HOW NOT TO HAVE A PRESS JUNKET PART 1
DURING MY 33+ years in automotive journalism, I enjoyed a good number of informative and entertaining press trips. High points, good, bad, and mixed, included the fall of the Soviet … Continue reading
FOR SALE: CHATEAU—HIST, XLNT NBHD, MLTI BALCS, GRT VU, EZ MOVE-IN, SELLER HIGHLY MOTIVATED
IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a chateau (and who isn’t these days?), have I got a deal for you! Or, at least, details of a potential deal. There are caveats, however. … Continue reading
FOLKTALES OF THE DOLOMITES
THE DOLOMITES, in northeastern Italy, are part of my favorite mountain range, the Alps, and the home of whimsical folktales. By the way, “DOH-loh-mytes” is an acceptable English pronunciation, though … Continue reading
A SENTIMENTAL (AND TASTY) JOURNEY
RAIL TRIPS HAVE been known to offer culinary adventures. There’s the elegance of the Orient Express, the glamor of the Santa Fe Super Chief, the history of the Trans-Siberian Railway, … Continue reading
A GUIDE TO THE UNITED STATES
“THE VAST EXTENT and rapidly changing conditions of the United States make the production of a satisfactory guidebook a peculiarly difficult task.” You’re telling me. I hasten to mention that … Continue reading
THE ATLAS OBSCURA EXPLORER’S GUIDE
THIS BOOK IS subtitled “For the World’s Most Adventurous Kid,” and it is a fine addition to my collection of guidebooks, Baedeker’s and all. “For ages 9 and up,” it … Continue reading
TOSCA’S (AND HARE’S) ROME PART 2
IT IS PERHAPS coincidental that my copy of Hare’s Walks in Rome was published in 1905, only five years after the premiere of Puccini’s Tosca at Rome’s Teatro Costanzi on … Continue reading
TOSCA’S (AND HARE’S) ROME PART 1
MY COPY OF Augustus J.C. Hare’s Walks in Rome is its Seventeenth Edition, published in 1905. Even in 2018 it’s still a charming guidebook for visiting the eternal city. And … Continue reading
BRAZILIAN CULTURE—SENHOR TUCANO, SCULPTURE, AND MORE PART 2
THE FOLLOWING IMAGES and commentary on Brazilian sculpture come from Artista da escultura Brasileira. The Art of Brazilian Sculptors. Die Brasilianische Bildhauerkunst introduced yesterday here at SimanaitisSays. Bruno Giorgi is … Continue reading
BRAZILIAN CULTURE—SENHOR TUCANO, OTHER SCULPTURE, AND MORE PART 1
TODAY’S PRINCIPAL THEME is Brazilian culture. Indeed, it’s tomorrow’s theme as well in Part 2. There’s timeliness, in reporting on a terrible fire that recently destroyed Brazil’s Museu Nacional. There’s … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 