Being an academic is great if you don't mind holes in your sweaters, a monthly budget that is roughly what your wealthier friends spend on hair appointments, and awkward conversations. (We're not known for our social graces.) One truly excellent perk of academia, though, is the travel. Because of my field, I get to go... Continue Reading →
Like many Americans, I gleaned my early knowledge of London from My Fair Lady and a smattering of Disney movies, so thanks largely to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, I had always imagined Portobello Road as a sort of semi-roofed, soot-covered, darkened maze of alleyways. Which of course has very little to do with the actual Portobello... Continue Reading →
Like most things in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the flat I let in Notting Hill for a summer's worth of research was expensive, beautiful, modern, elegant, and way out of my league. But short lets are hard to come by, and I found myself signing a contract with the very tony Foxtons... Continue Reading →
What's your favorite London monument? Big Ben? Westminster Abbey? The Tower? Buckingham Palace? Mine's Tesco. Tesco sets my pulse racing. (Yes, I'm serious.) My first summer in London, I had the good fortune to be a stone's throw from the gargantuan Tesco on Cromwell Road. It was my first stop after unpacking, which took about thirty seconds... Continue Reading →
Is it just me, or is it not cool to be a tourist anymore? Sure, it's cool to travel. Travel book sales might be low compared to a decade ago, but travel blogs and apps are exploding, and Facebook seems like a highlight reel of everyone's exotic vacation photos. (To which I say, keep 'em coming.) But... Continue Reading →
From the beginning, Albania flummoxed me. It also had my heart before my flight from Florence ever touched down in Tirana. How? Simple. Coffee.
The Notting Hillbilly 