This essay exploring the physical utopia of Sir Thomas More is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…
View More The Utopia of Sir Thomas MoreCategory: Travel
I have always enjoyed travel but since I have hit upon the idea of writing literary adventures that happen as I’m gallivanting, I can’t wait to book trips to the cities where my favorite literary heroes and heroines have lived.
I’ve had some thrills along the way. Imagine my surprise when I found a museum dedicated to a French Empress in Parma, Italy! When Napoleon I was exiled, Marie Louise of Austria took her role as the Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, holding court in the Riserva Palace on Strada Melloni. I have another shocking surprise during my walk-through of her former home there so I urge you to read Rococo Style in Italy to see the other French courtier I found there!
In Stalking Petrarch in Parma, I return to the Italian town where I visited as many places as I could find where the poet might have walked, his role as a clergy in the region guaranteeing I set foot in at least two places he’d visited often. It was such a thrill for me! My post Seeing with New Eyes find me in Paris shadowing the places where Edith Wharton and her lover Morton Fullerton had lived or met as secret lovers. Paris is one of my favorite cities for literary adventuring.
Beyond my own literary travel adventures, I am inspired by design or art that brings a place alive. In Traveling Through the Looking Glass, I am inspired by Timothy Oulton’s design of the Glazebrook House Hotel in the UK, his references to Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland the perfect segue between design and literature. And in Impressions of Venice, I illustrate one of Sophia Khan’s favorite books A Daughter of Venice with her striking watercolors of the Italian town. You really should click through to see her art—it’s hauntingly beautiful.
Percy Bysshe Shelley in Milan
This essay channeling Percy Bysshe Shelley in Milan is included in my book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature similar literary…
View More Percy Bysshe Shelley in MilanBookstores
I’ve had a long and passionate love affair with bookstores since I can remember. Some of my finest hours have been spent perusing shelves to…
View More BookstoresWinslow Homer In Situ
This essay examining the pragmatic attitudes of Winslow Homer is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…
View More Winslow Homer In SituTatty Wreckage in Buenos Aires
This essay about my frame of mind in Buenos Aires is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…
View More Tatty Wreckage in Buenos AiresLife Lessons from a Research Library
This essay exploring the life lessons I have learned from a research library is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…
View More Life Lessons from a Research LibraryDebating Da Vinci in Milan
This essay exploring the genius of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…
View More Debating Da Vinci in MilanJim Morrison Irreverent Scribe
This essay exploring Arthur Rimbaud’s influence on Jim Morrison is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…
View More Jim Morrison Irreverent ScribeThe Train Leading to Millay
This essay following Edna St. Vincent Millay to Croton-on-Hudson by train is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…
View More The Train Leading to MillaySaluting the Renaissance Book Club
This essay celebrating the first printing presses during the Renaissance in Florence, Italy, is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…
View More Saluting the Renaissance Book Club