There was a time when traveling could be as delightful and enjoyable, and something that you looked forward to, as much as your destination. The mythic Orient Express rail service provided such a glorious experience traveling to exotic faraway places in luxurious comfort and elegance, never before possible. Can you imagine non stop rail service …
Once again the world has been shadowed by inhumane acts committed in the Ukraine, Gaza, and the ongoing atrocities in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. I am sickened with grief and shame for the cruelty that human beings are continuously capable of doing. Warfare has been a repetitive cruel way of resolving disputes, that has cursed …
The French national holiday was yesterday, and as usual I had mixed feelings about the “celebration”. This all stems from my own perspective and some very strong visceral feelings I have had about the origin of the whole historical event. The first and last time I visited the Conciergerie, a former prison, where a …
You already know the searing pain, that keeps shredding every fibre of your heart, until you feel so broken, you really do not know how much more you can endure. You talked about it to your friends, till you are fearful they don’t want to hear anymore. Maybe you have thought about getting help from …
I started this blog on June the 14th, 2012, and in two short years it has grown quite a bit, according to my stats, increasing by almost 1000%. There were two main reasons why I wanted to blog, one spiritual and one personal, which I will entail later. After two years and 183 articles, I …
The ferry ride across the Bosphorus, in the blistering hot sun, provided my first view of the magnificent Hagia Sophia slowly becoming more visible, as the ferry slowed to dock in Eminonu, the old city’s port. Newly arrived, I felt suddenly plunged into a kaleidoscope of colorful sights, smells, and sounds that might as well been 100 …
Time for me to venture out again to explore a city that has often caught my interest for various reasons, but I never got around to going. Since living in Paris, I have learned that besides the fall, June is the best time to get away before the annual European summer vacation influx begins. …
It was one of those rare warm sunny Sundays in Paris, that brings the throngs out to celebrate the sun that has been playing hide and seek for the whole month. I decided to go to a Fête des Basques taking place on a Pelota court, near the banks of the Seine. For those of …
Charles Garnier’s professional destiny was to be as marvelously rich and world acclaimed as his opulent architectural masterpiece; the Paris Opera, rightfully named in his honor. This immensely talented man was unstoppable, yet his personal life was over shadowed with constant battles of severe bouts of depression, anxiety, doubts, hypochondria and grief. Last weekend, I …
I proudly present guest blogger and my talented daughter Aimée Grosz, who has had the courage, and fortitude to practice nursing in three foreign settings. I can’t think of anyone more qualified to write about experiences in transcultural nursing, than Aimée! Today is May 12th, and It’s the first time I’m actually aware and …
Celebrating International Nurse’s Day, The Lady With The Lamp Read More »
A haven of beautiful peace amongst flowers and statues is tucked away inside the walls of Hôpital Sainte Anne, which is the main psychiatric hospital of Paris. Nature and art covers the whole hospital campus, offering visual stimulation of beauty as part of the healing process. The gardens are so lovely that guided tours take …
Sainte Anne Psychiatric Hospital in Paris, A Hidden Sanctuary of Nature and Art. Read More »
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec was one of the most famous and prolific post-impressionistic painters, yet his life was chiseled with a disfiguring deformity and what proved to be a deadly addiction. His life started out with all the promises that good fortune and wealth could offer in so far as his family of origin. Henri Marie …
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, A Short and Painful Life Read More »