2014 was a revolutionary year for me, and a turning point in my life. For ages I’d been toying with the idea of going back to England, or moving from Sevilla to another city, preferably a less traditional one, or just one with a beach, but during last year a few things clicked into place … Read more
The leftovers are finished, the old year is gone, and now we’re already three days into 2015. Three days! Yikes! This means I’m late writing my column but I have my excuses. My only excuse, really, is that I was out of town celebrating the New Year. I visited some old friends in London, where … Read more
As most things in my little family, our holiday traditions are a bit of a MischMasch of what we grew up with and love from our childhood and various home countries. Where we didn’t spend so much time thinking about these things when it was just the two of us, now that we have one … Read more
Here in the Morvan the festive season is almost over. First there was Le Réveillon on Christmas Eve, with foie gras and oysters and standing room only in church. Christmas Day came and went, with turkey and bûche de Noël and, for new expats, the baffling absence of Christmas crackers, not to mention mince pies … Read more
“He’s checking his list, he’s checking it twice, he’s going to find out who’s naughty or nice…..” Sing it with me! “….Santa Claus is coming to tooooown!!” No pretending you don’t know this one ladies and gents! It’s one of those traditional, well known and much loved songs you hear ringing out across the radio, … Read more
Preparing For England Within minutes of our arrival I was on the beach and wallowing in the warm, shark-infested, waters of the Indian Ocean. Cape Town beaches are great; with wide open expanses of sand and dunes on the West Coast you can walk for miles and often hardly see another soul. But even brass … Read more
One of the most interesting things about living overseas is experiencing the way different cultures celebrate holidays. The Christmas Cracker has become one of my favourites. Over 20 years ago I spent one of my first Christmases in Britain with my fiancé and his staid relatives. The oldest generation arrived slow and creaking, placed gently … Read more
Since moving back to the US, I’ve become painfully aware of one huge difference between living here and living there. Meeting people and making friends in Panama was easy. Doing it here is hard. A vibrant social life was one of our pleasures in Las Tablas. We had plenty of friends, and getting together was … Read more
It’s strange to pair the usual commercial Christmas characters with a summertime holiday. Polar bears, reindeer, and a jolly old man in a heavy, woolen red suit just doesn’t feel right. We’ve seen our share of Santa Clause as adapted for warmer climates before. In California it’s popular to put Santa in swim trunks and … Read more
The continuing adventures of June Finnigan, her Man, and Farty Barty the cat. Benvenuti to all my Loyal and New Followers Now you will have heard me mention before that here in beautiful Tuscany and indeed throughout Italy, the Italians will always find an excuse for a Festa. At the very end of October we … Read more