First Lesson. Rishton.

It was late evening, and we had just arrived at the pottery studio of one of the most famous ceramic artists in Uzbekistan. We were exhausted and sweaty and weren’t sure if our long day of travel was over or if we would now need to look for alternative accommodation. […]

Getting There.  Rishton.

I’ve been talking about doing a pottery retreat for a long time – somewhere I can learn new skills, work with different types of clay and glazing techniques, get some fresh ideas for my craft.  It was always “one day” and “wouldn’t it be cool” type of idea.  I might […]

A Long-Overdue Affair: The Wisconsin State Fair

Last year, it finally happened. I went to the Wisconsin State Fair! Although I had lived in the state for over a decade, for whatever reason, I’d never made it to the festival grounds in West Allis until last year. Ironically, it took me to move out of Wisconsin to […]

Chicago: Keeping the Blues Alive

Today is a special day in Chicago: Buddy Guy celebrates his 90th birthday.  Although we are currently busy writing posts about Uzbekistan, this milestone-and America’s 250th year-makes it the perfect moment to celebrate one of the country’s greatest musical traditions: the blues. At his birthday bashes, Buddy Guy usually tells […]

Uzbekistan: One Conversation at a Time

We were in Margilan, a medium-sized town in the Fergana Valley, on a quick day trip when we stopped at the street market for lunch. We found a tiny café serving hot tea and potato samsas, sat down, and ordered a pot of tea with three samsas to share. As […]

Skipping Managua.  Part II. Leon

By Victor / January 30, 2025

One week after visiting Granada, we drove into its long-time rival-Leon. Like Granada, Leon is set in a breathtaking location.  Approaching the city from the north, we counted at least six volcanoes on the horizon, all part of the Cordillera de Maribios. As we got closer, it became obvious that […]

Skipping Managua.  Part I.  Granada

By Victor / January 23, 2025

One clear trend in our travels is that Central American capital cities don’t get much love from us. It’s just the way it is.  In Guatemala, upon arrival, we left the capital, Guatemala City, without ever seeing it.  In San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, we spent only half […]

A Whole New Life

By Julia / January 16, 2025

Start with Part I Here We were walking from Airbnb towards the livestock barns, and I noticed it wasn’t quite as dark as I thought it would be.  As we were driving up the mountain, my fear of encroaching darkness made me feel that it was much later in the […]

Nicaragua: A Road Less Traveled

By Julia / January 9, 2025

The dusk was setting quickly over Matagalpa, the little red and yellow coffee berries no longer visible on the branches of coffee trees lining the narrow, unpaved road steeply ascending into the mountain.  The light of our headlamps jaggedly bounced up and down, as our tiny, rented Toyota Yaris struggled […]

Girls, Girls, Girls.  Souvenirs: Part III

By Victor / December 12, 2024

Back by popular demand, here’s Part III of our souvenir inventory (Part I and Part II are here).  As we wrote before, we are very picky when it comes to souvenir shopping; yet, sometimes, we do bring souvenirs home.  Most of the time, it’s something related to the culture, religion, […]

One Day in Comuna 13, Medellin

By Julia / December 5, 2024

A while ago, I wrote a single post about paragliding in Medellin, completely skipping over the part where we went to Colombia in 2022 and spent five days in Medellin.  Now that I have a few free weeks after finishing all Norway posts and before the next trip springs up […]

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