Today was the start of the Tbex conference, the reason I came to Richmond. Tbex is a gathering of travel content creators, bloggers, vloggers (video bloggers), podcasters, writers and such. I’ve been to four of these events and always learn a lot and enjoy myself. Unless you’re dying to hear about SEO versus GEO or the finer points of short-form … Read More
Richmond, VA – Day 3
Today will be a very short description with a lot of photos. I spent the morning at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. It’s beautiful with a charming butterfly garden. Then I made a brief visit to Ashland, VA. Best moment was spending time at re-funk-it, and eclectic shop selling all sorts of handcrafted goods, most made from recycled materials. The … Read More
Richmond, VA – Day 2
I was supposed to go on a tour of Richmond called Beauty in Bloom. Instead, I found myself on a tour that could have been called Offbeat Richmond History: The Weird Stuff Nobody Told You About in School. It was a cloudy morning with intense rain predicted for midday, not a great forecast for walking around gardens. The idea of … Read More
Richmond, VA – Day 1
Yesterday I drove from New York City to Richmond, breaking the trip eating lunch in Baltimore with family. The drive was uneventful until the final stretch, when Virginia decided to stage an entire season of Highway Disasters. First came an SUV engulfed in flames, shooting fire high into the sky while surrounded by firefighters, ambulances, and police. Although it slowed … Read More
Berlin – Day 7 (final day)
For my final day in Berlin Matt, Leonie and I decided to explore the Humboldt Forum. We’d seen it in passing, but prior to this trip I’d never even heard of it. There’s a good reason for that. Though it looks like a historic building, which in a sense it is, the current structure is quite new. A wonderful video … Read More
Berlin – Day 6
Much as I love museums, eventually I become “museumed out”. After several days of art, history, and enough cultural enrichment to last a month, I decided to spend today at the Berlin Botanical Garden. The weather wholeheartedly approved of my plan: warm temperatures, a cloudless blue sky, and just enough breeze to make being outdoors delightful. I did have a … Read More
Berlin – Day 5
I spent the better part of today at Berlin’s New National Gallery. The building is as much a work of art as the collections inside. Designed by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1968, it was his final major project. The soaring steel and glass structure feels open and elegant. Matt and I started with the … Read More
Berlin – Day 4
Teufelsberg, Devil’s Mountain, was on my list of must see sites in Berlin. It is located in the middle of the vast Grunewald forest. I went there thinking the main attraction would be the street art. While the street art is extraordinary, the history proved just as compelling. Teufelsberg was built from the rubble left behind after WWII. It was … Read More
Berlin – Day 3
Today we visited the Brücke Museum, which had come highly recommended by one of Matt’s colleagues. It is devoted to the German Expressionist group Die Brücke. Nestled in a wooded area near Grunewald, the museum is pleasant enough, light-filled and modern. But the visit was disappointing. The current exhibition is about the handcrafts of this art movement, including metal, wood, … Read More
Berlin – Day 2
I first saw the Reichstag Building shortly after the Wall came down. At the time it stood scarred and grimy, its stone walls pocked with bullet holes from the Battle of Berlin in 1945. It felt less like a government building than a wounded monument. At the time, the government was operating in Bonn. Later I returned after its dramatic … Read More