BARBERINO-TAVERNELLE, TUSCANY— I first came to this part of the world in 2011 on a three-week stopover with my wife and kids during a six-month family jaunt through Europe. What struck me within the first few days I arrived in Tuscany was that it felt a lot like the American South. It’s not a hardContinue reading “Tuscan Son”
Author Archives: paul
It’s All Lessons All the Time
It’s funny how at different ages I have assumed I had life completely figured out. When I was 19 no one could tell me anything. I thought I knew it all. The truth is I was clueless and wandering aimlessly down a dangerous path. By 21 I was clean and sober and starting a lifeContinue reading “It’s All Lessons All the Time”
Breakfasts Abroad
PALAERMO, SICILY— Ten weeks out of each year I work over here leading tours of Americans through European countries. It’s a job I love and a job I take seriously because people trust me with a week to 10 days of their valuable vacation time and vacation savings. It’s work, but if you’ve got toContinue reading “Breakfasts Abroad”
It’s Good Work If You Can Get It
“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt. ROME— My first paying job was as a 12 years old. I mowed the lawns of my neighbors. Growing up in the house of a widowed single mom who was aContinue reading “It’s Good Work If You Can Get It”
An Engagement to Remember
This past weekend was a memorable one for our family. Our 26-year old daughter got engaged to her longtime boyfriend. His name is Robert (good name), he’s a great guy, and he’ll be a nice addition to our small nucleus of four. Someone counseled me with the ol’ standby, “You’re not losing a daughter. You’reContinue reading “An Engagement to Remember”
Local Hopes
NEW ORLEANS— The practice of making New Year’s resolutions is something that has never interested me. I guess I have just always assumed that I could make a vow to myself on any day, and if it’s something that I really need to do, or a practice that I need to start implementing, then IContinue reading “Local Hopes”
Sometimes I Feel Like a Magpie
PETROGNANO, TUSCANY— A few months after my wife and I started dating, she wanted me to meet her grandmother. We set out on the road from Hattiesburg to north Louisiana, and I asked, “Where are we going?” “Shreveport,” she said. Around the time we got to Jackson, she said, “Actually, it’s in Minden, Louisiana.” AfterContinue reading “Sometimes I Feel Like a Magpie”
Support Your Local Catfish House
We are a nation of regional dining concepts and local dishes. Chicago has deep-dish pizza parlors. New Orleans has po-boy shops. Ohio has chili parlors. Maine has lobster shacks. South Florida has crab shacks. Maryland also has crab shacks (there are a lot of shacks in regional dining). Oyster bars are scattered across the GulfContinue reading “Support Your Local Catfish House”