Amsterdam: Anne Frank’s Merwedeplein

Anne Frank once roamed these Amsterdam streets. She played and posed, sunned on the roof and leaned out her window. Before she became an icon, this is where she was just a girl. A photo montage of Anne (right) and her friends Eva Goldberg (left) and Sanne Ledermann (middle) in 1936, superimposed over what the streets look like […]

Amsterdam: Biking to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel

This afternoon I regaled a coworker with stories behind my slew of Amsterdam photos, which made me realize I’ve neglected to post one of the best parts of my trip on the blog! So here it is: a bike ride from Amsterdam to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, a village south of the city. The weather […]

Amsterdam: Everyday life

I love spotting the little details that make life in other countries just a little different from what it is back home in Northern California. What stands out to me when I’m visiting someplace new to me must be old hat to the people who live there. But I’m sure it’s that way too for people […]

Back from the Low Countries

Amsterdam is such a photogenic city. There are no bad angles, really. Around every corner a new perspective presents itself, and just walking the main arteries as well as the back lanes is endlessly engaging. A classic A’dam photo op: where Keizersgracht meets Leidsegracht. Ominous clouds optional. I finally downloaded all my photos off my […]

Amsterdam bound!

I am finally making good on a long-held promise to myself and taking a solo trip to Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brussels! I’m looking forward to checking out the art museums, sitting in canalside bruin cafes to read and journal and people-watch, and riding a bike through through the Dutch countryside and along the backstreets of […]

Piano by the sea

There’s a guy—an artist, a pianist—by the fitting name of Mauro Ffortissimo who, with the help of some friends, recently rolled out an aging baby grand piano onto the bluffs of Half Moon Bay, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, so that during the day passersby might plink away at the keys. But during the past […]

Minnesota poetry walk

One brisk, golden day, my friend Shona and I set out to realize one of my longtime dreams: tracking down my favorite Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ever since I first read about the public-arts project years ago in the Christian Science Monitor, I’ve wanted to stroll those sidewalks myself. Judging from […]