In July 2023, very shortly after traveling for 8 weeks on the International Business Institute, I took my first-ever girls group vacation to Asheville, North Carolina. Why Asheville? None of the six of us had ever been there, it was within a one-day driving distance, and seemed to offer quite a bit of variety in…
Tag: Culture
Expanded List: Kitchen Equipment
Inarguably, humans must eat to survive. That is a fact. But to eat, you don’t necessarily ever have to cook. Sadly, the avoidance of the kitchen and its equipment is to miss some great opportunities of adventure and discovery. As I previously wrote in Essential Equipment, there are some things that I believe are non-negotiables…
Heidelberg, Germany | 2023
After what felt like the longest stop in Prague, we finally moved on to Heidelberg, Germany. Unlike Innsbruck and Prague, which I had apparently barely experienced on my first IBI experience, I had many great memories from my time in Heidelberg, and I was excited to return. Overall, my experience there this time felt more…
Innsbruck, Austria | 2023
We arrived to the Vienna Airport shortly before midnight feeling very hungry, uncomfortable and disoriented from our 6-hour flight on W!ZZ Air (an airline not worth mentioning except to encourage you NOT to book one of its flights if at all possible). From the airport, we drove through the night on a much-smaller-than-anticipated coach bus…
India | 2023
Unlike many people I know, I really enjoyed my travel experiences in India on my first trip. Granted, I was traveling in a large group and food, lodging, transportation and excursions were all pre-arranged for us. I also happened to LOVE the food (the spicier the better!). So, as I told my Indian-American doctor when…
Book Review: Seven Days in the Art World
One must not be an art aficionado to know that making art is only one stroke of the intricately complicated masterpiece of the modern art world. Art has inherent value from the moment a piece is started; even if that work is never shown to the public. However, when the oeuvre of an artist does…
Book Review: The Moonstone
Per usual, I bought The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, during a Barnes and Noble perusal of “the classics.” Hailed on its back cover as one of the world’s first detective novels, I was intrigued and a bit confused why I had never even heard of the title. My interest piqued, I bought it. Of course,…
Centered
The obligatory end of the year blog post reflection. I REALLY waited until the VERY end of 2023 to get this done. In part, because I’ve been convalescing from hip surgery (torn labrum/impingement repair), but to be honest, I’ve just been avoiding looking back or forward. This year has felt a bit out of control…
Book Review: A Season of Second Chances
When a friend loaned me her copy of A Season of Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss, I was skeptical at best. Despite the saccharine description of a chef hosting a book club in a coastal British town (all things that are near & dear to my heart) and a promise that there wouldn’t be too…
Book Review: The Complete Fairy Stories of Oscar Wilde
The Complete Fairy Stories of Oscar Wilde is a lovely collection of nine children’s stories which were originally published in two volumes. This version, enhanced with intricate illustrations by Philippe Jullian, stood out on a shelf the Winding Stair Bookstore, in Dublin (where I also picked up Virginia Woolf’s “How One Should Read a Book”)….
L.M.Beatty 