From the Galley Window: A Soulful Dispatch from the Riviera

From the Galley Window: A Soulful Dispatch from the Riviera

This journey showed me again that the sea rarely gives you the trip you planned for. It gives you delays, repairs, aching feet, missed ingredients, and too much to carry; then, just when you feel emptied out, it offers a peaceful anchorage, a stranger’s kindness, cicadas at dusk, or a sunset that seems to light the sky on fire. Amidst the long, tiring hours on my feet, the endless choreography of putting out meals, and caring for everyone else, I managed to find my own moments of return gazing before my strip of galley window. Continue reading From the Galley Window: A Soulful Dispatch from the Riviera

Starry-eyed in Amalfi Coast:   Gold Silver and Sapphire

Starry-eyed in Amalfi Coast:  Gold Silver and Sapphire

The Amalfi Coast, had been on my radar for as long as I can remember. It was one of those starry-eyed visions that rests in that pocket of my mind where unattainable places lie dormant and glittering. I was ready to dip my toes into the Italian culture and create inspired meals based off its influence.  Here I would drown out the disappointing stain of Italian American food from my memory once and for all.  We would be setting sail from Palma to Napoli for a three-day crossing. Continue reading Starry-eyed in Amalfi Coast:  Gold Silver and Sapphire

Ode to Mallorca Part II:  Calas and Sea-creaturing.  The Blue Factor

Ode to Mallorca Part II:  Calas and Sea-creaturing. The Blue Factor

It is said that people who live near the water are the happiest.  It’s called the Blue Factor.  Infusion with coastal living is linked to better physical and mental well-being.  Although this could be a generalization and every body is uniquely inclined, I have found for myself that throughout my life I’m happiest when I’m living by the water.  Thriving, is more like it; and land-bound feels a bit like suffocation.  I had to face the facts:  I was a mermaid.  Continue reading Ode to Mallorca Part II:  Calas and Sea-creaturing. The Blue Factor