This is the first part of a six-part series on our camel trek in the Moroccan Sahara. The addi­tional entries will be posted each day over the next week. After that, you can see all six here. May 13, 2010 As I write this we’re only about two hours into our great Sahara adven­ture and it’s [...]

I know I can speak for Laura as well when I say that we found it dif­fi­cult to leave Lanciano. As I write this, we’re speed­ing north in a cozy train com­part­ment toward Piacenza, Italy to see our friend Christine. Laura is napping on the seats across from me, lines of sun­light and shadow moving [...]

Easter is of course huge for Italy’s Catholic pop­u­la­tion. In Lanciano, where we have been staying for the past week or so, Easter is a week long affair filled with social­iz­ing, shared meals, picnics, and reli­gious pro­ces­sions through the streets, replete with reli­gious arti­facts, cos­tumes and march­ing bands. On Thursday night before the Easter weekend, the [...]

I hate when people ask me if I’m a pho­to­grapher. Sometimes it’s the gear that prompts this. They see the expens­ive looking camera, or maybe pick up my kit for a moment and are taken aback by how heavy it is. “Whoa! You must be a pho­to­grapher.” Maybe it’s the final shots that have them whoa-ing, [...]

Laura and I are killing a few hours here in Rome before catch­ing a bus to Lanciano. We had about a day to take in a few sights and pasta dishes here. After almost 2 months in Turkey, the food here has been a huge delight for us. Pizaa, pasta, beef steak! And the pork! [...]