by Wendy H. King An unexpected, late-September afternoon rain bombarded Granada, interrupting my walk in the Albayzín, the old Muslim quarter of the former capital of the Moorish Empire. I found sanctuary from the downpour in an Arab teahouse, or tetería, until the rain subsided. Golden-velvet light, swirling Middle Eastern music, and incense immediately soothed…
by Wendy H. King Just as Corfu was Odysseus’ last stop on his way home to Ithaca, so the Ionian island was my last stop on a two-month tour of Italy and Greece. I planned to relax on Corfu’s beaches for a few days before heading to France, the last leg of my trip. I…
by Wendy H. King Look out, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium! Britain has moved in on your chocolate turf. Who knew? The land that gave us black pudding, haggis, and eel pie also produces—and consumes—internationally award-wining chocolate. Today, the average Brit eats ten kilograms (twenty-two pounds!) of chocolate a year, making Britain Europe’s number-one chocolate consumer….
by Wendy H. King Like a medieval knight making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in search of the Holy Grail, I set off to Italy, the birthplace of opera, to visit composer Giacomo Puccini’s Villa at Torre del Lago, situated west of Lucca between Lago di Massaciuccoli and the Mediterranean. Within the Tuscan villa’s…