The Strength of Women

My daughter (on the right) and her colleagues from the Global Justice Center drove from New York to D.C.  on International Women's Day 2017 to march in front of the White House in support of women's rights. 

She Persisted

So proud of my girl (on the left), along with her colleagues with whom she works at the Global Justice Center, appearing in an article in Vice.com about New Yorkers demonstrating against the current administration's  discriminatory policies and rhetoric. 

I Love the Smell of Jetfuel in the Morning

Aboard the S.S. France 

There is very little about travel that I don't like.

When I was 6 weeks old, my parents loaded me onto a boat and the whole family shipped off to Italy. We lived in hotels before we moved into an apartment and I developed a taste for coffee because my nanny, Maria, laced my bottle with the beverage.

So now, when I smell diesel fuel, I want to go somewhere. Fast.

I love everything about travel, including the getting there part. The straight to video movies, the bad food. The little bottles of vodka.

In the old days, we used to get 'travel bags' from the flight attendants. You know, filled with shoehorns, toothbrush and paste. Comb.

On the odd occasion I get upgraded to biz/first class then yes, love the blankets or comforters, the slippers, the fold out flat seats, the warm chocolate chip cookies.

Dinner aboard the S.S. France. My mom, baby sister and me.

I don't always travel in style the way I did as a kid with my parents. Dressing for dinner aboard ship. Drinking tea while watching the Statue of Liberty float by and looking at my cup, seeing the cream curdle. Someone forget to tell me you can't have BOTH lemon and cream together.

Ever since I was a nerdy kid, sitting in an airport bar in Lisbon, watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon and waiting for our flight to the States, I've never known an airport I didn't love. Even the time we landed in the middle of a Costa Rican jungle in a flimsy Russian made prop, and my husband looked out the window and said: "S&%t! We're landing here??" I grabbed the kids and held on, my heart beating out of rhythm, but for all the right reasons. 

Years later, I'm still a nerdy kid at heart. Always getting ready for my next trip.

100 Places in Greece Every Woman Should Go NPR podcast interview

Last week I was interviewed by Tom Wilmer at KCBX on his NPR podcast to discuss my new book, 100 Places in Greece Every Woman Should Go - click here to listen!

Postcards from the Underworld: My Favorite Beach on Ithaki

Sun, sea, solace - what more do you want from a secluded Greek beach? 

Along the winding road that connects the north with the south of the Greek island of Ithaki are three tiny coves with beaches tucked beneath the cliffs. Of the three, my favorite is called Kravoulia #2 --- but its unremarkable name belies the magnificence that awaits you when you climb down the narrow staircase to the pebbled beach. Walking across the smooth stones is like a form of foot massage, and a swim in the brisk ultramarine water wakes up all the senses. Every so often a yacht will glide past the headlands and take a turn around the cove, but many times I've had this slice of paradise all to myself. I sit here for hours, staring at the clouds dancing between the headlands, letting the sun dry the salt on my skin...and even when I take in a favorite book, The Magus, by John Fowles, 

I keep one eye on the glittering sea beyond...