Pottery for Pets

I woke up the next morning with my heart fluttering. It was the first day of my pottery retreat. I threw on older clothes I didn’t mind getting dirty with clay and hurried outside. I hadn’t really seen the courtyard the night before. We arrived after dark, when little was […]

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 […]

Karlštejn Castle, Czech Canyons, and How I Almost Died.

By Victor / March 11, 2019

Over the years, we’ve been in a lot of unfortunate, ill-fated, and plainly dangerous situations. We already posted about being attacked by monkeys and will soon write out how we visited Egypt in the middle of the Arab Spring, lost our luggage in Barcelona, and ignored all anti-mugging advice on […]

Southeast Asia – No Happy Endings

By Julia / March 6, 2019

The only thing I love more than massages is cheap massages.  Sure, a luxurious spa with relaxing music, aromatherapy, essential oils, and a highly trained therapist who will definitely not grope you in weird places is nice.  I splurge on one every birthday.  But it just cannot beat an hour-long […]

Iceland in a van

By Julia / February 24, 2019

We had 6 days and about $1000 each.  “The tickets to Iceland are super cheap!” Victor called out from the couch, “$400 round trip for around Labor Day.”  In the back of my head, I could faintly remember an article I read about the recession in Iceland and how much […]

Guatemala – Strangest Place for the Best Coffee

By Victor / February 23, 2019

Guatemala, a country where coffee is the number three export after bananas and raw sugar, where coffee plantations are crowded by volcano ranges, and where thousands of people subsist by growing coffee, happens to consume some of the worst coffee in the world.  All of their flavorful coffee beans are […]

India – Food and Fast Food

By Julia / February 23, 2019

Both of us love Indian food, and the trip to India only reinforced our shared love for Indian spices, vegetable curries, flatbreads, and fragrant rice.  Friends warned us that we would tire of turmeric and cumin and coriander in every dish and that we would miss meat, but the only […]

McDonalds Everywhere

By Julia / February 23, 2019

Almost every country we visit has a McDonald’s.  And in every country we run towards it, as it beacons to us, weary travelers, with its golden arches and a free toilet.  Our routine is almost always the same.  We use the bathroom, I sneak in a picture of the menu […]

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