches all his projects in life with an untiring conviction that everything benefits from more thought, more attention and more deliberation. I should know this, because I’m in a village rock band with him (we trademarked the musical genre of […]
Drop it like it’s hot, peoples – pick up them vibes, grab a wishbone, call a friend and celebrate thanks. We figured we could all use the funk to soak up some of that gravy. Here are 45 minutes of funk, rock, soul, jazz, all loosely based on the theme of that holiday we all […]
To travel is to hold smelling salts to our senses, to go wide-eyed, to become hyper observant, run on sheer curiosity. I dive into a research trip scanning for the beauty, the stories, the connections between where I am now and other places I’ve been. I pick a local caffè to hear the morning gossip […]
Here’s the thing about cider (or hard cider); it’s incredibly simple to make and anyone can do it. I have been consistently making average to disappointing cider for the last five years, but that’s not the point. You don’t need any special equipment or ingredients other than apples. You crush them, squeeze them and then […]
Lately I’ve been on the search for the perfect beach, and not because I particularly love beaches. But because I enjoy travelling with my kids, and a good beach is an ace in the hole. Grab a bucket and shovel, and the sand can bring endless hours of creativity and fun. And swimming in warm […]
Imagine Captain Cook’s surprise when, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he stumbled upon the Hawaiian archipelago and found a thriving civilization. These Polynesian pioneers who would have sailed more than 4,000km from Tahiti, weren’t descendents of some 10th-century version of Castaway or Giligan’s Island. The Professor was clever enough but no one on […]
Ibitipoca. Tough to pronounce; hard to get to; but well worth the effort. Here goes: Ibitipoca is pronounced “ee-bitch-ee-pokah” (sounds like a palavrão I know). But it actually comes from the indigenous Tupi-guarani language in which “ybytyra” = mountain, and “pok” = burst, a combination of words the natives used to describe the intense roaring […]
I like Pete Wells; I like to read his reviews of restaurants in the New York Times. He can be tough and snarky, but at least he is also witty and right. A Pete Wells classic from his review of Per Se: “I don’t know what could have saved limp, dispiriting yam dumplings, but it […]
Let’s play a little game. One city – Venice Seven questions Two possible answers each time: by boot or by boat. Ready? 1. What’s the best way to get lost? By foot. Venice is comprised of roughly 120 islands (the precise number depends on how you define an island), and 391 bridges. If you don’t […]
the post office essays There is a particular magic we humans get to do. We can have an idea then translate it into a series of symbols which others, years later, can read, so that the idea enters into their mind. We can write and create books and essays and letters, and mark down our […]
Dan recently had the opportunity to return to the Arctic circle in Nunavut on the Northwest Passage, to stay with a family we have known and worked with for a number of years, the Webers, a family driven by a passion for the north, for the stark landscape and conservation efforts of a seldom understood […]
“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow that house down….” As a man with two small kids, I think a lot about the big bad wolf – he and his cronies crop up a lot in the bedtime stories I’ve been reading every night for the last decade. Sometimes I’m surprised at how much […]
It’s no secret that France, and to be more precise Provence, and to be even more exact Les Alpilles offer some of the prettiest landscapes in Europe. And while they’re fine enough from ground level, they’re even better if you’re a bird – or in this case a drone – expertly piloted by our France […]
Meredith is back from a few weeks on research in Italy, with tales of a missed flight, loose knees, and pure flexibility. The world has changed, and we with it – the tempo is different, and in this makeshift podcast we try to capture a feeling, that thing we all chase when we leave our […]