Along the Comedy Circuit

A few weeks ago, soon after our (I and She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) Sardinian adventures, the wife and I went a-walkin’ one weekend along a trail called the Witzweg (Joke Trail), a three-hour walk from one small Swiss hamlet, Walzenhausen, to another Swiss hamlet, Heiden. Not a bad experience, really. You get yourself to the Lake of Constance… Continue reading Along the Comedy Circuit

The Last Castle

There is an old story, a rumor really, that spread during the 1980s that was meant to discourage promiscuity / slutty behaviour by young ladies. A young American lady on her last night in Rome decided, in a state of increased intoxication, to allow herself to be seduced by a pair of handsome Italian men,… Continue reading The Last Castle

Eleanor of Arborea

“Sardinian women are amusing, so brisk and defiant. They have straight backs, like little walls and decided, well-drawn eyebrows. They are amusingly on the alert. Like sharp, brisk birds they dart along the streets. You feel they would fetch you a bang over the head as leave as look at you. Tenderness, thank heaven, does… Continue reading Eleanor of Arborea

Why we walk backwards

Female deities with inscrutable smiles, the Stele di Nora (a stone tablet showing in Phoenician characters the first recorded occurrence of the name “Sardinia”), and spindly, highly stylish, innovative and quirky bronze statuettes of varying sizes are just some of the things possible for viewing at Cagliari’s Museo Archeologico. This is Sardinia’s premier archaeological museum… Continue reading Why we walk backwards

The timelessness of Su Casteddu

Ah, Cagliari! (In Sardinian dialect, Su Casteddu) A city ascending in a choas of golden-hued mansions, domes and facades up to a rocky citadel. Vespas buzz down tree-fringed boulevards and locals exchange gossip and discuss politics and sports at cafes under graceful arcades. Sunset is the best time when soft evening light reveals pastel facades… Continue reading The timelessness of Su Casteddu

VIPs of Cagliari

Roman Emperor Diocletian didn’t like Christians very much, so when Saturninus refused to offer sacrifices to the god Jupiter Caligari Governor Barbarus had him beheaded in 304. A Paleo-Christian basilica marks his burial place. Bishop of Cagliari Lucifer Calaritanus, aka Lucifero da Cagliari, was well-known for his passionate opposition to Arianism, (a nontrinitarian belief that… Continue reading VIPs of Cagliari

Unloved in Jerusalem

There is a phrase that beguiles me with its unknown source that “a prophet is rarely respected in his own Jerusalem.” This phrase comes to mind when I consider the Rhine towns of Feuerthalen, across from Schaffhausen, and Rheinau, downriver 181 km / 113 miles if discussing walking distance. Feuerthalen, population 3,500, is Schaffhausen’s unremarkable… Continue reading Unloved in Jerusalem

The secret sites above the Falls

The biggest problem with being a tourist in Switzerland is the distinct feeling that the Swiss don’t want you to visit and certainly don’t want you to learn anything about the country. Switzerland certainly does not go out of its way to market itself aggressively in comparison with countries like the US or France. The… Continue reading The secret sites above the Falls