After the mesmerizing beauty of Venice, my family traveled (again by train) back southward to Florence. I was looking forward to Firenze, having been told that I would “love it” given my interest in art. The museums on our to-do list looked interesting and I had found (via Instagram) a list of sandwich shops that…
Tag: Culture
Venice, Italy | 2025
For most of my life, Venice held a sort of magical mysticism in my mind—based, of course, primarily on what I had seen on film and read about in books. The first time I remember really encountering the city was in the 2003 movie The Italian Job. I won’t spoil it for you, but the…
Book Review: The Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief
On my trip to New York City this spring, I picked up a pocket-sized edition of Maurice Leblanc’s seminal work, The Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief, in the gift shop of the New York Public Library. I was thrilled to find a copy in English because to my own dismay, I have yet been able…
Niagara & Toronto, Canada | 2025
Third time’s the charm is the adage that perfectly sums up my spring 2025 travel to Canada. For having been around the world a few times, I somewhat surprisingly had never crossed the northern border of the U.S. to visit our good-natured neighbors, even though it’s closer than other regular road trips I take with…
New York City, New York | 2025
Generally speaking, I am not a spontaneous person. My mind doesn’t normally even consider last-minute major decision-making, particularly with travel. Sure, I have about 10 different Google flight alerts set for various destinations on any given day, but I’m never anticipating buying a ticket the moment I get a price drop email. However, every rule…
Book Review: The Nine
I wouldn’t call myself a history buff, but I have always been interested in looking back to learn about the world through the lens of historical documentation. In school, I really loved history assignments, literature reviews, biopics, geography challenges and researching about any topic that brought me back into a previous time. But for some…
Book Review: Till We Have Faces
There are some books that keep you turning their pages long past your bedtime and then make you ponder their plots as you dream throughout the day. I recently discovered that Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis is one of those books for me. I actually bought my copy of the novel a while…
Book Review: Color—A Natural History of the Palette
As I have expanded my artistic career over the past few years, I’ve taken a particular interest in the materials I buy. Wanting to sell quality art made with quality materials, I usually conduct research before restocking paper, paints, canvases, pens and packaging supplies to consider multiple options. I not only want to invest in…
Book Review: The Dutch House
I am a sucker for an interesting book cover, so it was not really a surprise that the arresting portrait of a dark-haired girl unapologetically staring back at me caught my attention whilst I was browsing books at Barnes and Noble recently. To be honest, I’m not sure I could have just walked away from…
Buy the Book
A few years ago, I came across Bookshop.org. This online book retailer sources its stock from local bookstores, some of which don’t have the means to maintain their own online storefronts or might not have the ubiquitous reach that mega retailers have. Beyond the benevolent idea that my shopping would benefit small-to-medium sized businesses, I…
L.M.Beatty 