EVERYTHING'S CONSIDERED

  There are these moments in Lyon during summer when the heat seemed to be far removed, tempered by a cool breeze where the Rhône River meets the Saône before rolling on toward the Mediterranean. It is at this time when tourists...

  Yes you’ve been to Kuala Lumpur!   You’ve been wowed by the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, dazzled by beguiling ancient temples and mosques that lie in the shadows of space-age skyscrapers.   Possibly you’ve taken a sip of the infamous teh tarik or...

  Travelers have been talking in reverent tones about a number of encouraging sights they noticed in Lisbon. It seemed it was all people could talk about lately. It hadn’t been long since the conversation shifted from austerity, youth unemployment...

    Upon reading this, I would probably be at 36,000 feet in a triple 7 Air France jet liner 12-time zones away from you.   Somehow I won't have to press the arret button as many times, as I did during the...

  In my early days, whenever I heard the word Malaysia, it made me think of the Twin Towers, low-priced gas, the mouth watering chicken satay, tropical rain forests, the hypnotic aroma of durian fruit and Proton cars. I grew...

He couldn’t be a converso. But he could be a Gitano.   He has the song that echoes of his fathers. It was a primitive cry. A sort of spiritual chant but somewhere along the rustic lines and the shattering jondo...

  Half an hour past midnight, my travel partner is still on the other end of the line – talking fast and laying out the plan.   Quite frankly, it’s a series of plans. Or, more precisely: a mezze expressed in descriptive...

  The sight of a solid, 20-inch bluish-green body adorned with protruding red spots greeted us.   In perfect stillness, I saw him glued to the wall like an exquisite adornment. His physical demeanor told me to stay away. Yet the more...

  Why do I find it hard not to be charmed or even excited by the sound of  shattering ice when some liquid is poured on to it, or when the sizzle of meat hits a searing grill, the ping...

Geography.   We go back a long way.   I don’t know when I started addressing geography in the masculine form. Perhaps, I have issues with men or typically because there was more to him than his opulence and attractive features. For some...