East of Osijek
After reading about it in Frommer’s Croatia, I had originally wanted to go to Ilok, one of the most well-known wine-making microclimates (Fruška Gora) in Croatia, which is also the easternmost town in Croatia, right on the border with Serbia. There’s a 13th-century fortress there, an 18th-century monastery on the site where the warrior-monk St. [...]
If Altman were Croatian
Last time that we visited, I hardly saw Zagreb: we went directly from the airport to the bus station and on to Osijek on the way in, then came back the night before we flew out and spent the evening with friends. This time, however, we lingered for 5 days, and knowing what a crappy [...]
The continuing war on moisture
We change planes in Munich on our way from Toronto to Zagreb. Exhausted after not sleeping on the overnight flight, we thankfully don’t have to change terminals or even go through security: it’s only a short walk down the terminal from our arrival gate to where our flight will leave for Zagreb in two hours. [...]
Funny, funny writer
I’m not sure how funny that John McPhee intends to be in his book Uncommon Carriers, which I’m reading right now. It’s a book wherein he travels around in all sorts of unusual vehicles, starting with a cross-country trip in an 18-wheeler. His prose is really lovely, very readable, and occasionally very funny. For example, [...]
And now, a very Canadian weather moment
I know that we’re all happy to have a very rainy November behind us, but this is a bit much. Wind chill of minus fucking 16?? [That's Celsius for my American readers, so about 3F] I just went out to run some errands, and ended up taking the streetcar for routes that I normally would [...]
Remembering
17 years ago today, 14 women (12 of them engineering students) were killed at Montreal’s École Polytechnique by a misogynist whack-job who blamed women for his failure to gain attendance to the engineering school. Although this event catalyzed the Canadian movement to eradicate violence against women, and led to December 6th being marked as the [...]
